Impossible Plays: Adventures with the Cottesloe Company

255 Pages·2006·1.293 MB·English

by  Jack Shepherd, Keith Dewhurst

IMPOSSIBLE PLAYS
KEITH DEWHURSThas been a yarn tester in a cotton mill,
a football journalist, a TV presenter, an arts columnist for the
Guardian, writer in residence at Western Australian Academy
of Performing Arts, and a member of the production board of
the British Film Institute. Of his eighteen stage plays, six,
including Lark Rise, were premiered by the National Theatre
and three by the English Stage Company at the Royal Court
Theatre. His extensive TV work includes a further eighteen
plays and many episodes for series, including the original
Z-Cars, The Edwardians, Fall of Eagles, Van der Valk and
Casualty. In cinema he scripted The Empty Beach and with
David Leland co-wrote Land Girls. He has published two
novels and his latest play, King Arthur, was produced by
Shapeshifter Productions at the Arcola Theatre, London, in
November 2006.
JACK SHEPHERD was born in Leeds and studied art at
King’s College Newcastle, after which he went to Central
School of Speech and Drama. As an actor he has enjoyed a
successful career at the Royal Court and National Theatre, as
well as on the screen where he is best remembered for the series
Blind Justice and Wycliffe. More recently he appeared in
Michael Winterbottom’s film Wonderlandand in Charlotte Grey.
His many directing credits include The Honest Whore at the
Globe; King Lear at Southwark Playhouse, and Measure for
Measure at the Arcola Theatre. His first play, In Lambeth, won
the Time Out Award for best directing and writing in 1989, and
he has since written a number of plays for stage and screen. He
is currently filming the first book of Phillip Pullman’s His Dark
Materialstrilogy and writing a play for the Globe Theatre.
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IMPOSSIBLE
PLAYS
Adventures with the
Cottesloe Company
Keith Dewhurst and Jack Shepherd
LONDON • NEW DELHI • NEW YORK • SYDNEY
Bloomsbury Methuen Drama
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square 1385 Broadway
London New York
WC1B 3DP NY 10018
UK USA
www.bloomsbury.com
Bloomsbury is a registered trade mark of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published by Methuen Drama 2006
© 2006 Keith Dewhurst and Jack Shepherd
Keith Dewhurst and Jack Shepherd have asserted their rights under the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identifi ed as the authors of this work
Cover photograph: The Crucifi xion Play on National Theatre terraces, Easter 1977.
Left to right: Derek Newark, Tom Wilkinson, Mark McManus, Trevor Ray and
Gavin Grainger
© Nobby Clark
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: PB: 978-0-4137-7585-6
ePDF: 978-1-4081-4727-6
ePub: 978-1-4081-4728-3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
Contents
Foreword: Impossible Plays Jack Shepherd xi
Introduction: A Theatrical Ideal Keith Dewhurst xiii
PART ONE: AT THE ROYAL COURT
1. The French Connection Jack Shepherd 3
2. A Royal Court Actor 9
The Royal Court Studio Jack Shepherd 9
A word on the acting Jack Shepherd 11
Transforming the space Jack Shepherd 15
3. Bill Bryden 17
The Greenock dreamer Keith Dewhurst 17
The Journey of the Fifth Horse Jack Shepherd 22
A vision of the future Jack Shepherd 24
4. Pirate Black 26
Staging Pirates Keith Dewhurst 26
The actors Jack Shepherd 31
5. Victor Henry: The Company Member Who
Never was Jack Shepherd 33
6. The Baby Elephant Keith Dewhurst 40
7. Corruna! 43
Writing for a company Keith Dewhurst 43
Why ‘Impossible’? Jack Shepherd 47
The flower path Jack Shepherd 48
The alienation effect Jack Shepherd 49
Corruna!on tour Keith Dewhurst 52
The mysteries of the wrestlers’ hotel
Jack Shepherd 53
A Corruna!summary Keith Dewhurst 55
8. The Royal Court: Publicity and Personalities
Keith Dewhurst 57
Tony Richardson: ‘Can No One Clear the
Peacock Shit off this Terrace?’ Keith Dewhurst 61
PART TWO: SCOTLAND
9. Willie Rough Keith Dewhurst 65
10. The Misanthrope Jack Shepherd 67
11. Life at the Lyceum 69
The acting company Keith Dewhurst 69
Kidnapped Keith Dewhurst 70
The integrity of the space Keith Dewhurst 72
The Miser Keith Dewhurst 76
12. The Magic Island Keith Dewhurst 77
PART THREE: THE NATIONAL THEATRE
13. The Early Days of the NT 81
Watch It Come Down Keith Dewhurst 81
Social life Keith Dewhurst 83
Il Campiello Keith Dewhurst 85
14. Medieval Mysteries 89
The Passion Keith Dewhurst 89
Seeing The Passion Jack Shepherd 91
Impact Keith Dewhurst 93
Judas Jack Shepherd 93
The poet’s revenge Jack Shepherd 95
The Crucifixion play Jack Shepherd 96
15. Lark Rise 98
Luggage Keith Dewhurst 98
Lark Rise Keith Dewhurst 98
Writing Lark Rise Keith Dewhurst 102
Casting ‘Mrs Timms’ Keith Dewhurst 104
Rehearsing Lark Rise Keith Dewhurst 106
Lessons of Lark Rise Keith Dewhurst 109
16. American Buffalo 112
Two questions to ponder Keith Dewhurst 112
Playing American Buffalo Jack Shepherd 112
Dave King Jack Shepherd 116
17. The World Turned Upside Down 121
Civil war, mutinies and strikes Keith Dewhurst 121
The epic challenge of the brambles Jack Shepherd 127
18. Dispatches Jack Shepherd 129
19. Opportunities and Dilemmas 137
The Long Riders Keith Dewhurst 137
Candleford Keith Dewhurst 138
Plans and a dilemma Keith Dewhurst 140
Summer manoeuvres Keith Dewhurst 142
20. The O’Neill Season 144
The Sea Plays Jack Shepherd 144
Hughieand Stacey Jack Shepherd 145
The Iceman Cometh Jack Shepherd 147
The demon drink Jack Shepherd 148
J. G. Devlin Jack Shepherd 152
Derek Newark Jack Shepherd 152
20. Extending the Cycle 157
Creation Jack Shepherd 157
A popular success Jack Shepherd 159
The outdoor performances Jack Shepherd 160
Sixty crop pruners Jack Shepherd 161
Men without women Jack Shepherd 163
Brian Glover Jack Shepherd 164
22. Choices and Changes 169
Crazy Horse Jack Shepherd 169
Bill’s choice Keith Dewhurst 171
Cologne and Rome Jack Shepherd 174
Enforced changes Keith Dewhurst 177
23. Endings 178
Don Quixote Keith Dewhurst 178
A difficult stage Jack Shepherd 181
Departure Keith Dewhurst 182
A threat to family life Jack Shepherd 183
24. A Midsummer Night’s Dream 184
Playing the Dream Jack Shepherd 184
Mechanicals and Princess Margaret Jack Shepherd 186
A flashback Keith Dewhurst 189
25. Glengarry Glen Ross Jack Shepherd 190
26. Cinderella Jack Shepherd 194
27. The Boxing Jack Shepherd 198
28. Doomsday 201
Following the score Jack Shepherd 201
Rehearsal strategies Jack Shepherd 204
A furious row Jack Shepherd 205
‘Death’ takes the stage Jack Shepherd 206
PART FOUR: REPUTATIONS
28. The Wrap-up Keith Dewhurst 211
29. Reputations Jack Shepherd 213
30. Something Happier Keith Dewhurst 218
Epilogue: What’s the Score? Keith Dewhurst 220
A Glossary of Terms Keith Dewhurst 224
Acknowledgements 236