Good Fun is a play by Victoria Wood

Victoria Wood

Victoria Wood CBE is a British comedienne, actress, singer-songwriter, screenwriter and director. Wood has written and starred in sketches, plays, films and sitcoms, and her live stand-up comedy act is interspersed with her own compositions, which she accompanies on piano...

, first performed in 1980. It is set in an Arts Centre

Arts centre

An art centre or arts center is distinct from an art gallery or art museum. An arts centre is a functional community centre with a specific remit to encourage arts practice and to provide facilities such as theatre space, gallery space, venues for musical performance, workshop areas, educational...

 in North West England

North West England

North West England, informally known as The North West, is one of the nine official regions of England.North West England had a 2006 estimated population of 6,853,201 the third most populated region after London and the South East...

.

Origins

Wood, keen to trade on her previous stage success Talent

Talent (1978 play)

Talent is a play written by Victoria Wood, first performed in 1978. It centres around two friends, one of whom is about to enter a talent contest in a run down nightclub. Commissioned for the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, it received much acclaim and transferred to a London run in 1979. That same...

, was commissioned to write another play by impresario Michael Codron

Michael Codron

Michael Victor Codron is a British film and theatre producer, known for his productions of the early work of Harold Pinter, Christopher Hampton, David Hare, Simon Gray and Tom Stoppard...

. "I wrote one called Pals, which he said was 'very enjoyable'. This is a euphemism for wincing, so it went in the bin. I then wrote another called Good Fun."

Performance

The play was first performed in April 1980 at Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

's Crucible Theatre

Crucible Theatre

The Crucible Theatre is a theatre built in 1971 and located in the city centre of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. As well as theatrical performances, it is home to the most important event in professional snooker, the World Snooker Championship....

. It was directed by David Leland

David Leland

David Leland is a director, screenwriter and actor who came to international fame with his directorial debut Wish You Were Here in 1987.-Life:...

. It starred Annabel Leventon as Liz, Charles McKeown

Charles McKeown

Charles McKeown is a British actor and writer, perhaps best known for his collaborations with Terry Gilliam. The two met while shooting Monty Python's Life of Brian, while McKeown was doing bit parts in the film.-Screenwriting career:...

 as Frank, Gregory Floy as Mike, Victoria Wood as Lynne, Joe Figg as Kev, Julie Walters

Julie Walters

Julie Walters, CBE is an English actress and novelist. She came to international prominence in 1983 for Educating Rita, performing in the title role opposite Michael Caine. It was a role she had created on the West End stage and it won her BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for Best Actress...

 as Betty, Noreen Kershaw

Noreen Kershaw

Noreen Kershaw is an English television actress and director.She trained at the Manchester Polytechnic School of Theatre and, at Liverpool's Everyman Theatre, originated the title role of the play Shirley Valentine, later made famous by Pauline Collins...

] as Gail and Christopher Hancock

Christopher Hancock

Christopher Hancock was a British television and theatre actor. He was born in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, England. His brother is actor Stephen Hancock. He and his brother trained at the Old Vic theatre school...

 as Maurice. The show was then performed at The Crucible Theatre again in June that year with some cast changes. Polly James

Polly James

Polly James is an award winning British actresswith a varied career in theatre, film, television and radio spanning nearly 40 years...

 played Liz, Sam Kelly

Sam Kelly

Sam Kelly is an English actor who has appeared in television, radio and theatre.-Career:He has had roles in British sitcoms such as Porridge as Bunny Warren, Allo 'Allo! as Captain Hans Geering leaving after series three, On the Up as Dennis Waterman's chauffeur and We'll Think of Something as Les...

 played Frank and Meg Johnson

Meg Johnson

Meg Johnson is an English actress who currently plays the role of Pearl Ladderbanks in ITV's popular soap opera Emmerdale. Prior to joining Emmedale, Johnson was a part of the now-axed UK soap Brookside, playing Brigid McKenna for three years...

 played Betty.

After The Crucible's second version, the plan was to transfer the play to the West End

West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

. Though this never happened, it was performed at the King's Head Theatre in Islington

Islington

Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...

. Wood said she heard a man at the interval saying "It's a bit witty witty isn't it?" Wood's view of the play was that "there was an awful lot wrong with it but there were some lovely performances and the audiences enjoyed it."

After Good Fun Wood concentrated on television comedy and her career as a stand up comic. Though she did write two more plays "which to save bothering Michael Codron, I called 'very enjoyable' and put straight in the bin."

Reviews

Robin Thurber of The Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

said "Good Fun is just that... full of knowing little laughs. Dry laughs, belly laughs, dirty laughs and running giggles". James Fenton

James Fenton

James Martin Fenton is an English poet, journalist and literary critic. He is a former Oxford Professor of Poetry.-Life and career:...

 of The Sunday Times

The Sunday Times

The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...

said "pigeon holers will find a space for (Wood) beside Joe Orton

Joe Orton

John Kingsley Orton was an English playwright.In a short but prolific career lasting from 1964 until his death, he shocked, outraged and amused audiences with his scandalous black comedies...

 and Ken Dodd

Ken Dodd

Kenneth Arthur Dodd OBE is a British comedian and singer songwriter, famous for his frizzy hair or “fluff dom” and buck teeth or “denchers”, his favourite cleaner, the feather duster and his greeting "How tickled I am!", as well as his send-off “Lots and Lots of Happiness!”...

...But her voice is characteristically and aggressively female. Just like Talent... Good Funs rude words, hilarious gags and the insights which are more varied than either are all in the mouths of the women at its centre."