“The cliché runs that England was a theatrical desert in the early 1950s. It was certainly true that London was far from the theatre capital of the world. Serious drama was served up with lashings of heavy sauce from Paris, where the long-winded works of Anouilh debuted, and where a little-known Irish modernist was premiering En attendant Godot. Entertainment breezed in from New York, where the American musical was responding to the brash energies of the booming 1950s with all the relish of Oh! What a Beautiful Morning. There were stirrings in London drama, however.”