Harold Brighouse (26 July 1882 – 25 July 1958) was an English

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

whose best known play is '' Hobson's Choice''. He was a prominent member, together with Allan Monkhouse and

Stanley Houghton William Stanley Houghton (22 February 1881 – 11 December 1913) was an English playwright. He was a prominent member, together with Allan Monkhouse and Harold Brighouse, of a group known as the Manchester School of dramatists. His best know ...

, of a group known as the Manchester School of dramatists.

Early life

Harold Brighouse was born in Eccles,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, the eldest child of John Southworth Brighouse, a manager in a cotton-spinning firm, and Charlotte Amelia née Harrison, a headmistress. Harold went to a local school, then won a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) in Manchester, England, is the largest independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1515 as a Grammar school#free tuition, free grammar school next to Manchester C ...

. He left school aged 17 and started work as a textile buyer in a shipping merchant's office. In 1902 he went to London to set up an office for his firm. There he met Emily Lynes and married her in Lillington,

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

in 1907. He was promoted at work and returned to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, but in 1908 he became a full-time writer. ()

Writing career

The first play written by Brighouse was ''Lonesome Like'', but the first to be produced was ''The Doorway''. This was performed in 1909 at

Annie Horniman Annie Elizabeth Fredericka Horniman CH (3 October 1860 – 6 August 1937) was an English theatre patron and manager. She established the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and founded the first regional repertory theatre company in Britain at the Gaiety ...

's Gaiety Theatre in

and produced by

Ben Iden Payne Ben Iden Payne (September 5, 1881 – April 6, 1976), also known as B. Iden Payne, was an English actor, director and teacher. Active in professional theater for seventy years, he helped the first modern Repertory Theatre in the United Kingdom, was ...

. Horniman and Payne gave strong support to Brighouse in the early stages of his career. Many of his plays were one-act pieces; three of the best of these (''The Northerners'', '' Zack'' and ''The Game'') were published together as ''Three Lancashire Plays'' in 1920. All of these plays were set in Lancashire but Brighouse also wrote plays of a different type, such as ''The Oak Settle'' and ''Maid of France''. His most successful play was '' Hobson's Choice'', first produced in 1915 in New York where Payne was working. It was first produced in England in 1916 at the

Apollo Theatre The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.

, London, where it ran for 246 performances. The play was made into a film, directed by David Lean, in 1953, and it was produced at the National Theatre at the

Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...

, London, in 1964. The

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre (often referred to simply as "The Crucible") is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England which opened in 1971. Although it hosts regular theatrical performances, it is best known for hosting professional snooker's ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

staged a revival in June 2011 directed by Christopher Luscombe and starring

Barrie Rutter Barrie Thomas Rutter OBE (born 12 December 1946) is an English actor and the founder and former artistic director of the Northern Broadsides theatre company based in Dean Clough complex, Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. Biography Rutter was ...

, Zoe Waites and

Philip McGinley Philip Kiaran McGinley (born 6 June 1981) is an English actor, best known for playing Anguy the Archer in Season 3 of HBO's ''Game of Thrones''. Early life He was born in Liverpool and grew up in Golborne, near Wigan. He attended All Saints P ...

. Brighouse also wrote novels, including ''Hepplestalls'', concerning a Lancashire mill-owning family in the 19th century. In addition he wrote many reviews and other pieces for the '' Manchester Guardian''. He was a member of the Dramatists' Club and in 1930–31 was chairman of the

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. , it represents over 12,000 members and ass ...

' dramatic committee. After 1931 he wrote no more full-length plays. His autobiography ''What I Have Had'' was published in 1953.

Other activities and later life

In the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Brighouse was declared unfit for combat, but joined what later became the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, and was seconded to the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

Intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...

Staff, where in his spare time he wrote ''Hobson's Choice''. In 1919 he moved to

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, London. In 1958 he collapsed in the

Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...

and died the following day in

Charing Cross Hospital Charing Cross Hospital is an acute general teaching hospital located in Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom. The present hospital was opened in 1973, although it was originally established in 1818, approximately five miles east, in central L ...

. His estate amounted to just under £14,500.

Bibliography

Selected plays

*''The Doorway'' (1909) *''Lonesome-Like'' (1911), later a 1954 television film. *''The Scaring Off of Teddy Dawson'' (1911) *''The Oak Settle'' (1911) *''The Polygon'' (1911) *''The Price of Coal'' (1911) *''The Odd Man Out'' (1912) *''Spring in Bloomsbury'' (1912) *''Graft'' (1913) *''Dealing in Futures'' (1913) *'' The Game'' (1914) *''The Northerners'' (1914) *''Garside's Career'' (1915) *''The Followers'' (1915), later a 1939 television film of the play with

Austin Trevor Claude Austin Trevor Schilsky (7 October 1897 – 22 January 1978) was an Irish actor who had a long career in film and television. He played the parson in John Galsworthy's ''Escape'' at the world premiere in London's West End in 1926 an ...

, Marjorie Mars,

Marjorie Lane Marjorie Lane (February 21, 1912 – October 2, 2012) was an American singer of the 1930s who is best known for providing the singing voice of actress Eleanor Powell's characters in the movies ''Born to Dance'' (1936), ''Broadway Melody of 1936'', ...

. *'' Hobson's Choice'' (1916) *''Maid of France'' (1917) *'' Zack'' (1920) *''Converts'' (1920) *''Plays for the Meadow and Plays for the Lawn'' (1921) *''Once a Hero'' (1922) *''Little Red Shoes'' (1925) *''The Prince Who Was a Piper'' (1926) *''Six Fantasies'' (1931) *''The Dye-Hard'' (1934) *''The Inner Man'' (1945)

Novels

*''Fossie For Short'' (1917) *''The Silver Lining'' (1918) *''The Marbeck Inn'' (1920) *''Hepplestall's'' (1922) *''The Wrong Shadow'' (1923)

Other works

*''What I Have Had'' (1953), autobiography

References

External links

* * *
Plays by Harold Brighouse on Great War Theatre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brighouse, Harold 1882 births 1958 deaths Writers from Manchester People from Eccles, Greater Manchester English male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights 20th-century English male writers