Trevor Griffiths the playwright has died. A tribute from Keir Starmer is not expected.
From the 1960s on Griffiths produced a range of political theatre that made an impact on TV, on stage and in the cinema. What today might be called mainstreaming left politics. Griffiths politics were marxist, but firmly of the anti-Stalinist revolutionary left.
His play The Party, where Laurence Olivier played a Glaswegian Trotskyist, looked at the development of and issues with the political far left that remains a part of UK life today. The Comedians, adapted for TV, is set in a working men’s club and makes the very sharp point that the best humour is not funny ha ha, but that which provokes thought. The series Bill Brand which ran on ITV looked at the Parliamentary Road to Socialism.
A serious political theatre that made a wide impact.Trevor Griffiths legacy should be to see whether something like that impact can be achieved again in a world where the on-line plays a significant role
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