When in 1957 John Arden left his career as an architect for playwriting, critics hastily placed him with the other "angry young men" of the period. Recent critics have labeled Arden the British Brecht because of the generally Marxist politics in his recent social drama. But neither his present politics nor the "angry" nonconformity of his protagonists tells the story of why he gradually rejected the appearance of 1950s social realism for that of improvisation. Arden's first experiments scrutinized the basic social tension between aggressive survivors and the institutions meant to pacify them. Ironically, as these self-styled survivors would circumvent the established social order, their schemes for money and authority would take advantage of innocent bystanders; the underdogs quickly became the oppressors. When Arden began to collaborate more often with his wife, Irish actress and activist Margaretta D'Arcy, their plays grew increasingly closer to contemporary Anglo-Irish politics. The collaborative...