kitchen sink realism (or kitchen sink drama) is a term coined to describe a british cultural movement that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in theatre, art, novels, film and television plays, whose protagonists usually could be described as angry young men. it used a style of social realism, which often depicted the domestic situations of working-class britons living in cramped rented accommodation and spending their off-hours drinking in grimy pubs, to explore social issues and political controversies. the films, plays and novels employing this style are set frequently in poorer industrial areas in the north of england, and use the rough-hewn speaking accents and slang heard in those regions. the film it always rains on sunday (1947) is a precursor of the genre, and the john osborne play look back in anger (1956) is thought of as the first of the genre. the gritty love-triangle of look back in anger, for example, takes place in a cramped, one-room flat in the english midlands. the conventions of the genre have continued into the 2000s, finding expression in such television shows as coronation street and eastenders. in art, "kitchen sink school" was a term used by critic david sylvester to describe painters who depicted social realistâtype scenes of domestic life.walker, john. (1992) "kitchen sink school". glossary of art, architecture & design since 1945, 3rd. ed. retrieved 20 january 2012. ==history== ===antecedents and influences=== the cultural movement was rooted in the ideals of social realism, an artistic movement, expressed in the visual and other realist arts, which depicts working class activities. many artists who subscribed to social realism were painters with socialist political views. while the movement has some commonalities with socialist realism, the "official art" advocated by the governments of the soviet union and other eastern bloc countries, the two had several differences. unlike socialist realism, social realism is not an official art produced by, or under the supervision of the government. the leading characters are often 'anti-heroes' rather than part of a class to be admired, as in socialist realism. typically, they are dissatisfied with their lives and the worldârather than being idealised workers who are part of a socialist utopia (supposedly) in the process of creation. as such, social realism allows more space for the subjectivity of the author to be displayed. partly, social realism developed as a reaction against romanticism, which promoted lofty concepts such as the "in
Cinema_of_the_United_Kingdom English_drama English_literary_movements Modern_art Social_realism Theatre_in_the_United_Kingdom Theatrical_genres