Desperado Corner
Encyclopedia
Desperado Corner is a play written for the stage by English playwright Shaun Lawton
. It started out as a collection of performance poem
s and monologue
s written and performed by Lawton in London between 1973 and 1976. It is set in the seaside town of Redcar
in the north east of England in 1959.
The play was turned down by a number of theatres in London and it was not until 1981, due to the efforts of Riverside Studios Dramaturg Paul Kember that it finally premiered at the Citizens Theatre, in Glasgow
, on 16 January of that year, with Di Trevis directing the following cast:
Due to its success, a further production was staged that same year at the Citizens, this time directed by Robert David MacDonald
. Frances Barber
took over the role of Val while Jill Spurrier took over the role of Lily.
There was also a production of the play by final year students at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
at their Vanbrugh Theatre in London.
Because of its unrestrained street language the play was considered controversial by some, yet it was hugely popular with a predominantly (and formerly) working-class audience in Glasgow, and received positive reviews, notably in the Times
, The Guardian
and The Scotsman
.
On Jan 19th. 1981 Cordelia Oliver wrote in The Guardian
: "
Ned Chaillet
wrote in The Times
on 17th Jan 1981:
And Trevor Griffiths writing in The Scotsman
on 19th Jan 1981 said:
For many of the actors it was a stepping-stone in their careers. At least two of them were immediately snapped up by agents, while Gary Oldman went on to play in Robert David MacDonald's Summit Conference and appeared in Mike Leigh's Mean Time. Five years later Jim Cartwright wrote his own first play, Road
(1986) which enjoyed considerable success.
Shaun Lawton
Shaun Lawton an English playwright, poet, actor and singer/songwriter born in the iron-ore mining village of New Marske in North Yorkshire.-Early days:...
. It started out as a collection of performance poem
Performance poetry
Performance poetry is poetry that is specifically composed for or during a performance before an audience. During the 1980s, the term came into popular usage to describe poetry written or composed for performance rather than print distribution.-History:...
s and monologue
Monologue
In theatre, a monologue is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media...
s written and performed by Lawton in London between 1973 and 1976. It is set in the seaside town of Redcar
Redcar
Redcar is a seaside resort in the north east of England, and a major town in the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire. It lies east-northeast of Middlesbrough by the North Sea coast...
in the north east of England in 1959.
The play was turned down by a number of theatres in London and it was not until 1981, due to the efforts of Riverside Studios Dramaturg Paul Kember that it finally premiered at the Citizens Theatre, in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, on 16 January of that year, with Di Trevis directing the following cast:
- Bob: Jim CartwrightJim CartwrightJim Cartwright is an English dramatist, born at Farnworth, Lancashire, England. Cartwright's first play, Road, won a number of awards before being adapted for TV and broadcast by the BBC....
- Big Larry: Andrew WildeAndrew Wilde (actor)Andrew Wilde is an English actor, perhaps best known for his work in the 1984 film Nineteen Eighty-Four. He also appeared in the Pete Townshend short film, White City: A Novel.- External links :...
- Mattie: Gary OldmanGary OldmanGary Leonard Oldman is an English actor, voice actor, filmmaker and musician.A member of the 1980s Brit Pack, Oldman came to prominence via starring roles in British films Meantime , Sid and Nancy and Prick Up Your Ears , with his performance in the latter bringing him his first BAFTA Award...
- Bazza: Mark RylanceMark RylanceMark Rylance is an English actor, theatre director and playwright.As an actor, Rylance found success on stage and screen. For his work in theatre he has won Olivier and Tony Awards among others, and a BAFTA TV Award...
- Lily: Katherine Kitowitz
- Val: Johanna Kirby
- Frank: Ciarán HindsCiarán HindsCiarán Hinds is an Irish film, television and stage actor. He has built up a reputation as a versatile character actor appearing in such high profile films as Road to Perdition, The Phantom of the Opera, Munich, There Will Be Blood and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. His television roles include...
- Alderman: Patrick Hannaway
- Builder: Gordon Hammersley
- Policeman: Roger McKern
- Geordie: Shaun LawtonShaun LawtonShaun Lawton an English playwright, poet, actor and singer/songwriter born in the iron-ore mining village of New Marske in North Yorkshire.-Early days:...
Due to its success, a further production was staged that same year at the Citizens, this time directed by Robert David MacDonald
Robert David MacDonald
Robert David MacDonald , was a Scottish playwright, translator and theatre director.-Work as a Theatre Director:...
. Frances Barber
Frances Barber
Frances Barber is an Olivier Award-nominated English actress with a long and distinguished stage career. She has also appeared in numerous television productions...
took over the role of Val while Jill Spurrier took over the role of Lily.
There was also a production of the play by final year students at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
at their Vanbrugh Theatre in London.
Because of its unrestrained street language the play was considered controversial by some, yet it was hugely popular with a predominantly (and formerly) working-class audience in Glasgow, and received positive reviews, notably in the Times
Times
The Times is a UK daily newspaper, the original English language newspaper titled "Times". Times may also refer to:In newspapers:*The Times , went defunct in 2005*The Times *The Times of Northwest Indiana...
, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
.
On Jan 19th. 1981 Cordelia Oliver wrote in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
: "
...those passages which are genuinely moving are those in which Lawton has found expression for the bitterness, the anger or the bewilderment which together drive the play along."
Ned Chaillet
Ned Chaillet
Edward William "Ned" Chaillet, III is a radio drama producer and director, writer and journalist.Ned Chaillet, American by birth, was born in Boston, Mass. but is a "native of Washington" according to the New York Times. He has lived in Britain since 1973.His newspaper career began at the...
wrote in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
on 17th Jan 1981:
"...Mr. Lawton's special achievement is to signal the deeper feelings through the obscenity and the joking."
And Trevor Griffiths writing in The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
on 19th Jan 1981 said:
"I could simply lift the repellent aspects of Shaun Lawton's Desperado Corner at the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre and you would probably think it was a grim and depressing evening of social realism. Yet, despite the sordid catalogue of brutal events portrayed in graphic detail, ranging from the anal impaling of a canary via the killing of a baby and occasional razor slashings to vomitting into roadworks and onto workmen, the production achieved a kind of manic lyricism amid several moments of high comedy." He added: "Savagely funny, but not for the squeamish"
For many of the actors it was a stepping-stone in their careers. At least two of them were immediately snapped up by agents, while Gary Oldman went on to play in Robert David MacDonald's Summit Conference and appeared in Mike Leigh's Mean Time. Five years later Jim Cartwright wrote his own first play, Road
Road (play)
Road is the first play written by Jim Cartwright, and was first produced in 1986.The play explores the lives of the people in a deprived, working class area of Lancashire during the government of Margaret Thatcher, a time of high unemployment in the north of England...
(1986) which enjoyed considerable success.