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Weapons Of Happiness
''Weapons of Happiness'' is a 1976 political play by Howard Brenton, about a strike in a London crisp factory. The play makes use of a dramatic conceit whereby the Czech communist cabinet minister Josef Frank is imagined alive in the 1970s (in real life he was hanged in 1952), and his hallucinations of life in Stalinist Czechoslovakia interweave with the main plot. In an introduction to the play, Brenton wrote that he was "trying to write a kind of Jacobean play for our time, a 'British epic theatre'. Making only limited use of naturalism, the play features several long speeches; in the same introduction Brenton quotes Julie Covington, who appeared in the original production, as describing acting in it as being "like opening a furnace door - your time comes, you open the door and blaze, then shut it".''Brenton: Plays One'', Methuen 1986 Stage history The play was commissioned by the National Theatre as part of a policy of staging new plays by leading authors in the company' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weapons Of Happiness
''Weapons of Happiness'' is a 1976 political play by Howard Brenton, about a strike in a London crisp factory. The play makes use of a dramatic conceit whereby the Czech communist cabinet minister Josef Frank is imagined alive in the 1970s (in real life he was hanged in 1952), and his hallucinations of life in Stalinist Czechoslovakia interweave with the main plot. In an introduction to the play, Brenton wrote that he was "trying to write a kind of Jacobean play for our time, a 'British epic theatre'. Making only limited use of naturalism, the play features several long speeches; in the same introduction Brenton quotes Julie Covington, who appeared in the original production, as describing acting in it as being "like opening a furnace door - your time comes, you open the door and blaze, then shut it".''Brenton: Plays One'', Methuen 1986 Stage history The play was commissioned by the National Theatre as part of a policy of staging new plays by leading authors in the company' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theatre Quarterly
''New Theatre Quarterly'' (''NTQ'') is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering theatre studies. It is published by Cambridge University Press. ''New Theatre Quarterly'' succeeds ''Theatre Quarterly'' (1971–81). Over the years, ''NTQ'' has developed a reputation for a "down-to-earth approach" to theatre studies. Its general editor is Maria Shevtsova of Goldsmiths, University of London. Former co-editors were Simon Trussler of Rose Bruford College (1942–2019) and Clive Barker (editor), Clive Barker (1931–2005). Trussler and Barker were the journals founding editors. Abstracting and indexing The journal is abstracted and indexed in: * Academic Search Premier * Arts & Humanities Citation Index * Current Contents / Arts & Humanities * Expanded Academic ASAP * MLA International Bibliography References External links * Theatre studies Cambridge University Press academic journals Arts journals Publications established in 1971 English-language journals {{humanities-jou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brassneck (play)
''Bizarro'' is the second studio album by The Wedding Present. It was released in October 1989 by their record label, RCA. About the album The Wedding Present's second studio album—and first "proper" album for RCA—came soon after the '' Ukrainian John Peel Sessions / Українські Виступи в Івана Піла'' folk music side project. Technically speaking, only one single was taken from the album, "Kennedy", which provided the band with their first Top 40 hit, reaching #33. In early 1990, The Wedding Present re-recorded "Brassneck" with Steve Albini, which reached #24 in the UK charts. The single and its B-sides were later included on U.S. release of the album, and are also included on the ''Singles 1989-1991'' compilation. The US CD version contains the Wedding Present's cover of "Box Elder", an early song by then unknown American band Pavement. A remastered CD version, released by BMG Camden in 2001, also features the B-sides of the "Kennedy" single, i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Portable Theatre Company
Portable Theatre Company was a writer-led company that toured alternative arts venues in the UK between 1968 -1973. Their aim was to present original and provocative new writing that challenged the staid mediocrity of mainstream theatre. A portable theatre Tony Bicât and David Hare (playwright), David Hare formed Portable Theatre in 1968, a year that saw widespread political unrest in Britain (and internationally) and where a youth orientated ‘counter culture’ flourished and was seen to challenge the existing order. The Drury Lane Arts Lab, set up by Jim Haynes the previous year, was an important venue for newly founded ‘alternative’ or ‘underground’ theatre companies. Haynes offered free rehearsal space for companies on the condition that they performed in the Arts Lab theatre. Prior to ‘Portable’ Bicât and Hare had staged an adaption of Kafka’s ''The Trial'' whilst students at Cambridge University and now through Haynes’s encouragement they developed a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Hare (playwright)
Sir David Hare is an English playwright, screenwriter and theatre and film director. Best known for his stage work, Hare has also enjoyed great success with films, receiving two Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay for writing ''The Hours'''' ''in 2002, based on the novel written by Michael Cunningham, and ''The Reader'''' ''in 2008, based on the novel of the same name written by Bernhard Schlink. In the West End, he had his greatest success with the plays'' Plenty'' (1978), which he adapted into a 1985 film starring Meryl Streep, ''Racing Demon'' (1990), ''Skylight'' (1997), and ''Amy's View'' (1998). The four plays ran on Broadway in 1982–83, 1996, 1998 and 1999 respectively, earning Hare three Tony Award nominations for Best Play for the first three and two Laurence Olivier Awards for Best New Play. Other notable projects on stage include ''A Map of the World'', ''Pravda'' (starring Anthony Hopkins at the National Theatre in London), ''Murmu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hayden Griffin
Hayden Griffin (23 January 1943 – 24 March 2013) was a stage designer, known for his work for the Royal Court Theatre and the Royal National Theatre in London. Griffin was "regarded by many as the finest stage designer of his generation". Early life He was born on 23 January 1943 in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. His father flew for the South African Air Force as a Spitfire pilot, and his mother was a cousin of the novelist Alan Paton. He was educated at Maritzburg College, followed by Durban Art School and the Theatre Design Course at Sadler's Wells, London under Margaret Harris in 1966/7. Career An Academy and Olivier Award nominated set & costume designer, Griffin's work included ''Wetherby'', ''Intimacy'', ''Six Characters in Search of An Author (film)'', and ''Syrup.'' As well as the Royal Court Theatre and the Royal National Theatre, he also worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Public Theater, Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Metropolitan Opera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Derek Thompson (actor)
Derek Thompson (born 4 April 1948) is a British actor, most notable for playing Charlie Fairhead in the long-running BBC television medical drama series ''Casualty'', playing the role since the series' inception in 1986, and his performance as Jeff in the British gangster film ''The Long Good Friday''. Early life Thompson was born in Belfast and has a twin sisterElaine Johns(née Thompson). During their teenage years, they combined to form the singing duo ''Elaine and Derek''. They recorded four albums and 15 EPs together, singing in harmonies, and released one eponymously titled album on the Parlophone label in 1961. They then formed the folk trio Odin's People witLarry Johns and recorded two singles in 1967. Derek appeared in the feature film '' Gonks Go Beat'' (1965). Career In the mid-1960s, Thompson worked as Stage Manager in the Nonentities Theatre in Kidderminster. and in rep. In the 1970s he appeared in several productions at the National Theatre. In the late 1970s a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Russell (English Actor)
William Russell Enoch (born 19 November 1924) is an English actor. He achieved prominence in 1956 when he took the title role in the ITV television series ''The Adventures of Sir Lancelot'' (1956–1957). In 1963, he became part of the original lead cast of BBC1's ''Doctor Who'', playing the role of schoolteacher Ian Chesterton opposite William Hartnell from the show's first episode until 1965. Russell's film roles include parts in ''The Man Who Never Was'' (1956), '' The Great Escape'' (1963) and ''Superman'' (1978). On television, he notably appeared as Ted Sullivan in ''Coronation Street'' in 1992. In recent years, Russell has maintained his association with ''Doctor Who''; he returned to the show in 2022, making a cameo appearance as Chesterton in "The Power of the Doctor", 57 years after the character's last television appearance. Early life William Russell Enoch was born on 19 November 1924 in Sunderland, County Durham,''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wale ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Medwin
Michael Hugh Medwin, OBE (18 July 1923 – 26 February 2020) was an English actor and film producer. Life and career Medwin was born in London. He was educated at Canford School, Dorset, and the Institute Fischer, Montreux, Switzerland. He first appeared on stage in 1940. Medwin's West End theatre credits include ''Man and Superman'', ''The Rivals'', ''Love for Love'', ''Duckers and Lovers'', ''Alfie'', ''St Joan of the Stockyards'', and '' What the Butler Saw''.Biographical note for Michael Medwin, from programme for ''Noises Off'', Savoy Theatre, December 1984. At the National Theatre he played a season which included ''Weapons of Happiness'' (Ralph Makepeace), ''Volpone'' (Corvino) and ''The Madras House''. He appeared in ''Black Ball Game'' at the Lyric Hammersmith. He also played Lloyd Dallas in one of the casts of the long-running production of ''Noises Off'' in the early 1980s. He is probably best known for his role as radio boss Don Satchley in the BBC television d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bernard Gallagher
Bernard Gallagher (26 September 1929 – 27 November 2016) was an English actor known for his stage work, including with the National Theatre and the Royal Court; and his many appearances in television soap operas and dramas. He was born in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire. Gallagher studied English at Sheffield University, and following National service in the RAF Educational Service (1952–54), made his stage debut in Lyme Regis in 1956. Working in regional rep for the next decade, in 1965 he joined London’s Royal Court for Bill Gaskill’s first season, with roles in (amongst others) the original stage productions of Edward Bond’s '' Saved'', and Joe Orton's ''The Ruffian on the Stair'' and ''The Erpingham Camp'' (both 1967). Later in 1967, Gallagher began a long association with the National Theatre (1967-1976), when he appeared in Clifford Williams’ all-male '' As You Like It''. Other roles included in Howard Brenton’s '' Weapons of Happiness'' and Tom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Finlay
Francis Finlay, (6 August 1926 – 30 January 2016) was an English stage, film and television actor, Oscar-nominated for a supporting role as Iago in Laurence Olivier's 1965 film adaptation of ''Othello''. In 1983, Finlay was directed by Italian filmmaker Tinto Brass in the erotic classic '' The Key'', with Stefania Sandrelli. His first leading television role came in 1971 in ''Casanova''. This led to appearances on '' The Morecambe and Wise Show''. He also appeared in the drama ''Bouquet of Barbed Wire''. Early life Finlay was born in Farnworth, Lancashire, the son of Josiah Finlay, and Margaret Finlay. He was educated at St Gregory the Great School, but left at 14 to train as a butcher at Toppings, gaining a City and Guilds Diploma in the trade. Stage career Finlay made his first stage appearances at the local Farnworth Little Theatre, in plays that included Peter Blackmore's ''Miranda'' in 1951. The current Little Theatre president, also in the cast of that ''Miranda'' pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nick Brimble
Nicholas Brimble (born 22 July 1944) is an English actor whose long career has spanned theatre, television, film, and voice work. Early life Brimble was born in Bristol. His father was a schoolteacher who was also a keen amateur actor, an activity in which Nick was involved on occasions as a child. For several summers his father also managed a French/Czech high-wire act, the White Devils, and in July 1961 organised their blindfolded high-wire crossing of Cheddar Gorge. When the act toured Britain, the Brimble family travelled with them. At the end of the 1961 season's tour of Britain, Brimble travelled through France with the White Devils, helping as they set up and performed in towns as they went, and returning for the start of the autumn school term. He attended Bristol Grammar School. In his first year he played Miranda in a school production of '' The Tempest''. Brimble's parents gave him a season ticket to the Bristol Old Vic, where he saw every play from the age of 11 unt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |