Twentieth-century English literature Terence Rattigan and Noël Coward were challenged in the 1950s by these Angry Young Men, in plays like John Osborne's "Look Back in Anger" (1956). Arnold Wesker and Nell Dunn also brought social concerns to the stage. Again in the 1950s, the absurdist play "Waiting for Godot" (1955) (originally "En attendant Godot", 1952), by Irish writer Samuel Beckett profoundly affected British drama. The Theatre of the Absurd influenced Harold Pinter (born 1930), author of (The Birthday Party, 1958), whose works are often characterised by menace or claustrophobia. Beckett also influenced Tom Stoppard (born 1937) ("Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead", 1966).
James Miller (playwright) James Miller (playwright) James Miller (1704–1744) was an English playwright, poet, librettist, and minister. Miller was born in Bridport, Dorset on 11 August 1704, the son of a clergyman who possessed two considerable livings in the county. He studied at Wadham College, Oxford, and while there wrote part of his famous comedy, "The Humours of Oxford", which contained music by Richard Charke and was first performed on 9 January 1730, to great success. Miller's family was somewhat unsupportive of his theatrical endeavors. They had wanted him to pursue a career in business, but Miller showed a revulsion to such a