John Hall (English playwright) explained

John Clifford Hall (26 June 1925 – 25 March 2001) was an English playwright who wrote over thirty plays for theatre, television and radio.^{[1] [2]}

Biography

Hall was educated at Queens College, Oxford,^[3] where he studied under C. S. Lewis. Study for his MA was interrupted by service in the RNVR.  For this he studied Japanese and worked in Intelligence at Bletchley Park.^{[4] [5]}

His first produced play World Behind Your Back, was in collaboration with actor William Eedle, at the Mercury Theatre in London in 1952.^{[6] [7]}

Albert Finney starred in one of his most successful plays The Lizard on the Rock, at Birmingham Repertory Theatre^{[8] [9]} of which Michael Billington wrote: 'Above all, I remember him [Finney] in The Lizard on the Rock by John Hall, which required him to be shot at point-blank range in the stomach: as he suddenly crumpled, uttering cat-like cries, the critic Kenneth Tynan in The Observer described it as "the best fall since Feuillère", who was then queen of the French stage'.^[10] The Lizard on the Rock was well-received.^{[11] [12] [13]} It is a story based around '...an industrialist – a Senator – who is prospecting for water...'^[14] '...in the Western Australian desert... the central character [is] outwardly a man of success and power, but faced with the collapse of his achievements...'^[15] and the realisation that 'Life cannot depend upon "the blandishments of power; the blind man groping among the useless treasure.'"^[2]

Sir John Gielgud was quoted as saying that the play contained 'a great deal of power and originality'.^[16] and the playwright Christopher Fry wrote: 'Mr Hall's mind is his own; what he has to say is his own...' The review in The Stage for the Birmingham production of the play read: 'an interesting journey through a variety of tense scenes, each peopled with characters that might in turn be the focal point of the play themselves... Mr. Hall... gives them an aura pregnant with possibilities.'^[17] The International Theatre Annual described the blank verse in The Lizard on the Rock as 'Eliotesque'.^[2]

Hall wrote his play Exit, Joe, Running influenced by 'the marked contrasts of life at Oxford... and Keele [Universities]... The leading character – within a few months of leaving academia – writes a paper titled "39 Reasons Why University Is No Good"'.^[18]

Hall considered the most important playwrights of the 1960s were '...Harold Pinter, Christopher Fry, Robert Bolt, John Arden, John Osborne, Arnold Wesker, Peter Schaeffer and Charles Wood'. He was influenced by Christopher Fry during the resurrection of verse drama, and by Anton Chekhov. One of his own favourite plays was Everly, which never got beyond a rehearsed reading. Wrang-Gaites, written for his sons to enjoy,^[19] was originally performed by the York Theatre Royal Activists in 1973^[19] and was later set to music at Chichester University.^[20] Of Wrang-Gaites, playwright Christopher Fry wrote: 'It is as though the traditional Mummer's Play of St George and the Dragon had spread and ramified and leapt into the twentieth century.'^[19]

Works

Stage plays

• 1957    The Strangers  –  Bristol Old Vic^{[21] [22] [14]}
• 1957    The Lizard on the Rock –  With Albert Finney (Augsberg theatre and Birmingham repertory company)^[23]
• 1958    The Holiday  –  No 1 tour with Sylvia Syms, Sian Phillips and Peter O’Toole
• 1959    The Net  –  Harrogate Opera House
• 1959    A Pennyworth of Love   –  Northampton Rep. theatre
• 1962    The Lizard on the Rock^{[24] [25] [26]}   –  tour and London Phoenix theatre with Sian Phillips, John Laurie and Harry Andrews^[27]
• 1963    I, John Brown^{[28] [29]}   –  with Sir Ian McKellen, Ipswich Arts theatre
• 1965    Convolvulus^[30]   –  Theatre Royal, Windsor
• 1966    The Little Woman  –  Traverse theatre, Edinburgh^[31]
• 1973    Bondi's Dream  –  Pool Theatre, Edinburgh
• 1973    Alva the Widow  –  Netherbow, Edinburgh
• 1974    Grass and Sky  –  Strathclyde University theatre group
• 1976    Skin and Bones  –  Aberdeen University
• 1976    Wrang-Gaites  –  York and Aberdeen student productions
• 1977    Everly  –  workshop production for Scottish society of playwrights
• 1978    Any Horse looks Fast Going Past Trees  –  Lyceum. Edinburgh

Television plays

• 1961    The Break-Up, starring Rosalie Crutchley and James Donald  –  Play of the Week, ITV
• 1963    The Swindler  –  Armchair theatre, ABC TV
• 1964    Exit Joe, Running,^[32] starring Tim Preece  –  Armchair theatre, ABC TV
• 1984    Movie Queen,^[33] with Toyah Willcox and Annie Ross –  HTV
• 1985    Child Marlene^[34]   –  BBC2, Thirty Minute Theatre
• 1986    The Proposal  –  ITV, Love Story series

Radio plays

• 1982    Chrissie  –  Radio 4
• 1983    Jackie  –  Radio 4, Saturday Night theatre
• 1985    The Gaudy^{[35] [36]}   –  Radio 3
• 1985    In the Venn Country^{[37] [38]}   –  Radio 4
• 1986    Breakfast at Mother Brown's  –  Radio 4          
• 1987    The Bridge^[39]   –  Radio 4
• 1988    The Little House^[40]   –  Radio 3
• 1989    The Wedding of Jackie^[41]   –  Radio 4

External links

• John Hall Papers at Columbia University
• John Hall Collection at the Harry Ransom Center

Notes and References

1. Ransom. Harry H.. Summer 1967. British Drama in the Sixties – A Note from London. The Texas Quarterly . 10 . 2. 15. Book.
2. Book: Hobson, Harold. International Theatre Annual No. 3. John Calder (Ltd). 1958. London.
3. [File:OxfordMAJohnHall.jpg|thumb|Certicate of MA from Oxford University, John Hall]
4. Statement of Service, Royal Naval Service Records

   John Clifford HALL

   DOB: 26 June 1925, Saltford, Somerset

   Official service number: JX 679401. Promoted to Officer in the RNVR: 03-03-44

   Date of commencement of service: 3 November 1943

   Date and cause of discharge: 30 December 1946. Released in Clas "A".

   Rank or Rating held: Ordinary Seaman, Temporary Midshipman, Temporary Acting Sub-Lieutenant, Temporary Sub-Lieutenant

   Source: Departmental Records

   Ministry of Defence

   Bourne Avenue

   Hayes

   Middlesex

   UB3 1RF

   Accessed 29 May 1997

5. Web site: John Hall: An Inventory of His Collection at the Harry Ransom Center . 2021-10-10 . norman.hrc.utexas.edu.
6. News: 10 July 1952. Review: World Behind Your Back. The Stage, London. 25 October 2021.
7. Book: Wearing, J. P.. The London Stage 1950–1959: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2014. London. 698. English.
8. Web site: V&A Images. Albert Finney, Rosamund Hall, Lizard on the Rock. V&A Images.
9. Web site: Production of Lizard on the Rock Theatricalia. 2021-10-10. theatricalia.com.
10. Web site: Billington. Michael. 29 January 2020. A tribute to the four great theatre talents we lost in 2019. 2021-10-10. Country Life. en.
11. News: Gibbs . Patrick . 10 July 1957 . New Play of Scope & Power . The Daily Telegraph . 14 May 2022.
12. News: The Stage . 18 July 1957 . The Lizard on the Rock . The Stage . 14 May 2022.
13. News: N.S. . 11 July 1957 . The Lizard on the Rock, John Hall's Tragedy . The Manchester Guardian . 14 May 2022.
14. News: FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT . 10 July 1957 . John Hall's The Lizard on The Rock at Birmingham Rep. . 5 . The Times (London).
15. News: 24 January 1957. REPERTORY: THREE WORLD PREMIERES FOR BIRMINGHAM. The Stage. 10 October 2021.
16. Book: Hall, John. The Lizard on the Rock. Methuen & Co. Ltd. 1956. London.
17. News: 18 July 1957. The Lizard On The Rock, Review. The Stage. 10 October 2021.
18. Book: White, Leonard. Armchair theatre : the lost years. 2003. Kelly Publications. 1-903053-18-8. Tiverton. 53030738.
19. Book: Hall, John. Wrang-Gaites. The Lizard Press. 1973. Kirkhill, Dyce.. English.
20. Pierce. Parker. 27 November 2017. Painted musical representation and mnemonics. CIM04 Conference on Interdisciplinary Musicology. 102.
21. Web site: UoB Calmview5: Search results . calmview.bham.ac.uk . 10 October 2021.
22. Web site: Programme for 'The Strangers' by John Hall. 2021-10-10. Mercury Theatre. en-GB.
23. Web site: John Hall's The Lizard on the Rock at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, photo Lisel Haas. England, 1957 V&A Images . V & A Images . 10 October 2021 . en.
24. Web site: Phillips, Siân 1934– Encyclopedia.com. 2021-10-11. www.encyclopedia.com.
25. Web site: Schedule – BBC Programme Index. 2021-10-11. BBC.
26. Web site: Dalzell & Beresford Ltd – Dame Siân Phillips. 2021-10-11. dalzellandberesford.com.
27. News: The Times correspondent . 19 May 1962 . Mr. John Hall's Play For The Phoenix . 4 . The Times (London) . 15 May 2022.
28. Web site: I, JOHN BROWN with Ian McKellen. 2021-10-11. mckellen.com. en.
29. Web site: Sir Ian McKellen Stage Plays Theatre Ipswich. 2021-10-11. mckellen.com. en.
30. Web site: Production of Convolvulus Theatricalia. 2021-10-11. theatricalia.com.
31. News: THE LITTLE WOMAN at the Traverse, Scotland. Cordelia Oliver. The Guardian. 12 September 1966. 7.
32. Web site: Exit Joe – Running (1964). https://web.archive.org/web/20211010213404/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b713e3e7f. dead. 10 October 2021. 2021-10-10. British Film Institute. en.
33. Web site: Movie Queen, Toyah Willcox. Toyah.net.
34. Web site: Child Marlene (1967). https://web.archive.org/web/20180407105425/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8547d699. dead. 7 April 2018. 2021-10-10. British Film Institute. en.
35. Web site: Schedule – BBC Programme Index. 2021-10-11. BBC.
36. Web site: BBC Radio Drama, Radio 3, 1985,DIVERSITY website. 2021-10-11. suttonelms.org.uk.
37. Web site: radio plays drama,bbc,The Monday Play, DIVERSITY website. 2021-10-11. suttonelms.org.uk.
38. Web site: Schedule – BBC Programme Index. 2021-10-11. BBC.
39. News: Gillard. David. 16-22 January 1988. Hear This! Radio Highlights with David Gillard (Pg 14). Radio Times 16–22 January 1988.
40. Web site: radio plays drama,bbc,Alec Reid, DIVERSITY website. 2021-10-11. suttonelms.org.uk.
41. Web site: radio plays 1990,bbc,radio drama,DIVERSITY WEBSITE,english,british,uk,classic. 2021-10-11. suttonelms.org.uk.