Antonin Artaud

Martin Esslin was born in 1918 and educated at Vienna. He read English and Philosophy at Vienna University. From 1936 to 1938 he trained as a director at the Reinhardt Seminar of Dramatic Art in Vienna. He joined the BBC in 1940, and was producer and scriptwriter in the European Services from 1941 to 1955. Since 1963 he has been Head of Radio Drama. He was awarded the OBE in 1972. His previous publications include Brecht: A Choice of Evils (1951); The Theatre of the Absurd (1962); Brief Chronicles. Essays on Modern Theatre (1970); Pinter. A Study of His Plays (1973). He has also edited Beckett (1965), a collection of essays; The Genius of the German Theatre (1968); and The New Theatre of Europe (1970).