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The Ruling Class PDF

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Michael Steven Brewer
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1K views60 pages

The Ruling Class PDF

Uploaded by

Michael Steven Brewer
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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AChronology of Fist Performances Sons, Royal Shakespeare Company a ‘hes Landon Pn Company ashe Abo ‘The Ring Clas, Nottingham Payhowse and Pc Theat, Lends meee na’ a Sr aNd Dens, Op Sp, al, Notinghatn Playhouse, Royal Court and Apollo ‘Theatre, London, adaptation of Earth Spint and " Pane’ Bos by rk Wedekind ‘The Bed, Royal Shakespente Company a the Aldwych Thee, London Lele, Royal Cou Theatre, Losdon ed as, Royal Shakespeare Company atthe Barbican Theatre, London ya Sins and Glories, West Yorkshize Payhouse Draaning, Manchester Royal Exchange and Queens ‘Theatre, London va, oe Jobe, Roya Shaexpeare Company at ihe Soan'Theae, Sears 1965 1968 1969 1970) 1974 1978, 1985 1990) 199 201 Introduction ‘his introduction is something of a problem. It should. be esta to some extent, But T have allvays sen the world of {he auty personal a shallow, tending to break ie up int Hite ose cell, Thave therefore tied, as far s pose, to [eepany conseious autobiographical element out of my pay. Tan remember being evacuated t the country during he sear and waiting outside ou cottage fr my father 19 come Nome from night work sta nearby factory, He would come Lip teh coughing loudly athe cold morning ght and have ‘locas fr breaklst. Ibias no significance; i's jest personal Nntry: What important in my ble wil ut necessarily be so (eet andienee Write what you know bs good advice for ‘fumatiss: write what Timagine, belie, fear, think, TIthere. one certain way of achieving, absolute uapopulariy itis by waiting ngnst he prevailing odes and Tinie With each new play T presented co disinterested pines Tl as alway starting from scratch Here the fact [thc may have writen a nmber ef major pays over the years Shanty for very lide, [always had to persuade dheate vectors producers sind agents that Fhe what L was doing They di bor know For chem the theate was job, no their fives Unfortunately 1 am passionate about it And it Tinta Fish trust the water and are cooked in i ‘Sometimes im not start enongh tobe an idiot. Passion sa “dio you must never shove iF you want to be effetive in nga, Ply it cool understate, pretend to be an amateur fn ha just waraered int the ars by mistake, 1s what pts {he damp in wall and white iron old men. Ati start 1 believed that it was enough to write well, cverything would follow. It not enough and it never has item Few know what a welleriten page i, with all the ‘words looking in he same direction ‘So what was trying to doin these plays? I wanted to write a nllzeenaster drama of hairpin bends a drama of expertise 416 ‘The Ruling Cass and ecstasy balanced oma tight-ope between the comic and tragic with a muld-faceted fice vison where every ine was dramatic and every see a play in itself a drama with a language so exacei¢ could describe what the fame ofa candle looked like afer the candle had been blown out snd 20 high- ppomered it could fax telephone wies and have a direct Impact on reali a drama that made the suteal real that ‘went tothe lini, dhen father, with no dead time, but with the speed of a seimograph recording an earthquale a ‘drama of ‘The Garden of Earthly Deligh? where a Lion, a ‘Tinman and a Seareerow are always looking for a gil with ruby slippers; a drama glosfying diferences, hierarchies, hat would rouse the dad co ight, lay in the forefront ofthe srugele Tor the happiness of all mankind; an fnt-bows drama for the shorn not the shearers "The theatre isa thermometer of life but our theatre is 2 theatre without size or daring; a theatre without communion. contains no miracles. The Bread never changed into Besh ‘or the wie into blood, Its a theatre ofearpet-ippers. “Well, change ic then! Nothing's impossible “Hlave you ted juggling soot” ‘There tno creativity ony discovery. IFT return again and again co the same themes ikea child to the re, is beease they are csieatial snd I sill owe them something Bot ‘whatever forms us, whether itis te drain or the song vie itis sil, above al, igfrmai, “To strike out, to launch repeated bayonet attacks on natura, co write rigorously against the prevailing mode, Fequires courage. What courage I have T put into my work land T have none le for my ie. The word must act for me Tike others [want o help create a people who are seepicl, ‘ational, critical, not impressed a fooled, Ina word fee, and in te lira sense, ungovernable. OF course that i nt very practical bat ti ot unthinkable. ays something about our Inadequaces and limitations, saber than the bizaeeness af the iden fuel However, T who advocate feedam and Doldaese in my work, cling in my ie wo routine ad habits ike the mos conforming bourgeoisie, in order to wete. But pleae, always believe the song not the singer Introduction 417 ‘At times I feet [could not track an elephant in sx fet of soy, buts east T have provided s good home for sores of ‘ld jokes who had nowhere else t go. Ihave laughed a ot Uohen T didnot fel alot ike ughing and of course Ihave {ade a mes ofmy ile, but then Thave made ames of ll my ‘his Tite hoping to make the world alle beter and pethaps to be remembered. The later pat ofthat statement ols, as cat see, quite plainly, the time when this planet fgeuws cold and the Universe leaks away into another {Briverse andthe Coss finaly dies and theres nothing but night and nothing, e+ dhe end, but that is never a good ‘Chough region for not going on. Awriter who docs not write nmap the soul. Besides, th absurd to sit around snifing ‘vd Hers when you can invent them, and new word. Peter Barnes 1981, 1989 Introduction by Hand Hoon “Te mont exciting that can happen to-date is when he i sen and unexpecedy faced wih tlonive lane ofan enily new ent ofa vr higher STi happen very rely. In twenty year of ecg ita append fore, for example only ow ines, The ‘atthe gia proton at he Ars Theatre 1958, Sammud Beceus Wang jo Gott ‘The second, Joh ‘Osborne's ao ack edger atthe Royal Cour yon tee The the was Haw ates Te Bry Pa atthe Ly Hammerei n 195; aed the fourth Petr Bane The ‘alg Cla atthe Notngiam Payhose, tected by 8 ‘Bunge, in the autumn of 1968. ae Pechiar npc of such an experience i that one taken completely by surpite. To nee John Gili i The {pref Bag East or Laurence Oliver in Mache Mi ie Shlepne craton ea memories a ‘eran enc toy ede the unexpected, bra ahoge the unde, Befoe one seca woe anne tel wl parva aspect of humanity Ofer wil derive fom hi Performance of Macbeth, Untl be ad played Macho one Gano know that he would Bearwendloghy presen ava who hdr ewe sant he ao ithe had wo Minds, abd no man who owed loyalty to hi Th one kno beta ta prob he petonnance would te fine and moving een fvelsary. One Kn i the ge aon ha a en lon many eter oveaon, and had come to recuse hse ise ose iii "4 aang een at Notingham, ova the clase of 1968, however, os er joye and up, added hee of stoners and discovery, Before te carn foe on TA ‘ulag Cus noone appeared wave Beardfits author Peter Barnes Nobody inthe theatre appeared obo whet Be Introduction 419 Jou teen taney, had writen any ober play, was 2 Wain hr ast year at schoo, oan of geileman of Nim Pn haar tome that Mr Bares was ot 8 berth arbtcery, buh wan oly deduetion om NONE Ghat Rug Choe the moby. AS soe aedetion might easly have been wrong For Iie pedo, fa he ply has im connections wh the seer that i dees, One of most chaning ret iigen character, Dade, the itech Eat of rome nepew, ha ber played by two extremely right (aac ay Ree yr, ose grander wat [Sion and ier, whee: Me Eyre hd contract 1dr cshere by Jonathan Cal the granduon of he sees Ser. Mi Barnes however, box isl 2 tae Debres thong piatey ie i very. good Moana beat these who are He as, {later fond out sete lysate asidaous worker in that fori en ee Rodons the Reading. Room of the Brith Wiutéum. Even ths ifrmation des not soant 10 very eee fut it move than [cous daver on fhe opening might of Th Rady Clas. sh tat pertanee the play suck me Uke a revelation retey Piadspeced wong and overwhelming) Las fhe al we pes ciig toa in {Tishaa psphy,horor, ey, sd times, ee Be erect uy ia the heat word of ASRS, “oninsy and linac eatin ainda een aco yo ae ares coon’ ofa monk of at wahout wich ao ey encay oi, The Rug las throbs wit le ct ee il reugh, Whatever cits it ot dead ete funate hanging ofthe teenth Ea ou echelon ofthe fourteenth, the disputable mira and tHe Fe fal goa the epi ofJackthe Ripper and the aaa of Margure Cattrall alng with FP Shy calminaing see in be Hour of Lord, Petr Lossip cbweicd, somnolent a seeing went dsottion, amos the mst alive of al ee Pete hen a gest deal of heat cengy 420 The Raking Gass ‘concentrated on forcing plays which no-one wants to sce ot the sot af audiences that do not want to see any ply at alt ‘came as an immense delight to discover a drama which wat not only thoughtful, bu aso exciting and aang For many ‘years now incident and ploc have been diven out of ct ‘theatre: Me Bames brings them back with both gusto and Si The coup de shite ay wich the Lady of the Camellia healing las ass presented at Notingham Payhouse er 96 awe afered 0 ie Peay They oo 50 Rebrary 1963. The spect by Gone Penn a Richard Fubow ae fawn ene urn eter Whitbread eet ag nie chk 15 Bar of Gurney a ‘marvel of tageral Teg thetnd of pleasure we have mat ae ‘Duly Jone hin the eae fr more hay a decade, The moment one Bishop Lampton Ronald Magill car he fourteenth a's reply to the question what made es Gurney David Dodimead him think that he was God, one knew that new wit had been os ‘bor jn the theatre; and all through the play onc has the

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