|
Under Plain Cover
''Under Plain Cover'' (1962) is a short two-act play by John Osborne, published in his book "Plays for England". It was designed to be shown in a double-bill with another short play, ''The Blood of the Bambergs''. The play is a satirical commentary on sexual hypocrisy. It was the first play directed by Jonathan Miller.Heilpern, John, ''John Osborne: A Patriot for Us'', 2007, Random House, pp.287. Background Sexually explicit content was still not acceptable on the English stage. The Lord Chamberlain's office, which could effectively censor plays by denying them a license to perform, called it "effluent". The report's author, Norman Gwatkin, stated that "I'm sure some people will swoon with delight at this latest Osborne effluent". Osborne's biographer John Heilpern says that it's a "miracle that the play passed the censor", but quotes Gwatkin saying that "the morals of anyone who pretends to understand what the play is all about will already be beyond contamination; and the remaind ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Osborne
John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter and actor, known for his prose that criticized established social and political norms. The success of his 1956 play ''Look Back in Anger'' transformed English theatre. Osborne was notorious for his violent language, not only on behalf of the political causes he supported but also against his own family, including his wives and children. Osborne was one of the first writers to address Britain's purpose in the post-imperial age. Early life Osborne was born on 12 December 1929 in London, the son of Thomas Godfrey Osborne, a commercial artist and advertising copywriter of South Welsh ancestry, and Nellie Beatrice Grove, a Cockney barmaid. In 1935 the family moved to the north Surrey suburb of Stoneleigh, near Ewell, in search of a better life, though Osborne would regard it as a cultural desert – a school friend declared subsequently that "he thought ewere a lot of dull, u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or exposing the perceived flaws of individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society. A feature of satire is strong irony or sarcasm —"in satire, irony is militant", according to literary critic Northrop Frye— but parody, burlesque, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison, analogy, and double entendre are all frequently used in satirical speech and writing. This "militant" irony or sarcasm often professes to approve of (or at least accept as natural) the very things the satirist wishes to question. Satire is found in many a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England. In 1956 it was acquired by and remains the home of the English Stage Company, which is known for its contributions to contemporary theatre and won the Europe Prize Theatrical Realities in 1999. History The first theatre The first theatre on Lower George Street, off Sloane Square, was the converted Nonconformist Ranelagh Chapel, opened as a theatre in 1870 under the name The New Chelsea Theatre. Marie Litton became its manager in 1871, hiring Walter Emden to remodel the interior, and it was renamed the Court Theatre. Several of W. S. Gilbert's early plays were staged here, including ''Randall's Thumb'', ''Creatures of Impulse'' (with music by Alberto Randegger), ''Great Expectations'' (adapted from the Dickens novel), and ''On Gu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plays For England
''Plays for England'' was the title of a double-bill of plays written, performed and published by John Osborne, released by Evans Brothers Limited in London in 1962. It comprised ''The Blood of the Bambergs'' and ''Under Plain Cover''. Plays *''The Blood of the Bambergs'', subtitled “A Fairy Story,” was originally performed on 19 June 1962 at the Royal Court Theatre, directed by John Dexter. *''Under Plain Cover'' was originally performed on 19 June 1962 at the Royal Court Theatre, directed by Jonathan Miller Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE (21 July 1934 – 27 November 2019) was an English theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, humourist and physician. After training in medicine and specialising in neurology in the late 19 .... References Plays by John Osborne 1962 plays {{1960s-play-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Blood Of The Bambergs
''The Blood of the Bambergs'' (1962) is a short two-act play by John Osborne, published in his book "Plays for England". It was designed to be shown in a double-bill with another short play, ''Under Plain Cover''. ''The Blood of the Bambergs'' is a satirical commentary on royal weddings, in a variation on the story of ''The Prisoner of Zenda''. Background The play was inspired by the popular celebrations surrounding the marriage of Princess Margaret to Anthony Armstrong-Jones. Osborne's wife, the journalist Penelope Gilliatt, provided him with 'backstage gossip' about the arrangement of the events, which Osborne found absurd.Heilpern, John, ''John Osborne: A Patriot for Us'', 2007, Random House, pp.287. Satire of the monarchy was still not acceptable on the English stage. Nevertheless, the Lord Chamberlain's office, which could effectively censor plays by denying them a license to perform, felt unable to reject the play. The "devilish cleverness of this horrid play", wrote the au ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonathan Miller
Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE (21 July 1934 – 27 November 2019) was an English theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, humourist and physician. After training in medicine and specialising in neurology in the late 1950s, he came to prominence in the early 1960s in the comedy revue '' Beyond the Fringe'' with Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Alan Bennett. Miller began directing operas in the 1970s. His 1982 production of a "Mafia"-styled ''Rigoletto'' was set in 1950s Little Italy, Manhattan. In its early days, he was an associate director at the National Theatre. He later ran the Old Vic Theatre. As a writer and presenter of more than a dozen BBC documentaries, Miller became a television personality and public intellectual in Britain and the United States. Life and career Early life Miller grew up in St John's Wood, London, in a well-connected Jewish family. His father Emanuel (1892–1970), who was of Lithuanian descent and suffered from severe rh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lord Chamberlain
The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main channel of communication between the Sovereign and the House of Lords. The office organises all ceremonial activity such as garden parties, state visits, royal weddings, and the State Opening of Parliament. They also handle the Royal Mews and Royal Travel, as well as the ceremony around the awarding of honours. For over 230 years, the Lord Chamberlain had the power to decide which plays would be granted a licence for performance. From 1737 to 1968, this meant that the Lord Chamberlain had the capacity to censor theatre at his pleasure. The Lord Chamberlain is always sworn of the Privy Council, is usually a peer and before 1782 the post was of Cabinet rank. The position was a political one until 1924. The office dates from the Middle Ages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norman Gwatkin
Brigadier Sir Norman Wilmshurst Gwatkin (2 August 1899 – 31 July 1971) was a British Army officer and courtier in the Household of Elizabeth II. Military career Gwatkin was the son of Hugh Fortescue Wilmshurst Gwatkin and Vera Philpots. He was educated at Clifton College before attending the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He commissioned into the Coldstream Guards in 1918. He subsequently joined the Royal Household. He was invested as a Member of the Royal Victorian Order in 1937, while serving as Assistant Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain's Office. In 1940 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. Gwatkin saw active service in the Second World War and in 1944 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order while commanding the 5th Guards Armoured Brigade in Operation Overlord. He returned to the Royal Household after the war. Between 1950 and 1952 he served as an Extra Equerry to George VI, and held the same role in the household of Elizabeth II until his deat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Heilpern
John David Heilpern (8 April 1942 – 7 January 2021) was a British theatre critic, journalist, and author who worked both in the United Kingdom and the United States. He was a contributing editor to '' Vanity Fair'' (where he wrote the "Out To Lunch" feature) and longtime drama critic for the ''New York Observer.'' contributor page Biography Heilpern, the son of a bookmaker, was born in , England, and educated at . He began his career at '' |
Kenneth Tynan
Kenneth Peacock Tynan (2 April 1927 – 26 July 1980) was an English theatre critic and writer. Making his initial impact as a critic at ''The Observer'', he praised Osborne's ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956), and encouraged the emerging wave of British theatrical talent. In 1963, Tynan was appointed as the new National Theatre Company's literary manager. An opponent of theatre censorship, Tynan is often believed to have been the first person to say " fuck" on British television, during a live broadcast in 1965. Later in his life, he settled in California, where he resumed his writing career. Early life Tynan was born in Birmingham, England, to Letitia Rose Tynan and (as he was led to believe) "Peter Tynan" ( see below). Tynan had a stammer which was more pronounced as a child. He also possessed early on a high degree of articulate intelligence. By the age of six, he was already keeping a diary. At King Edward's School, Birmingham, he was a brilliant student of whom one of his m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harold Hobson
Sir Harold Hobson CBE, (4 August 1904 – 12 March 1992) was an English drama critic and author. Early life and education Hobson was born in Thorpe Hesley near Rotherham then in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. He attended Sheffield Grammar School, from where he gained a scholarship to Oriel College at Oxford University, graduating with a second-class degree in Modern History in 1928. Career In 1931, he began to write London theatre reviews for ''The Christian Science Monitor''. In 1935, he was employed on the paper's staff, remaining its London drama critic until 1974. He was an assistant literary editor for ''The Sunday Times'' from 1944 and later became its drama critic (1947–76). Hobson was the only drama critic to recognise the early Harold Pinter's talent as a dramatist and wrote of '' The Birthday Party'': "I am willing to risk whatever reputation I have as a judge of plays by saying ... that Mr Pinter, on the evidence of this work, possesses the most original, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean Genet
Jean Genet (; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels ''The Thief's Journal'' and ''Our Lady of the Flowers'' and the plays ''The Balcony'', ''The Maids'' and ''The Screens''. Biography Early life Genet's mother was a prostitute who raised him for the first seven months of his life before placing him for adoption. Thereafter Genet was raised in the provincial town of Alligny-en-Morvan, in the Nièvre department of central France. His foster family was headed by a carpenter and, according to Edmund White's biography, was loving and attentive. While he received excellent grades in school, his childhood involved a series of attempts at running away and incidents of petty theft. After the death of his foster mother, Genet was placed with an elderly couple but remained with them less than two years. Accord ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
