Jones, Henry Arthur

Jones, Henry Arthur (1851–1929), English dramatist, whose first London production, after several of his one-act plays had been performed in the provinces, was A Clerical Error (1879) staged by Wilson Barrett, who later made an immense success in The Silver King (1882), a melodrama written by Jones in collaboration with Henry Herman which was many times revived. Although regarded by his contemporaries as one of the new school of dramatists whose plays belonged to the so-called ‘theatre of ideas’, it was the melodramatic element rather than the social criticism which drew the public to such plays as Saints and Sinners (1884), The Dancing Girl (1891), in which Julia Neilson made a spectacular success, The Case of Rebellious Susan (1894), and particularly Michael and His Lost Angel (1896), which had to be withdrawn after 10 performances, mainly on account of the scene in a church in which a priest, standing before the altar, makes a public confession of adultery after having some years before exacted a similar penance from a young woman in his congregation. The Liars (1897) and Mrs Dane's Defence (1900) also contain a strong melodramatic strain, though the third act of the latter is still considered a masterpiece. With Pinero and Shaw, Jones was an important playwright at the time when Ibsen's influence was beginning to make itself felt in the English theatre, but there is no reason to doubt his own assertion that he was in no way consciously indebted to Ibsen. Shaw praised Jones at the expense of Pinero. Posterity has reversed this judgement, and Pinero's plays still hold the stage while those of Jones are forgotten. His skill in naturalistic dialogue and in the creation of dramatic tension remains impressive, but his social and moral criticism lacked a firm philosophical basis and the redeeming gift of humour.