Book description
A programme text edition published in conjunction with the Finborough
Theatre to coincide with the centenary of the birth of William Saroyan,
The Time of Your Life runs from 26 November - 20 December. 'In the time
of our life, live - so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to
the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite
delight and mystery of it' The Time of Your Life, a rich tapestry of
human life, peopled by a profusion of wistful dreamers, pining lonely
hearts, and beer-hall-philosophers, is a twentieth century American
masterpiece. The Time of Your Life was first presented at The Shubert
Theatre, New Haven, USA, on 7 October 1939. It was the first play to win
both the New York Drama Critics' Circle award and the Pulitzer Prize. .
It has been revived three times on Broadway; was filmed in 1948,
starring James Cagney; and twice filmed for TV. It was last seen in the
UK in a star-studded Royal Shakespeare Company production in Stratford
and London in 1983, and received the following review: 'A remarkable
play which blazes forth like a brave beacon: warming and full of fire'
Daily Mail William Saroyan (1908-1981) was an internationally renowned
Armenian American writer, playwright, and humanitarian. He achieved
great popularity in the thirties, forties, and fifties through his
hundreds of short stories, plays, novels, memoirs, and essays. In 1939,
Saroyan was the first American writer to win both the New York Drama
Critics' Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize for his play The Time of
Your Life. He famously refused to accept the Pulitzer Prize on the
grounds that "Commerce should not patronize art." He died near
his hometown of Fresno at the age of seventy-two. The Time of Your Life
was originally published in 1983 by Methuen.
