| The Unshaven Cheek | |
| Director: | Frith Banbury |
| Premiere: | 19 August 1963 |
| Place: | Edinburgh Festival |
| Orig Lang: | English |
| Subject: | trade unionism, craftsmanship |
| Genre: | drama |
The Unshaven Cheek is a 1963 stage play by Ray Lawler.[1]
Lawler worked on the play for a number of years, due to his struggle with its flashback structure and its autobiographical influence. The play opened the Edinburgh Festival in 1963.[2] The cast included Alfred Marks, June Jago, Reg Lye and Alister Williamson.
It was the first Lawler play to debut in Britain since Summer of the Seventeenth Coll and there was considerable interest in the play. Critical reception was not strong.[3] The Observer said it "would be a good play if it were not so anxious to be a great one."[4] Variety called it "a drab, wordy but well-acted three-acter."[5]
Lawler refused to allow the play to be performed after the initial production.[6]
Charlie Lewis looks back on his life as a craftsman. He was taken out to Australia when a young man to work as a cooper. He had a marriage and two children.