Jones , Henry Arthur , 1851-1929 , dramatist

Henry Arthur Jones (1851-1929), British dramatist, was born at Grandborough, Buckinghamshire, England. He began working for a draper at the age of twelve, and later earned his living as a commerical traveller. After attending the theatre in London, he was inspired to begin writing one-act plays. His first play to be produced, It's Only Round the Corner, was staged at the Theatre Royal, Exeter, in 1878. His first London production, A Clerical Error, premiered the following year. The Silver King, which opened at the Princess Theatre, London, in 1882, established Jones's name as a dramatist. During his long career, he wrote numerous plays, among his most sucessful were The Middleman (1889), The Dancing Girl(1891), The Tempter (1893), The Triumph of the Philistines (1895), Michael and His Lost Angel (1896), The Liars (1897), and The Hypocrites (1906). Like the works of Arthur Wing Pinero, Jones's plays began the move away from melodrama and sentimental comedy to a more realistic treatment of social issues.