John Cargill Thompson
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John Cargill Thompson (1938 - 2000) was a Scottish dramatist specialising in one-person plays. After the performance of his 52nd play, he was described as "Britain's most prolific playwright", surpassing
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's 37 and Alan Ayckbourn's 51.


Biography

He was born in Burma on 1 November 1938, but brought up in Glasgow. He was educated at Glasgow High School and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. He taught in the Drama Department of
University College of North Wales , former_names = University College of North Wales (1884–1996) University of Wales, Bangor (1996–2007) , image = File:Arms_of_Bangor_University.svg , image_size = 250px , caption = Arms ...
, Bangor, and was senior lecturer in acting at the School of Theatre,
Manchester Polytechnic Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...
, before giving up teaching to write full-time. Many of his plays were based on the 18th-century dramatists and actors about whom he had taught. He had several successes at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, notably a double Fringe First Award in 1992 for ''Shylock Triumphant'', about
Charles Macklin Charles Macklin (26 September 1699 – 11 July 1797), (Gaelic: Cathal MacLochlainn, English: Charles McLaughlin), was an Irish actor and dramatist who performed extensively at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Macklin revolutionised theatre in ...
and ''Every Inch a King'' about David Garrick. His record-breaking 52nd play was ''Soul Doubt'', staged at the
New End Theatre The New End Theatre, Hampstead, was an 80-seat fringe theatre venue in London, at 27 New End in the London Borough of Camden which operated from 1974 until 2011. It was founded in 1974 by Buddy Dalton in the converted mortuary of the now-de ...
, Hampstead, London in 1997. He collected the works of
G. A. Henty George Alfred Henty (8 December 1832 – 16 November 1902) was an English novelist and war correspondent. He is most well-known for his works of adventure fiction and historical fiction, including ''The Dragon & The Raven'' (1886), ''For The ...
and wrote ''The Boys' Dumas, G. A. Henty: Aspects of Victorian Publishing'' (1975). A profile in February 1997 described his central London flat as " ... a haven of eccentricity. The kitchen is a Bohemian nightmare where dirty dishes, bottles of whisky and gin, and tubes of toothpaste vie for space." and said that he was then working on a play "which has the goddess Juno being interviewed by Hello! magazine." He was married twice, first to Sheila, with whom he had daughters, Perdita and Lilith and then to Dorothea, with whom he had daughters Jessica and Nerissa. He died in Edinburgh on 19 September 2000, aged 61. His sister was Helen Cargill Thompson, a librarian and art collector.


Selected works


Plays

*''Macbeth Speaks'', based on
Macbeth, King of Scotland Macbeth ( – 15 August 1057) was King of Scots from 1040 until his death. He ruled over the Kingdom of Alba, which covered only a portion of present-day Scotland. Little is known about Macbeth's early life, although he was the son of Findláe ...
*''The Actor's Apology'', based on an incident when
George Frederick Cooke George Frederick Cooke (17 April 1756 in London – 26 September 1812 in New York City) was an English actor. As famous for his erratic habits as for his acting, he was largely responsible for initiating the romantic style in acting that was ...
was required to apologise to an audience for his drunkenness *''Shylock Triumphant'', about
Charles Macklin Charles Macklin (26 September 1699 – 11 July 1797), (Gaelic: Cathal MacLochlainn, English: Charles McLaughlin), was an Irish actor and dramatist who performed extensively at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Macklin revolutionised theatre in ...
*''Every Inch a King'', about David Garrick *''When the Rain Stops'', the tale of Mrs Noah * ... and many more


Books

*''The boys' Dumas, G. A. Henty: aspects of Victorian publishing'' (Carcanet, 1975, ) *''An introduction to fifty British plays, 1660-1900'' (Pan Books, 1979) (also published by Heinemann as ''A reader's guide to fifty British plays, 1660-1900'', 1980, )


References

1938 births 2000 deaths Scottish dramatists and playwrights 20th-century British dramatists and playwrights {{Scotland-writer-stub