The East End Plays, Part 2

David E. Kemp, a former drama professor at Queen’s University, is the
author of The Pleasures and Treasures of the United Kingdom.

The East End Plays, Part 1 consists of Criminals in Love (1984), Better
Living (1986), and its sequel Escape from Happiness (1991). The three
plays, which are set in the same neighborhood, are explorations of
family life at the margins of contemporary urban life. These
explorations continue in the three offerings in Part 2 (Beautiful City,
Love and Anger, and Tough), in which there is an attempt, mostly by
women, to re-educate the corrupted and generally bewildered men
responsible for the intolerable status quo.

Walker has an acute sense of the ridiculous, but he never patronizes
his characters, most of whom are living on the edge of a social abyss.
The family plays of Part 1 (reminiscent of David French’s Leaving Home
and David Fennario’s Balconville) present characters who are
struggling to find dignity and community amid challenging economic
conditions. Throughout, Walker compels our attention with his brilliant
technique, vivid imagination, and strong command of structure and
rhythm. His absurdism and masterful use of black humor often disturb as
much as they entertain.