''Outside Edge'' is a play written by Richard Harris about a
village cricket
Village cricket is a term, sometimes pejorative, given to the playing of cricket in rural villages in England and Wales. Many villages have their own teams that play at varying levels in local or regional club cricket leagues.
When organised cric ...
team trying to win a game of cricket whilst sorting out their various marital problems.
Plot
Roger is having trouble getting a team together for the afternoons fixture against the
British Railways
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
Maintenance Division
Yeading
Yeading ( ) is a settlement in west London, forming part of the London Borough of Hillingdon, having been developed after the Second World War.
Etymology
Yeading is very early Saxon and was originally ''Geddingas'' or ''Geddinges'', meaning "the ...
East but this proves to be the least of anyone's worries. Bob is having marriage trouble as he is still doing odd jobs for his ex-wife behind his current wife Ginnie's back. Dennis is also having marital trouble as his wife seems intent on moving house despite the fact they only moved recently. When he finally puts his foot down she sets fire to his new car. Kevin is trying to fight off his over affectionate wife Maggie while at the same time nurse his injured spinning finger and Alex's new girlfriend ends up shutting herself in the toilets having hysterics. Even Roger's seemingly perfect marriage to Miriam hits the skids when she discovers he was playing away from home in more ways than one on a trip to
Dorking
Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England, about south of London. It is in Mole Valley District and the council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs roughly east–west, parallel to the Pipp Br ...
last year. Just when it seems things can't get any worse for them, it starts to rain.
Characters
:Roger: Roger is the team captain who seems to enjoy being the leader more than actually playing cricket. Likes to think of himself as a great leader of men and organiser but in reality most of the organising is done by his wife. Outwardly he and Miriam have a perfect marriage but there is in fact very little in the way of affection between the two and when he says I Love You it's usually just to keep her happy and not because he really means it.
:Miriam: Miriam has put up with Roger's cold and almost uncaring attitude for many years and hides all her frustration behind her beaming smile and sunny personality. Miriam is the real organiser of the team but she lets Roger take all the credit for it as she knows it makes him happy. She becomes increasingly frustrated as the play goes on and finds it more and more difficult to keep it in.
:Kevin: The closest thing Roger has to a real friend on the team and the demon spin bowler. Married to Maggie whom he adores despite their explosive relationship. He often behaves like a petulant child sulking when things don't go his way and blowing hot and cold with Maggie over her mothering of him.
:Maggie: Kevin's wife who adores him but often behaves more like his mother than his wife. Like a mother she is very good at dealing with Kevin when he gets in a sulk. Maggie is not a stereotypical woman and is more at home doing DIY than domestic chores.
:Bob: Bob is married to Ginnie but still spends a lot of time with his ex wife doing odd jobs mainly out of guilt. Bob has a constantly guilty expression and never seems to be able to say no to anyone. Despite his faults Bob is a down to earth sort who has no time for pretentious phonies like Dennis and arrogant show offs like Alex.
:Ginnie: Bob's long suffering second wife. She arrives unannounced at the match when Bob has left to visit his ex-wife leaving Miriam to try to cover for him. Ginnie's relationship with Roger and Miriam is strained to say the least as Roger was very fond of Bob's ex-wife and Ginnie views Miriam as an interfering busy body who spends too much time worrying about other people's marriages and not paying enough attention to her own declining one. It is Ginnie who first hints to Miriam about Roger's little indiscretion in Dorking.
:Dennis: Dennis is a carpet salesman who likes to give the impression he is a well-connected
self-made man
"Self-made man" is a classic phrase coined on February 2, 1842 by Henry Clay in the United States Senate, to describe individuals whose success lay within the individuals themselves, not with outside conditions. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Foun ...
. Dennis also fancies himself as a ladies man but just comes across as a letch. In an effort to get people to like him he gets equipment for the team which he gives them at a reduced price claiming he gets it wholesale when in fact he has paid full price.
:Alex: Alex is a lawyer who, perhaps for this reason alone, is much disliked by Bob – although in truth, if only out of jealousy, there are plenty of reasons to dislike this character; if his abundant snobbery and good looks aren't enough, he is also by far the best batsman on the team. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, Alex is also the only unmarried male in the play – but makes up for this with nothing less than a pole dancer girlfriend who, in one comic moment in the play, feels the need to lock herself in the toilets due to her treatment by Alex.
:Sharon: Sharon is Alex's latest girlfriend who like most of the women he tends to attract isn't overly furnished in the brain department. She feels very out of place at the cricket club and the fact that Alex ignores her doesn't make things any better. She ends up locking herself in the toilets and having hysterics.
Original cast
The play opened at the
Hampstead Theatre
Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. Roxana Silbert has been the artistic director since ...
in London on 24 July 1979 and transferred to the
Queen's Theatre on 11 September 1979. The cast was as follows:
*Roger –
Richard Kane
Brigadier General Richard Kane (1662–1736) was an Irish soldier who served in the British Army. He is particularly associated with the island of Minorca.
Origins
Born to Thomas O'Cahan and his wife, Margaret Dobbin, at his mother's home i ...
*Miriam –
Julia McKenzie
Julia Kathleen Nancy McKenzie (born 17 February 1941) is an English actress, singer, presenter, and theatre director. She has premièred leading roles written by both Alan Ayckbourn and Stephen Sondheim. On television, she is known for her BAFT ...
*Kevin –
Ian Trigger
Ian Trigger (30 September 1938 – 6 January 2010) was a British actor of stage, film and television who had a successful career in the United States. A diminutive actor, Trigger's long career saw him working in the West End, on Broadway and ...
*Maggie –
Maureen Lipman
Dame Maureen Diane Lipman (born 10 May 1946) is an English actress, writer and comedian. She trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and her stage work has included appearances with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakesp ...
*Bob –
John Kane
*Ginnie –
Susan Carpenter
*Dennis –
Julian Curry
Julian Burnlee Curry (8 December 1937 – 27 June 2020) was an English actor best known for playing Claude Erskine-Browne in ITV's legal comedy-drama '' Rumpole of the Bailey''.
Early life
The son of William Burnlee Curry (1900-1962), headmast ...
*Alex –
Martin Wimbush
Martin Wimbush (born 1949) is a British actor known for his roles in film, television, and theatre.
Early life and education
Born in London, Wimbush trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama between 1967 and 1969, and then worked e ...
*Sharon –
Natalie Forbes
Adaptations
*In 1982 the play was adapted for a one off television showing starring
Paul Eddington
Paul Clark Eddington (18 June 1927 – 4 November 1995) was an English actor best known for playing Jerry Leadbetter in the television sitcom '' The Good Life'' (1975–78) and politician Jim Hacker in the sitcom ''Yes Minister'' (1980–84) an ...
as Roger,
Prunella Scales
Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales (''née'' Illingworth; born 22 June 1932) is an English former actress, best known for playing Sybil Fawlty, wife of Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), in the BBC comedy '' Fawlty Towers'', her nomination for a ...
as Miriam,
Jonathan Lynn
Jonathan Lynn (born 3 April 1943) is an English stage and film director, producer, writer, and actor. He is known for directing the comedy films such as ''Clue'', ''Nuns on the Run'', ''My Cousin Vinny'', and ''The Whole Nine Yards''. He also c ...
as Kevin and
Maureen Lipman
Dame Maureen Diane Lipman (born 10 May 1946) is an English actress, writer and comedian. She trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and her stage work has included appearances with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakesp ...
as Maggie. The cast also featured
Gary Waldhorn
Gary Peter Waldhorn (3 July 1943 – 10 January 2022) was an English actor and comedian known for his roles in British television and theatre. He is particularly remembered for his work in the main casts of several British sitcoms. Notable role ...
as Dennis and
Leslie Ash
Leslie Ash (born 19 February 1960) is an English actress.
She is best known for her roles in ''C.A.T.S. Eyes'' (1985–1987), the BBC sitcom ''Men Behaving Badly'' (1992–1997), ITV drama '' Where the Heart Is'' (2000–2003), and BBC me ...
as Sharon.
*In the mid-1990s
Harris
Harris may refer to:
Places Canada
* Harris, Ontario
* Northland Pyrite Mine (also known as Harris Mine)
* Harris, Saskatchewan
* Rural Municipality of Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan
Scotland
* Harris, Outer Hebrides (sometimes called the Isle o ...
adapted the play into
a sitcom on ITV starring
Robert Daws
Robert Daws (born 4 May 1959) is an English actor, and crime fiction author. He is best known for his television roles, including Tuppy Glossop in ''Jeeves and Wooster'' (1990-93), gruff cricketer Roger Dervish in the comedy ''Outside Edge'' ( ...
as Roger,
Brenda Blethyn
Brenda Blethyn (''née'' Bottle; 20 February 1946) is an English actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, and two Academy Award nominations.
Blethyn ...
as Miriam,
Timothy Spall
Timothy Leonard Spall (born 27 February 1957) is an English actor and presenter. He became a household name in the UK after appearing as Barry Spencer Taylor in the 1983 ITV comedy-drama series ''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet''.
Spall performed in '' S ...
as Kevin and
Josie Lawrence
Josie Lawrence (born Wendy Lawrence; 6 June 1959) is an English actress and comedian. She is best known for her work with the Comedy Store Players improvisational troupe, the television series ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' and as Manda Best in '' ...
as Maggie.
See also
*
Village cricket
Village cricket is a term, sometimes pejorative, given to the playing of cricket in rural villages in England and Wales. Many villages have their own teams that play at varying levels in local or regional club cricket leagues.
When organised cric ...
*
''Outside Edge'' (TV series)
References
{{reflist
1979 plays
British plays