THE APPOINTMENT
by Malcolm Quantrill
Directed by Michael Bird
Cast:
Patrick Bacon, Martin Bowley, Robert Byrne, Jane Dewey, Mary Hodlin, Chris Mcdermot, Ned Gethings, Bill Wall
THE AUTHOR
Malcolm Quantrill (1931–2009) was a British architect, academic, novelist and dramatist. Born in Norwich, he studied architecture at Liverpool and Pennsylvania and began writing while living in the United States. His early literary work included the Gotobed trilogy of novels and numerous radio plays for the BBC Third Programme and Swedish Radio.
The Questors presented What Really Happened to Fidelity Hope? in the 1966 New Plays Festival and The Appointment in 1969, as well as Don’t Keep the Van Man Waiting in a 1968 programme of shorter plays.
Quantrill subsequently achieved distinction as an architectural historian and teacher, publishing influential studies of Alvar Aalto and Finnish modernism. He later became Distinguished Professor of Architecture at Texas A&M University.
WIKIPEDIA
Malcolm Quantrill
THE PLAY
Of his play THE APPOINTMENT, Malcolm Quantrill says
"Most writers are in conflict between the job they must have and the work they must do; all lovers are torn between the subjectivity of their passions and the objectivity of the material world that appears to support them; among other things THE APPOINTMENT is about the Love-Work relationship, or the Heaven-Hell chocolate bar our Society feeds us ad nauseam".
PHOTO GALLERY
PRESS REACTION
Critical opinion suggested that Malcolm Quantrill's intriguing central idea never fully realised its dramatic potential. The Middlesex County Times, criticised its stereotyped characters and lack of emotional involvement, while The Stage felt the play became static and confusing despite competent production. The Thames Valley Times also found the writing insufficiently developed, though reviewers generally acknowledged the commitment of the Questors production.
The Financial Times
The Middlesex County Times
The Thames Valley Times
The Stage and Television Today
QUESTORS ARCHIVES
THE APPOINTMENT