Directed by Jeffrey Smith Cast: Jo Arundel, Alan Chambers, David Evans, Graham Evans, Ruby Feast, Awen Griffiths, Tony Harrison, Ken Heggie, David Lorraine, Bernard Mclaughlin, Jennifer Oscard, George Ritchie, Denis Skinner, Sheila Sorley, Philip Wright
ANTONY BROWN was well known as a television news reader and broadcaster. This was the second of his plays to be premiered at The Questors. In 1950, Alfred Emmet had directed PARADISE STREET, described in the press as "a robust Dockland farce".
THE PLAY
"This play presents a serious dilemma of our time in terms of the richest comedy. A variety of characters, observed by the author with an acute sense of the ludicrous, come and go in the courtyard of a pub. The events of the morning are either trivial or terrible according to one's point of view, and the final question is whether it is the trivial or the terrible events which should terrify us most."
PRESS REACTION
Antony Brown's The Courtyard impressed critics with its originality and vivid characterisation, though many found its underlying meaning elusive. Philip Hope-Wallace, writing in The Guardian, admired its rich gallery of eccentric characters but thought it offered only intermittent dramatic satisfaction, while The Stage praised Brown's distinctive theatrical voice, describing the play as an "extremely skilful but sorely puzzling comedy". TheAmateur Stage likewise recognised strong writing beneath its deliberately enigmatic surface.
