GONE & JOKER
by Dannie Abse
Directed by Jeffrey Smith
Cast:
Graham Evans, Joseph Green, Pixie Laurie, Joe Levine, George Ritchie, Sheila Sorley, Ned Gethings, Bob Jones
Dannie Abse (1923–2014) was a Welsh poet, novelist, playwright and physician. Born into a Jewish family in Cardiff, he practised medicine for more than thirty years while establishing himself as one of Britain’s most admired contemporary poets.
Abse was a regular contributor to the New Plays Festival and a close friend of The Questors, which presented The House of Cowards (1960), Gone and The Joker (1962), Is the House Shut? (1964), The Dogs of Pavlov (1969) and Funland (1975).
The House of Cowards won the Charles Henry Foyle Award, while the publication of Three Questors Plays in 1967 reflected Abse’s particularly close association with the theatre.
The Questors later revived Gone in 1983 and presented Three Masks of “O” in 1997.
Alfred Emmet's Foreword to three of Dannie Abse's plays published in 1967
Dannie Abse on Wiklipedia
Dannie Abse Obituary (The Guardian)
THE PLAYS
GONE
A brilliantly funny study of a situation between two men when the wife of one of them has left.
The short play was revived by The Questors in 1983 as part of an Evening with Dannie Abse as Poet and Playwright.
THE JOKER
Dannie Abse's Jewish comedy was included in the Festival following a successful rehearsed reading in March. Described as a "sad comedy", underlying its uproarious funniness is a study of the successful business man hiding from himself behind a funny mask.
PRODUCTION PHOTOS (Joker)
PRESS REACTION
Critical opinion recognised The Joker as an ambitious and deeply personal play, though reviewers differed over its dramatic effectiveness. The Stage admired its compassionate treatment of a man concealing his homosexuality behind a comic façade and praised Joseph Green's central performance, while Douglas McVay, writing in the Middlesex County Times, felt the character's emotional conflict was never sufficiently clear, weakening the play's tragic conclusion.
Although only a short companion piece to The Joker, Gone attracted favourable comment for its restrained and perceptive writing. The Stage praised Dannie Abse's quietly truthful dialogue and the performances of Ned Gethings and Bob Jones, while Douglas McVay in the Middlesex County Times felt the play only tentatively explored its promising situation but nevertheless recognised its underlying wit and sadness.
The Middlesex County Times
The Stage and Television Today
QUESTORS ARCHIVES
GONE & JOKER
QUESTORS ARCHIVES
GONE (1983)
