Bruce Mason

by Howard McNaughton

"... Bruce Mason ... committed himself sriously to a career in writing after the [Second World] War. By the late 1950s he was recognised as the most professional and versatile playwright New Zealand has produced, with the extraordinary success of works like The Pohutukawa Tree and The End of the Golden Weather both in New Zealand and overseas. Critical and popular debate about Mason's plays has touched on extremities of enthusiasm (and occasionally antagonism) rarely oberved in the New Zealand arts, and Mason's example has provided a vital stimulation to younger playwrights. Mason's other major plys includeBids in the Wilderness, The Evening Paperr, Awatea, Hongi, Swan Song, The Hand on the Rail, Zero Inn, and The Counsels of the Wood."--Back cover.