''The Grass Arena'' is an autobiography that was made into a British film released in 1991. It is based on the true story of John Healy. The book had been out of print for a number of years, but was re-issued on 31 July 2008.

Storyline

Raised in a religious family with an abusive father, young Johnny soon learns that he has to learn to defend himself. He takes up

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

, but soon falls victim to

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

. His boxing career over, John takes to the "Grass Arena", parks where he lives with other alcoholics. His life descends into an horrific journey of homeless alcoholism and the associated lifestyle of crime and jail and danger. Amongst other events, he describes being given the drug

Antabuse Disulfiram is a medication used to support the treatment of chronic alcoholism by producing an acute sensitivity to ethanol (drinking alcohol). Disulfiram works by inhibiting the enzyme acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, causing many of the effects of ...

in a clinical trial of some kind. In jail a fellow inmate teaches him

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

and he demonstrates an extraordinary ability at the game. He is soon beating grandmasters and having his games published in newspapers. Thus he is redeemed by the game. Healy is played by

Mark Rylance Sir David Mark Rylance Waters (born 18 January 1960) is a British actor, playwright and theatre director. He is known for his roles on stage and screen having received numerous awards including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Laurenc ...

in the film, which also features

Pete Postlethwaite Peter William Postlethwaite, (7 February 1946 – 2 January 2011) was an English character actor. After minor television appearances, including in '' The Professionals'', his first major success arose through the British autobiographical fil ...

Releases

The BBC film adaptation was released on DVD by Simply Media in 2018.

References

External links

* *James, Erwi
'Saved by the book' - Interview with John Healy
''The Guardian'', 5 August 2008.
TheGrassArena.net
A fan website dedicated to the book () * British biographical drama films 1991 films 1990s biographical drama films Autobiographies adapted into films Films about chess Films directed by Gillies MacKinnon Biographical films about sportspeople Cultural depictions of Irish men Cultural depictions of chess players 1991 drama films Films based on autobiographies 1990s English-language films 1990s British films {{1990s-UK-film-stub