The Golden Years and The Man Had All Luck

Two early plays by 'the greatest American dramatist of our age' (Evening Standard) The Golden Years is an historical tragedy about Montezuema's destruction at the hands of Cortez. Unable to convert the Aztecs, Cortez assumes the role of barbarian, ravager of a civilization, while Montezuma - as Miller noted - 'convinced himself that the strange white creatures who came out of the ocean were fated to be his masters and at the same time apotheosize him to godhood now that he had, as he believed, led his Aztecs to the conquest of all the known world'. Written in 1940 The Golden Years remained unperformed for many years. It was presented as a radio play by BBC Radio 3 in 1987.The Man Who Had All The Luck was first staged in 1944. In this fable about human freedom and individual responsibility the hero, David Beeves, acts out an ironic reversal of Job's plight. Plagued by the contrast between his own success and the failures of those around him, he tries to make sense of his good fortune. In doing so, David poignantly confronts the question of the justice of fate.