John Arden is, as Jack Richardson noted, "considered by many close to the theater to be England's best contemporary playwright." Yet his most-discussed play, Serjeant Musgrave's Dance, continues to puzzle or anger many critics…. Clearly there are grounds for uncertainty about the import of the play; difficulties in comprehension arose mainly because neither method nor subject was what the critics expected.

Arden has frequently explained his objectives in articles and interviews. He wishes to comment on the contemporary scene, and at the same time to express what is permanently important, to criticize "a sludgy uninterested nation, married to its telly and its fish and chips" through "the framework of the traditional poetic truths." Social relevance should be expressed through "a proper moral concern and a constant hatred of injustice and meanness." However, his morality is an unorthodox one, as it shows the values of freedom and spontaneity in...