JONES, HENRY ARTHUR

born Sept. 20, 1851, Grandborough, Buckinghamshire, Eng. died Jan. 7, 1929, London English playwright who first achieved prominence in the field of melodrama and who later contributed to Victorian society drama. In 1879 his play Hearts of Oak was produced in the provinces, and he won fame in London with The Silver King (first performed 1882; written with Henry Herman). More popular melodramatic plays followed, such as Michael and His Lost Angel (1896). But Jones was by now moving in high society, and a vein of more sophisticated comedy was beginning to appear in works such as The Case of Rebellious Susan (1894) and The Liars (1897). His plays, however, display a rigid acceptance of the Victorian moral code, and this conservative attitude lost him the sympathy of new liberal audiences that were attending the theatre of such pioneers as George Bernard Shaw and William Archer. He nevertheless shows considerable skill in theatrical construction, and Mrs Dane's Defence (1900) has a finely wrought cross-examination scene. Jones was a controversialist who wrote and lectured widely about the function of theatre, notably in The Renaissance of the English Drama, 188394 (1895).