About the Production
The Devil Inside Him is the first play that John Osborne wrote to be produced. Written at the age of 18, it predates Look Back in Anger by some six years, and was thought lost until its recent discovery in the archive of the Lord Chamberlain, who had the power to censor all plays until 1968. National Theatre Wales produced the world premiere of this version of the play, following just two productions in the 50s and early 60s in the English provinces.
The production was directed by Elen Bowman, one of the most highly respected directors in Wales. Her work has won numerous awards and she taught direction methods to Katie Mitchell and Ian Rickson amongst many others. Bowman lives and works in Wales, holding the post of artistic associate at Sherman Cymru Theatre in Cardiff.
Production sponsors:
First Great Western
Click here to download the show programme.
****
National Theatre Wales deserves high praise for revealing the roots of its author's anger.
a tense, gruelling and gripping drama
****
rarely less than highly enthralling entertainment from a highly accomplished cast
****
a remarkable find
you can feel the playwright’s excitement as he discovers his own calling
****
revelatory
its quality of bravura assurance astounds
feels more fresh, somehow, dare I say it, than even Look Back in Anger itself
****
Elen Bowman, Director
‘Written at the age of 18, before ‘Look Back in Anger’, this recently unearthed and extraordinary classic is based in South Wales. It was written at a time where plays were very much murder mysteries and going into a new psychological era. The main character, Huw, is an everyman – someone with whom we can truly identify, somebody who, at first look, is not accepted by his community, but who is absolutely like you or me.
There are echoes within it of a much more primitive and natural sense of the world, the Earth and nature, and how in touch Huw is with that.
The very repressed, heavy Methodist society that he was born into was at complete odds with him. I hope that the release that Huw experiences is something that we can all understand and identify with. A traditional setting, yet with a cry from the wild within it.’
