Gregory Motton
Encyclopedia
Gregory Motton is a British playwright, most of whose work has been done in France.
His 4th play, Looking at You (revived) Again commissioned originally by the NT Studio continued with the lyrical aspects of the previous plays but with a more economical technique . It followed a simple story but had a more or less non-naturalistic lyrical form. It was rejected by Peter Gill* and was therefore not the subject of a rehearsed reading. It was produced by Simon Usher at the Leicester Haymarket, in June 1989, during the period of David Gothard's co-artistic directorship. The play was transferred to the Bush by Jenny Killick , and was unanimously disliked by the critics, and the theatre was empty once again.
Consequently it was not until a further 3 years later that two of Motton's plays were produced, almost simultaneously, at the Liverpool Everyman, A Message for the Broken Hearted (directed by Ramin Gray) March 1993, The Terrible Voice of Satan (directed by James MacDonald) in July 1993, at the Royal Court which now was being run by Stephen Daldry. (Gregory Motton and Ramin Gray formed the Ducks and Geese Theatre Company to bring the former play to London, at the Battersea Arts Centre. They subsequently worked together directing a number of Motton's plays in France.)
Both plays met with almost universal disapproval by the critics and Motton's brief career in Britain was effectively over. It was to be another 12 years before one of his plays was produced there. (Except for A Little Election Satire for one week at the Gate theatre in 1997 under David Farr). His plays remained out of print in English until 1997 when James Hogan of Oberon Books began the re-publication of all his plays in several volumes.
British critic Michael Billington noted Motton's presence abroad, which he interpreted in the following manner: "Ignored in his native Britain, Gregory Motton is widely performed in France and, watching the premiere(at the Comedie Francaise) of his latest piece, it is not difficult to see why. Motton studiously rejects naturalism and instead offers a comic-strip satire on capitalist consumerism in the style of Jarry, Ionesco or Vian. He is like an absurdist with Marxist tendencies".(Guardian 2004)
Alex Sierz took this as a sign of a change in Motton's writing "The World's Biggest Diamond by Gregory Motton (Royal Court) Is Motton our English Strindberg? This account of two lovers who meet for a weekend after 30 years seethes with Scandinavian gloom. But whatever happened to Motton's distinctively weird personal vision?"(Alex Sierz)
Motton's plays have been produced only once in the past 17 years in Britain and never, in Britain, in a theatre with more than 90 seats. It is perhaps for this reason that he is considered by some commentators to have been rejected, along with some other writers, by the theatre establishment; Playwright MARK RAVENHILL, wrote:
"The English theatre has for some 50 years told itself that it is a writers' theatre. It's odd, then, that the English theatre should have produced a substantial list of playwrights who have become alienated from our theatres, often at the peak of their power.
In my imagination there's a strange hinterland, an empty multi-storey car park standing at a point equidistant from both the Royal Court and the National Theatres, where the shades of once-celebrated playwrights such as Arnold Wesker, John Arden, Howard Barker and Gregory Motton wander up and down".
To others Motton is a natural dissident because of the form and the content of his writing. Dominic Dromgoole ("not a fan of Motton's work") calls him the Tony Benn or Dennis Skinner of playwriting
More recently he has written a book ( Helping Themselves- the Left Wing Middle Classes in Theatre and the Arts )criticising the influence of the middle class left in both the arts and politics, and their effect on working class representation in politics. It includes an examination of the working class identity of the Royal Court in the 1969s and 70s, with specific reference to the public school origins of many of their best known writers This book was commissioned by Oberon Books, but was rejected by them for publication . It is published by Levellers Press. It was accepted for sale in the Royal Court bookshop by the Royal Court Artistic Director Dominic Cooke, despite its robust criticisms of that theatre.
The Rape OF Europe (Oberon) 2008
The Storm (Oberon),
The Father by August Strindberg
(Oberon),
Miss Julie
by August Strindberg
. (Oberon),
Comrades by August Strindberg
(Oberon),
Creditors
by August Strindberg
(Oberon),
The Great Highway (Oberon),
The Black Glove (Oberon),
The Dance of Death (Oberon),
Easter (Oberon)
Early career
Gregory Motton's first 2 plays went on in quick succession, Chicken (directed by Kate Harwood) at the Riverside Studios in April 1987 then Ambulance (directed by Lindsay Posner ) at the Royal Court in September 1987. His unconventional writing style soon dispersed the initial keen interest it had first awakened in managements and critics, and the 3rd play Downfall at the Royal Court in July 1988 again directed by Lindsay Posner, which contained 56 very brief scenes 26 characters and a fragmented illogical structure brought fierce condemnation from the critics and an empty theatre, and an end of the Royal Court's interest in this writer for several years.His 4th play, Looking at You (revived) Again commissioned originally by the NT Studio continued with the lyrical aspects of the previous plays but with a more economical technique . It followed a simple story but had a more or less non-naturalistic lyrical form. It was rejected by Peter Gill* and was therefore not the subject of a rehearsed reading. It was produced by Simon Usher at the Leicester Haymarket, in June 1989, during the period of David Gothard's co-artistic directorship. The play was transferred to the Bush by Jenny Killick , and was unanimously disliked by the critics, and the theatre was empty once again.
Consequently it was not until a further 3 years later that two of Motton's plays were produced, almost simultaneously, at the Liverpool Everyman, A Message for the Broken Hearted (directed by Ramin Gray) March 1993, The Terrible Voice of Satan (directed by James MacDonald) in July 1993, at the Royal Court which now was being run by Stephen Daldry. (Gregory Motton and Ramin Gray formed the Ducks and Geese Theatre Company to bring the former play to London, at the Battersea Arts Centre. They subsequently worked together directing a number of Motton's plays in France.)
Both plays met with almost universal disapproval by the critics and Motton's brief career in Britain was effectively over. It was to be another 12 years before one of his plays was produced there. (Except for A Little Election Satire for one week at the Gate theatre in 1997 under David Farr). His plays remained out of print in English until 1997 when James Hogan of Oberon Books began the re-publication of all his plays in several volumes.
France
During that period his plays were premiered in Paris. Notable productions were by the director Claude Regy(Downfall 1992 and Terrible Voice of Satan Oct 1994), and also by the Theatre de l'Odeon* where the play rejected by the NT Studio for a reading, Looking at You (revived) Again , played in its 800 seater in 1994. (Also premiered in that theatre was Loue Sois le Progress 1998). During this period Motton wrote the "Gengis" series of satirical political plays ( Cat And Mouse (Sheep), premiered at the Theatre de L'Odeon ,Gengis Amongst the Pygmies, premiered at the Comedy Francaise, A Holiday in the Sun, premiered on Radio France Culture, and The Rape Of Europe )The first of these Cat and Mouse (Sheep) was directed by Ramin Gray and Gregory Motton in English, and this production was seen briefly in Britain at the Gate Theatre under David Farr, a few months later. All 4 plays of that series have been the subject of public readings at the Royal Court, but never produced there.British critic Michael Billington noted Motton's presence abroad, which he interpreted in the following manner: "Ignored in his native Britain, Gregory Motton is widely performed in France and, watching the premiere(at the Comedie Francaise) of his latest piece, it is not difficult to see why. Motton studiously rejects naturalism and instead offers a comic-strip satire on capitalist consumerism in the style of Jarry, Ionesco or Vian. He is like an absurdist with Marxist tendencies".(Guardian 2004)
Recent work
Motton's relationship with the Royal Court began again in 2005, during Ian Rickson's tenure. Rickson was not a natural enthusiast for Motton's work and was reluctant to produce any of his characteristically unconventional plays to which there had always been significant opposition. He decided against producing A Holiday in the Sun. which he had commissioned and which was the subject of a reading. He was finally persuaded to produce The World's Biggest Diamond in 2005 which is a largely conventional drama about a life-long love affair. This starred Jane Asher and Michael Feast and, perhaps surprisingly, earned the Royal Court the only 5 star review it had so far received during Rickson's term there.Alex Sierz took this as a sign of a change in Motton's writing "The World's Biggest Diamond by Gregory Motton (Royal Court) Is Motton our English Strindberg? This account of two lovers who meet for a weekend after 30 years seethes with Scandinavian gloom. But whatever happened to Motton's distinctively weird personal vision?"(Alex Sierz)
Motton's plays have been produced only once in the past 17 years in Britain and never, in Britain, in a theatre with more than 90 seats. It is perhaps for this reason that he is considered by some commentators to have been rejected, along with some other writers, by the theatre establishment; Playwright MARK RAVENHILL, wrote:
"The English theatre has for some 50 years told itself that it is a writers' theatre. It's odd, then, that the English theatre should have produced a substantial list of playwrights who have become alienated from our theatres, often at the peak of their power.
In my imagination there's a strange hinterland, an empty multi-storey car park standing at a point equidistant from both the Royal Court and the National Theatres, where the shades of once-celebrated playwrights such as Arnold Wesker, John Arden, Howard Barker and Gregory Motton wander up and down".
To others Motton is a natural dissident because of the form and the content of his writing. Dominic Dromgoole ("not a fan of Motton's work") calls him the Tony Benn or Dennis Skinner of playwriting
Theatre and politics
In various articles and interviews Motton has voiced some criticisms of British theatre, ("The Stage of Hollow Moralising") Guardian April 16 1992, reprinted Theatre Forum Fall 1992, The Stage April 1 1993, Whats On May 5 1993, and most notably in the mid 1990s when he wrote an article about the high administrative staffing levels and low plays output of Britains regional theatres. Patrick Marmion wrote; "He stands aside from the mainstream orthodoxy of issue based writing....Now theatres are looking at his plays but remain edgy about what he may say in them" Motton's comments about British theatre may have alienated theatres against him.More recently he has written a book ( Helping Themselves- the Left Wing Middle Classes in Theatre and the Arts )criticising the influence of the middle class left in both the arts and politics, and their effect on working class representation in politics. It includes an examination of the working class identity of the Royal Court in the 1969s and 70s, with specific reference to the public school origins of many of their best known writers This book was commissioned by Oberon Books, but was rejected by them for publication . It is published by Levellers Press. It was accepted for sale in the Royal Court bookshop by the Royal Court Artistic Director Dominic Cooke, despite its robust criticisms of that theatre.
Plays include
- 'Chicken (Penguin, Oberon) Riverside Studios 1987,
- Ambulance (Penguin,/Oberon) Royal Court 1987,
- Downfall (Methuen, Oberon ) Royal Court 1988,
- Looking at You (Revived) Again, (Flood Books, Oberon) Leicester Haymarket 1989,
- A Message for the Broken Hearted 1993 (Flood Books, Oberon) Liverpool Playhouse,
- The Terrible Voice of Satan (Flood Books, Oberon) Royal Court 1993,
- Cat and Mouse (Sheep) (Flood Books, Oberon) Theatre de L'Odeon 1995,
- The Forest of Mirrors (Methuen) National Theatre Studio,
- In Praise of Progress (Oberon) Theatre de L'Odeon 1999,
- A Little Satire (Oberon) Gate Theatre 1997,
- God's Island (Oberon) Theatre de La Tempête 2001,
- You Need Some of This, Theatre de Gennevilliers,
- Gengis Amongst the Pygmies (Oberon) Comedie Francaise 2004,
- A Holiday In The Sun (Oberon) Radio France Culture 2005,
- The World's Biggest Diamond (Oberon) Royal Court 2005,
- Reviewed in
- Review, London Evening Standard
Short plays
- The Jug 1990 BBC Radio,
- Lazy Bríen 1991 BBC Radio,
- A Monologue (Oberon) Musee Dauphioise 1998,
- The Mother,
- Pirates.
Books
Helping Themselves - The Left Wing Middle Classes in Theatre and the Arts (Levellers Press 2009)Translations from Swedish
August Strindberg
Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg's career spanned four decades, during which time he wrote over 60 plays and more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography,...
(Oberon),
Miss Julie
Miss Julie is a naturalistic play written in 1888 by August Strindberg dealing with class, love, lust, the battle of the sexes, and the interaction among them...
by August Strindberg
August Strindberg
Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg's career spanned four decades, during which time he wrote over 60 plays and more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography,...
. (Oberon),
August Strindberg
Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg's career spanned four decades, during which time he wrote over 60 plays and more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography,...
(Oberon),
Creditors (play)
Creditors is a naturalistic tragicomedy by the Swedish playwright August Strindberg. It was written in Swedish during August and September 1888 in Denmark. It was first published in Danish in February 1889 and appeared in Swedish in 1890. It premièred at the Dagmar Theatre in Copenhagen in March...
by August Strindberg
August Strindberg
Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg's career spanned four decades, during which time he wrote over 60 plays and more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography,...
(Oberon),
Translations from Norwegian
- The Name by Jon Fosse (Oberon),
- Someone Is Going to Come by Jon Fosse(Oberon)