Kitchen Sink Drama

 

This was a term applied to certain British plays of the 1950s and 1980s which focused on the lives of working class protagonists in a realistic manner. Kitchen sink drama was associated with the Angry Young Men movement in English literature.

In the 1950s, a group of British novelists and dramatists from middle class and working class backgrounds became known for their anti-establishment works. Their plays and novels expressed great dissatisfaction with the socioeconomic and political conditions of the time, and explored the disillusionment and discontent they felt at the failure of the welfare state to live up to its promises. The mood of anger and frustration in their works led to them being labelled 'Angry Young Men'. The plays of the dramatists in this group were referred to as 'kitchen sink drama', the term being a reference to the increasing interest among contemporary artists in themes centred around domestic scenes.

Features of kitchen sink drama

Kitchen sink drama portrays the lives of the ordinary, educated, lower class youth, who often worked unsatisfying menial jobs and lived in cramped homes,

The characters are often from poor, industrial parts of the country, and the dialogue reflects the colloquial language of these regions.

The protagonist is typically an intelligent young man from the lower-middle or working class (quite like most of the 'Angry Young Men' writers), who strikes against the established social order.

These plays attack the stifling traditions and attitudes of the rigid class system of their time.

Kitchen sink drama, with its focus on a realistic portrayal of working class life, could be seen as a reaction to the well-made play (plays focus romance and happy ending), which was known for its artificiality, and also as a reaction against the working class stereotypes portrayed in plays by upper-middle class writers.

John Osborne's Look Back in Anger (1956) is a classic example of this type of drama. It represents a whole generation's resentment against the establishment. Jimmy Porter, the antihero of the play, is the prototype of the 'angry young man'. Other plays in this mode include The Hamlet of Stepney Green (1957) by Bernard Kops and Chicken Soup with Barley (1958) by Arnold Wesker.