On 2 April, 1956, the English Stage Company was born. It started with a season of modern plays and its first hit was a new work by a young actor John Osborne, 'Look Back in Anger'. This was followed by a long line of new and exciting playwrights: Arnold Wesker, John Arden, David Storey, Christopher Hampton, Edward Bond. Twenty years later their plays are performed all over the world and are set books in many of our schools. Many happy returns, with Alan Bates, Albert Finney, Peter Gill, Christopher Hampton, Jocelyn Herbert, Michael Hordern, Helen Mirren, John Osborne, Tony Richardson, Arnold Wesker and the pupils of Quintin Kynaston School, London.