''No Villain'' is a play written by

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), ''Death of a Salesman'' ( ...

during his

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

year of college in 1936, during spring break. This was his first work, reportedly written in five days in the hope of winning a $250

Hopwood Award The Hopwood Awards are a major scholarship program at the University of Michigan, founded by Avery Hopwood. Under the terms of the will of Avery Hopwood, a prominent American dramatist and member of the class of 1905 of the University of Michigan, ...

in drama, the first of two that he won. ''No Villain'' explores

Marxist theory Marxist philosophy or Marxist theory are works in philosophy that are strongly influenced by Karl Marx's materialist approach to theory, or works written by Marxists. Marxist philosophy may be broadly divided into Western Marxism, which drew fro ...

and inner conflict through an individual facing ruin as a result of a strike.

Plot

In the first scene, the audience is introduced to the Simons, an immigrant family, in their parlor, anxiously awaiting the return of their son from university. The Simons were once successful, but appear to have fallen upon rough times.

World première

The play was rediscovered by British theatre director Sean Turner, and received its world première at the

Old Red Lion Theatre The Old Red Lion is a pub and fringe theatre, at Angel, London, Angel, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre was founded in 1979 as the Old Red Lion Theatre Club. The pub was listed building, Grade II listed in 1994 by Historic Engla ...

in London, UK, in December 2015.What's On Stage, "Old Red Lion to stage World Premiere of Arthur Miller's first play", 29 July 2015
Accessed 5 October 2015 In June 2016, the production transferred to

Trafalgar Studios Trafalgar Theatre is a new West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London. It is set to open in spring 2021 following a major multi-million Pound sterling, pound restoration project aiming to reinstate ...

in London's West End.

References

1936 plays Plays by Arthur Miller 1930s debut plays {{1930s-play-stub