Luther is a 1961 play by John Osborne depicting the life of Martin Luther, one of the foremost instigators of the Protestant Reformation. Albert Finney created the role of Luther, which he performed with the English Stage Company at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt, Paris, the Holland Festival, the Royal Court Theatre, London, the Phoenix Theatre, London, and the St. James Theatre, New York.
First edition (Faber & Faber)
The play by the Ljubljana Drama Theatre in 1962
Johann Tetzel
Luther (r.) before Cajetan
John James Osborne was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor, and entrepreneur. Born in London, he briefly worked as a journalist before starting out in theatre as a stage manager and actor. He lived in poverty for several years before his third produced play, Look Back in Anger (1956), brought him national fame.
Osborne in 1970
Osborne by Irish artist Reginald Gray, London (1957)
Graves of Osborne and his fifth wife in Clun churchyard