Allelujah! by Alan Bennett (Bridge Theatre)

Nearer the time I suspect. I booked my ticket for the Martin McDonagh when booking opened and still haven't received it yet.

Is that a problem?  It seems to me that if your previous play was as good and as successful as The History Boys, if you have an outstanding record of four decades of wonderful writing behind you, then you deserve to have your next play put on even if it isn't as good as your best.  Many theatre-goers will want to see even minor Alan Bennett and even minor Alan Bennett is better than no Alan Bennett in many people's view.  The same is true of Stoppard and Frayn.  That level of achievement does make your late work (even if on first sight it doesn't look that good) worth putting on.  The same is true of publishing.  If Hilary Mantel or Philip Roth wrote something their publisher didn't like, I still think they should publish it because any publisher should take the view 'we publish authors, not books' i.e. when you're dealing with writers with that amount of talent, then it's worth taking a risk on stuff not many people will like.

The decision in practice is merely commercial. There are plenty of notable playwrights who struggled to get any new plays produced when they fell out of favour - Arnold Wesker and even Arthur Miller (in USA) are examples. Likewise there are actors in the same category - Sir Donald Sindon was one. On the other hand J.K Rowling had no problem getting her feeble little detective stories published and adapted for TV.

Doris Lessing submitted something pseudonymously to her own publisher as if she were a first-time writer and it was rejected.  It caused a bit of a scandal, though quite a few middle-aged writers write novels well below their best stuff, so it's not like someone rejecting The Golden Notebook or something.  This is a charming article by the Jonathan Cape reader who rejected it, now himself a successful poet and novelist (and the son of the architect who designed the National Theatre), James Lasdun.


www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/doris-lessing-and-the-perils-of-the-pseudonymous-novel

Many many many years ago when the Royal Court used to run a young playwrights competition (the youngest age for submission was 9) someone told me that Alan Bennett used to send in a play each year to test if the judges would shortlist his work. Never heard if they did or not.

Looking at the cast, is this a whatbever happened to the history boys? Let’s hope there is some real meat left in our Alan and not some grumpy old chap’s vague left wing musings. Sorry just saying.

I’ve just booked, not my usual sort of thing but its an interesting cast and a chance to visit a theatre I’ve not been to before

I do love a good History Boy reunion.

Nice casting so far and have booked but am still hoping Maggie Smith might be in it as she is an actress would love to see onstage but probably won’t be ont it, I am alsways in hope however.

Ha! Yes, there's always a very small, selfish voice in the back of my head going '...but that means they'll be too busy to do plays' when great theatre actors suddenly get a really good TV/film role and start getting lots more work.

I think it was when James Corden hosted the Tonys that they did a whole bit about how NCIS was paying Broadway actors' bills and basically allowing them to keep doing theatre by giving them guest roles every season or so. Funny because it's true...