Laurence Kitchin

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The action of [Armstrong's Last Goodnight] is framed by the diplomat Lindsay who introduces it and signs it off. He and Armstrong are the main structural pillars. (p. 86)

[The play] registers equally as action drama with the basic appeal of a Western movie, or—given a nodding acquaintance with Middle English and the Border ballads—as recited epic. Beyond that it has [a] coherent political structure…. Lindsay's position in Armstrong's domain is like that of Machiavelli on his mission to Cesare Borgia and Armstrong meets the same fate as the rivals enticed by Borgia to a peace conference…. I'm not sure what's gained except entertainment by having Lindsay and Arm-strong share the same mistress. But the infusion of evangelical religion, as in Musgrave, has Arden's signature on it. Perhaps the lack of it pulls down the temperature of his Magna Carta play a little; though not as much as King John's late and disastrous address to the audience, which takes one back to the early pseudo-Brechtian days of the Royal Court on a Sunday night. (pp. 87-8)

What epic can't do is to accommodate private, esoteric states of feeling or complex analysis of character. From Virgil to screen Westerns, the characters act out the type of a Roman, a barbarian, an outlaw or whatever. The generic terms gun-man or law-man are of crucial importance. In this play, we ought to be thinking of political man, clansman, and man of God…. The language barrier is another matter; it depends on how far an audience should be made to work. If instant comprehension is the aim, then Arden is taking a risk…. Rather than question Arden's wisdom in choosing this idiom, we ought to thank him for reminding us of its directness and power. (p. 88)

Laurence Kitchin, in his Drama in the Sixties: Form and Interpretation (© 1966 by Laurence Kitchin; reprinted by permission of the author), Faber and Faber, 1966.

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The Motives of Pacifists: John Arden's 'Serjeant Musgrave's Dance'