Kitchen Sink Drama & Social Realism

Kitchen Sink Drama & Social Realism – My Journey

Whilst this site concentrates on my memories as an 80s Mod girl and my love of Soul music, I have also created a section dedicated to Kitchen Sink Drama and Social Realism. Kitchen Sink Realism, Kitchen Sink Drama and British Social Realism are closely related terms, although they are not identical. The labels have often been used to describe overlapping developments in British literature, theatre, television and cinema from the 1950s onwards.

Although it is not entirely Mod subculture-based, there is an interesting connection between Kitchen Sink Realism and the subculture, and I have always felt a strong personal affinity with the subject. It is a niche genre of literature and film that I believe deserves to be celebrated, and this section is dedicated to exploring both my personal connection with it and my enthusiasm for the books and films it has produced.

As I began finding my feet musically in late 1982 and took an interest in Mod subculture, I also found myself becoming equally interested in Social Realism. It was a sphere I was catapulted into and have never left. At the time, I regarded these as two separate passions, developing independently alongside one another. It was only much later that I came to realise there was an interesting overlap between the two.

My affinity with Social Realism is deeply ingrained within me, partly, I believe, due to where I originate from and my love of reading that began at the age of three, which my parents strongly encouraged before I began school. Also, my interest in the arts and cinema. But most importantly feel that I can relate to the subject matter and characters within these stories.

Therefore, I have chosen to include this article. It aims to chronicle the events and people surrounding the influences of my reading of these novels and seeing some of their film adaptations. Equally, it is also to give a brief introduction to this literature and cinema genre, which are some of my personal favourites.

My First Encounters with Kitchen Sink Realism

Poor Cow by Nell Dunn (1967)

Poor Cow by Nell Dunn (1967) went on to be adapted into a film and directed by Ken Loach, starring Carol White and Terence Stamp. This was the first film that my parents went to see at the cinema on their first date, way back in December 1967.

Poor Cow – Interview with Ken Loach

June 14th, 2020
StudiocanalUK

Discovering Barry Hines and Stan Barstow

A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines (1968)

Originating from Barnsley in South Yorkshire, I was born in 1969. The novel, A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines (1967), was later adapted into the film Kes, also directed by Ken Loach. Released a few months after I was born in March 1970, I feel a connection with both the novel and film. Many of the filming locations are familiar to me. There are also a few people in Barnsley who do not know someone who knows someone who was in Kes. Barry Hines also originated from Barnsley.

A Kestral For A Knave - Barry Hines — **A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines. Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd, year 1978.**

A Kind of Loving by Stan Barstow (1960)

It was in 1982 that I first watched the TV serial A Kind of Loving by Stan Barstow. I was enamoured by the televised version of the story. Therefore, I went on to read the trilogy of books in the Vic Brown saga. : The Watchers On The Shore (1966) and The Right True End (1976).

There Is a Happy Land by Keith Waterhouse (1957)

A year later, in 1983, I moved to comprehensive school. This was when I began to seriously become interested in Kitchen Sink Realism . That interest was ignited by my then-old English Literature teacher, Guy Thompson. Looking back (whilst my specialism is Science), I really did look forward to my English Literature lessons. My serious introduction began with There Is A Happy Land by Keith Waterhouse (1957). Which to this day, I still have a great deal of fondness for. I liked Keith Waterhouse‘s style of writing, so I decided to further research his books.

Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse (1959)

This is when I discovered Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse (1959), and this is when my serious reading of Kitchen Sink Realism novels began. Although a novice at the age of fifteen, I was still finding my feet with this literature. However, should any opportunity arise to read these books, I took it.

**Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse. Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd, year 1976.**

The Turning Point: Room at the Top by John Braine (1957)

By autumn 1985, I was now hooked on authors like Hines, Barstow, and Waterhouse. Sunday, 22nd October 1985, changed everything when my Mam suggested a break from O-Level revision to watch Room at the Top on Yorkshire TV. It was based on the story by John Braine and directed by Jack Clayton. I remember that Sunday as if it were yesterday, even though it’s now fast approaching forty years ago (at the time of writing).

I was enamoured not only by the performances of Laurence Harvey as Joe Lampton and Simone Signoret as Alice Aisgill. However, not only did I love the story, but I also liked the backdrop and the filming locations. But more so, I could relate to not only this story but also the dozen or so books I had read over the previous couple of years.

**Room At The Top by John Braine. Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd, year 1985.**

Life at the Top by John Braine (1962)

Thirsty to discover more of John Braine‘s works, I was left with the remainder of the half term to revise, but equally wanted to read. Therefore, I took a bus into Barnsley town centre to the local WH Smith’s and bought the novels Room at the Top and Life at the Top by John Braine. I eagerly read them (in between revising) within two weeks. I then made it my mission to collect every John Braine novel. Who, coincidentally, I was to learn, had previously been a librarian at Darton Library. Darton is a village that is about six miles from where I originate.

Channel 4 and British New Wave Cinema

In spring and summer 1986, Friday nights meant Channel 4’s Kitchen Sink season. I religiously highlighted listings in the TV Times in advance without fail, and had my Dad program the VCR if I went out, discovering classics like A Taste of Honey and Up the Junction.

Up the Junction 1968 Channel 4 promo 1986

Throwbacktvads
19 Apr 2021

At this stage in my later teenage years, besides Mod subculture and working towards my A-Levels and then studying for my degree, most of my time I continued to add to my collection of novels.

These particular films, I am exceptionally fond of, not only for nostalgic reasons from that time, but also because of several of my close friends from university, who studied English, Media, Drama or Film. I have some exceptionally good memories of re-watching those films with those friends. Those friends, who I am still in contact with thirty-odd years on, know of my enthusiasm for these books. It was also due to Channel 4, as well as those friends, that broadened my knowledge of the films, the genre of Social Realism films, and also Kitchen Sink Realism authors.

Discovering More Authors in the 1990s

Alan Sillitoe Novels – The 1990s

Fast forward to 1995, I moved to Nottingham. Due to this, I was able to discover a couple of wonderful vintage second-hand bookshops. It was here that I was able to source some of those novels that I had not read. Also, with the advent of the internet, it became much easier to discover all the writers and source the titles.

Whilst the publication of the “older type” of Kitchen Sink literature appeared to be decreasing, it by no means remained stagnant. Alan Sillitoe was still very much publishing his short story collections and novels. In 2001, forty-three years after his publication of Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, the much-awaited sequel Birthday was published. It was certainly worth the wait for Alan Sillitoe fans. It continues the story of the once cocky, rebellious Arthur Seaton and protagonist of Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, now 63, reflecting on his life.

**Birthday by Alan Sillitoe. Publisher Flamingo, year 2001.**

Barry Hines and Nell Dunn Novels – The 1990s

Barry Hines also had recently published his novel The Heart of It a year earlier. This is an excellent novel and still a firm favourite of mine. Also in 1998, he published his novel Elvis Over England.

**The Heart of It by Barry Hines. Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd, year: 1995.**

**Elvis Over England by Barry Hines. Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd, year: 1999.**

Nell Dunn also published her sequel to Poor Cow, My Silver Shoes (1996). Following the life of Joy, twenty or more years on. Now living in the council flat next door to her 80-year-old mother, Gladys. Joy is navigating through the harsh realities of life. The best that she can. Also, a whole host of Social Realism films continued being produced around this time.

**Poor Cow & My Silver Shoes by Nell Dunn. Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, year 1997.**

Social Realism Beyond the 1960s

Although my main interest lies in the Kitchen Sink literature and cinema of the 1950s–70s, my fascination with Social Realism did not end there.

Career Girls

Two of those films released during this time, I have an especially real fondness for. The first being Career Girls, released in 1997. Directed by Mike Leigh, produced by Simon Channing Williams, and starring Katrin Cartlidge, Lynda Steadman, and Mark Benton.

Barry Norman Interviews Mike Leigh on Career Girls

15 Apr 2020
VHS Video vault

I wholly relate to this film because it reminds me of my time as an undergraduate student. It evokes a nostalgic and somewhat re-enactment and recall of my own personal memories that I hold dearly from that time of my life whilst studying. Equally, the lifetime friendships that were formed and of witnessing not only my friends’ personal growth, but also my own during that particular period in my life. Career Girls has and will continue to leave me with feelings of a deep sense of nostalgia and recollecting my own personal happy memories every time I watch it. It is my all-time favourite Mike Leigh film.

Career Girls (1997) | Film4 Trailer

9 Jan 2014
Film4

Brassed Off

Mark Herman’s 1996 film Brassed Off hits incredibly close to home. It was filmed in Grimethorpe, where I once attended Willowgarth High School comprehensive and also two and a half miles from where I grew up. Having witnessed the devastating firsthand effects of the Miners’ Strike, this film always moves me to tears. It perfectly captures how community solidarity and dignity can carry people through financial hardship and social injustice.

Brassed Off Trailer

August 12th, 2015
Anna Cope

A Personal Journey Through Social Realism

Reflecting over the past forty two years of my life, little did I know then that Kitchen Sink Realism would become one of my major passions. It would be one to occupy the vast majority of my adult life.

It is with extended thanks to the people who supported my journey. Don and Linda, my parents, who began teaching me to read at the age of three. My parents took me on their weekly food shop trips and let me choose two Ladybird books from Lipton’s supermarket every week without fail on those Thursday evenings, way, way back in the early 1970s.

My English Literature teacher, Guy Thompson, and form teacher, Bev Vosper. Some of my oldest friends: Dean Smith, Andrea Ballancore, Nicola Sanchez, Jo Orlandi, Bridget Young, and Paul Bailey, for encouraging my expansion of knowledge within this realm. And also for being part of my journey. And last but not least, to Em. Emlyn, throughout the past three and a half decades, has not only helped me to source some of these novels. However, he has supported my continued enthusiasm for this topic.

This category of articles is therefore dedicated to my love of this genre of literature, reading, and films. These articles mainly concentrate on the literature and films of the mid to late 1950s through to the early 1970s of this genre. Over the continuation of time, I endeavour to add more.