‘Angry Young Men’ playwright Wesker dies aged 83

British playwright Arnold Wesker, a member of the “Angry Young Men” movement of the 1950s which pushed for more social theater about working-class lives, has died aged 83, his family says on Wednesday.

Prime Minister David Cameron and leader of the main opposition Labour party Jeremy Corbyn pay tribute at a weekly debate in parliament, with Corbyn saying that Wesker and his peers “changed the face of our country.”

The London-born writer was best known for his trilogy of plays “Chicken Soup With Barley,” “Roots” and “I’m Talking About Jerusalem” penned in the 1950s. He released his last work “The Rocking Horse” in 2007.

Wesker’s plays have been translated into 20 languages.

Wesker, who was knighted in 2006, died on Tuesday evening after a long illness, his widow tells the BBC.

He was born to Jewish communists and grew up in the East End of London. He drew on his working-class background for several works in a prolific career in which he wrote 50 plays.

— AFP