I was rather surprised to see the name of Arnold Wesker in the title credits of the BBC's 'Waking the Dead', playing a Rabbi. I wondered if there were two, but no it was indeed he and apparently fulfilling one of his lifelong ambitions.
In my youth I wanted to be a film director. I wanted to be an actor as well, but that wasn't to be.
I'm sure he has played other parts too, but cannot remember what they were. I'm sorry to say I have never seen any of his plays produced although I I have read several of them.
In looking for more on him I found this rather nice quote:
“I know that a sense of Jewishness, a Jewish sensibility, pervades what I write. I know you’re going to ask me, ‘What is a Jewish sensibility?’ It’s a question of values. I can think of two things. There’s an absence of a spirit of revenge in Jews. Revenge doesn’t come easily to Jews. Pity comes to Jews. There’s also a need to build, to add to the sum total of human knowledge. There’s a sense of family. You can claim that for the Italians as well. But certainly it’s there for the Jews and that affected my writing. I mean I would have to present you with an essay to go through all the list. But a Jewish sensibilityŠI mean, ask people here what they understand by Jewish sensibility. I bet you would find a lot that they share in common.”
I like it because it manages to encapsulate the idea of community life at its best - not the suffocation of conformity - just a gentle recognition that we all have something to hold in common.
