Turning Protest On Its Head

Playwright Jay Rayner has a play at London’s Royal Court Theatre, which has a long tradition of gritty tradition of working-class protest. But Rayner’s protest is different. “Why should I write something that is not germane to audiences’ lives? Theatre has always been an expensive middle-class pursuit. It is a precious, pretentious thing for precious, pretentious people. You drive in your expensive car to the theatre, get it valet parked, and then watch a play about poor people.”