N. F. Simpson
Encyclopedia
Norman Frederick Simpson (29 January 1919 – 27 August 2011) was an English playwright closely associated with the Theatre of the Absurd
. To his friends he was known as Wally Simpson, in comic reference to the abdication crisis
of 1936.
before taking a job as a bank clerk. During the Second World War war he served in the Royal Artillery
and Intelligence Corps, travelling to Italy, Palestine
and Cyprus
. Following studies at Birkbeck College
for a degree in English Literature
from the University of London
after the war, but Simpson taught English in adult education
for almost 20 years.
newspaper’s quest for new writers, headed by theatre critic Kenneth Tynan
. A Resounding Tinkle premiered at the Royal Court Theatre
, London on 1 December 1957 with Nigel Davenport
as Bro Paradock and Wendy Craig
as Middie Paradock. Under pressure from Tony Richardson
, Simpson, to his regret, truncated the play to a 50-minute one-act piece. In 1959 the first complete production of the two-act version was performed by the Cambridge Theatre Actors, under the direction of John Bird
with Peter Cook
in the leading role. The Royal Court belatedly staged a full rendition on 17 January 2006.
monologues.
Many comparisons have been drawn to the work of key absurdist playwright Eugène Ionesco
. However, Simpson denies any link, adding that he had never even heard of the writer when he commenced a career in nonsense. In his own view, the valid literary parallels are with Lewis Carroll
, James Thurber
and P. G. Wodehouse
.
Simpson’s early work must also be viewed in its cultural context. BBC Radio
’s The Goon Show was widely admired, bringing surrealism to the masses for the first time. Plays such as A Resounding Tinkle arguably gentrified the idiom for London’s theatregoers, and with them the highbrow elite.
, and contributed to the West End revues One To Another (1959), One Over The Eight (1961) and On The Avenue (1961), which variously involved Peter Cook
, John Mortimer
, Harold Pinter
, Beryl Reid
and Kenneth Williams
.
Following a long break from substantial theatre writing, Simpson returned to the Royal Court in 1972 with Was He Anyone?, which formed the basis of Harry Bleachbaker, a novel published in 1976.
In November 1976, Simpson was appointed Literary Manager of the English Stage Company at the Royal Court. Having supported new work by Barrie Keefe, Sam Shepard
and Snoo Wilson
, he left in April 1978, returning to theatre for an Eduardo De Filippo
translation, Inner Voices, at the National Theatre
in 1983.
were at first resistant to the new wave of English playwrights that emerged in the late 1950s. Simpson’s A Resounding Tinkle and The Hole were both rejected by the radio network controller in November 1959. Tinkle was eventually broadcast on the BBC Third Programme in July 1960, in its one-act form with Deryck Guyler
and Alison Leggatt
as the Paradocks.
That year saw Simpson’s first radio commission, a sketch for the BBC Home Service
’s weekly revue Monday Night At Home. Cold feet amongst the production team caused it to be dropped before transmission. Subsequently Simpson’s radio work rarely strayed from the confines of the Third Programme, most notably the 1982 monologues Snippets, read by Richard Vernon
.
arrived on television in 1961, with productions of Simpson plays on both British networks. BBC TV produced a live performance of One Way Pendulum, now lost, whilst Granada
mounted a shortened version of A Resounding Tinkle for ITV
.
He was invited to contribute to BBC TV’s That Was The Week That Was
, although his sketch, ‘Televising Parliament’, was dropped due to overruns in the live transmission on 16 November 1963. and has never surfaced.
Hot on the heels of his Summer Holiday success, director Peter Yates
agreed to shoot Simpson’s most celebrated stage play, One Way Pendulum
, for release in 1964. Starring Eric Sykes
, George Cole and a mute Jonathan Miller
, Yates’ rendition of the play captured Simpson’s matter-of-fact approach to nonsense but failed at the box office.
As the BBC’s Acting Assistant Head of Light Entertainment, Frank Muir
invited Simpson to write for BBC2
in 1965. The central characters of Tinkle were expanded into seven half-hours of Three Rousing Tinkles (1966) and Four Tall Tinkles (1967), featuring Edwin Apps and Pauline Devaney as Bro and Middie. He followed this with World in Ferment (1969), a six-part parody of current affairs programming starring John Bird
, Eleanor Bron
, Jack Shepherd
and Angela Thorne
. His final series for television was the unsuccessful Charley’s Grants (1970), co-written with John Fortune
and John Wells
, starring Hattie Jacques
, and produced by Ian MacNaughton
, the producer of Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
Plays followed, including a satire on advertising, Thank You Very Much (1971), and an effective three-hander for ITV
, Silver Wedding (1974), directed by Mike Newell
. Simpson’s highest-profile production for television was Elementary, My Dear Watson (1973), a Sherlock Holmes
parody for BBC One
’s Comedy Playhouse starring John Cleese
and Willie Rushton
. It has been screened several times at the National Film Theatre in London.
It is frequently argued that Simpson’s work operates better in small doses, so it is natural that he should have produced so much sketch material for television. World in Ferment lent towards this strength, and his skilful monologues for women were seen again in But Seriously – It’s Sheila Hancock (1972). Other vehicles included Ned Sherrin
’s A Rather Reassuring Programme (1977), Beryl Reid Says… Good Evening (1968) and The Dick Emery Show (1977–1980).
in later life.
A radio documentary about his life and work, Reality is an Illusion Caused by Lack of N. F. Simpson, produced by Curtains For Radio on BBC Radio 4
on 5 April 2007, featured contributions from Eleanor Bron
, Jonathan Coe
, John Fortune
, Sir Jonathan Miller
, Sir John Mortimer, David Nobbs
, Ned Sherrin
, Eric Sykes
and Simpson himself.
It featured material recorded at a workshop for a new play, If So, Then Yes, his first full-length piece in 30 years. The Royal Court presented a rehearsed reading on 11 July 2007. The script was published in February 2009. The production made its world premiere at the Jermyn Street Theatre
in September, 2010, featuring actor Roddy Maude-Roxby, who appeared in the 1959 production of Simpson's play, One Way Pendulum, at the Royal Court Theatre.
Absurdia, a grouping of short plays by Simpson and Michael Frayn ran at the The Donmar Warehouse from July to September 2007. The short version of A Resounding Tinkle and the sketch Gladly Otherwise were directed by Douglas Hodge
and starred Peter Capaldi
. Both scripts were republished by Faber to mark this revival.
A London revival of Was He Anyone? was staged at the Union Theatre
during November 2007 by Oblique House.
A comprehensive season of Simpson's work for the screen – both silver and small – took place at BFI Southbank during May 2008.
If So, Then Yes premiered at the Jermyn Street Theatre, London, running from 7 September - 2 October 2010.
Theatre of the Absurd
The Theatre of the Absurd is a designation for particular plays of absurdist fiction, written by a number of primarily European playwrights in the late 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, as well as to the style of theatre which has evolved from their work...
. To his friends he was known as Wally Simpson, in comic reference to the abdication crisis
Edward VIII abdication crisis
In 1936, a constitutional crisis in the British Empire was caused by King-Emperor Edward VIII's proposal to marry Wallis Simpson, a twice-divorced American socialite....
of 1936.
Early years
Born in London, Simpson studied at Emanuel SchoolEmanuel School
Emanuel School is a co-educational independent school in Battersea, south-west London. The school was founded by Lady Dacre and Elizabeth I in 1594. Today it has some 710 pupils, aged between ten and eighteen.-History:...
before taking a job as a bank clerk. During the Second World War war he served in the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
and Intelligence Corps, travelling to Italy, Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
and Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
. Following studies at Birkbeck College
Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It offers many Master's and Bachelor's degree programmes that can be studied either part-time or full-time, though nearly all teaching is...
for a degree in English Literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
from the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
after the war, but Simpson taught English in adult education
Adult education
Adult education is the practice of teaching and educating adults. Adult education takes place in the workplace, through 'extension' school or 'school of continuing education' . Other learning places include folk high schools, community colleges, and lifelong learning centers...
for almost 20 years.
Theatre debut
The turning point in Simpson’s life came in 1957 when he won third prize in The ObserverThe Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
newspaper’s quest for new writers, headed by theatre critic Kenneth Tynan
Kenneth Tynan
Kenneth Peacock Tynan was an influential and often controversial English theatre critic and writer.-Early life:...
. A Resounding Tinkle premiered at the Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
, London on 1 December 1957 with Nigel Davenport
Nigel Davenport
Nigel Davenport is an English stage, television and film actor.- Early life :Davenport was born Arthur Nigel Davenport, however he goes by the first name of Nigel. Davenport was born in Shelford, Cambridgeshire, the son of Katherine Lucy and Arthur Henry Davenport. Davenport's father was a bursar...
as Bro Paradock and Wendy Craig
Wendy Craig
Wendy Craig is a BAFTA Award winning English actress who is best known for her appearances in the sitcoms Butterflies, ...And Mother Makes Three and ...And Mother Makes Five...
as Middie Paradock. Under pressure from Tony Richardson
Tony Richardson
Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson was an English theatre and film director and producer.-Early life:Richardson was born in Shipley, Yorkshire in 1928, the son of Elsie Evans and Clarence Albert Richardson, a chemist...
, Simpson, to his regret, truncated the play to a 50-minute one-act piece. In 1959 the first complete production of the two-act version was performed by the Cambridge Theatre Actors, under the direction of John Bird
John Bird (actor)
John Bird is an English satirist, actor and comedian.-Early life:Born in Bulwell, Nottingham, England, and educated at High Pavement Grammar School, Nottingham, Bird briefly joined the Socialist Party of Great Britain, while still at school...
with Peter Cook
Peter Cook
Peter Edward Cook was an English satirist, writer and comedian. An extremely influential figure in modern British comedy, he is regarded as the leading light of the British satire boom of the 1960s. He has been described by Stephen Fry as "the funniest man who ever drew breath," although Cook's...
in the leading role. The Royal Court belatedly staged a full rendition on 17 January 2006.
Style
A Resounding Tinkle typifies Simpson’s aversion to plot and establishes his talent for memorable one-liners and non-sequiturs. As with all of his subsequent work, the play demands absolutely straight delivery from actors. Such an approach fosters a conviction within the audience that the characters are living in a form of reality, where the formation of a government can be arranged via door-to-door enquiries. The extraordinary and impossible are treated as perfectly rational everyday events. This comic balance is recognised as a major influence on the early work of Peter Cook, particularly the E. L. WistyE. L. Wisty
E.L. Wisty was a fictional character played by comedian Peter Cook throughout his career. A bland, monotonal know-it-all, he was usually presented in the form of monologues and sketches in which he bores members of the public.Originally titled Mr...
monologues.
Many comparisons have been drawn to the work of key absurdist playwright Eugène Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco was a Romanian and French playwright and dramatist, and one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd...
. However, Simpson denies any link, adding that he had never even heard of the writer when he commenced a career in nonsense. In his own view, the valid literary parallels are with Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
, James Thurber
James Thurber
James Grover Thurber was an American author, cartoonist and celebrated wit. Thurber was best known for his cartoons and short stories published in The New Yorker magazine.-Life:...
and P. G. Wodehouse
P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
.
Simpson’s early work must also be viewed in its cultural context. BBC Radio
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
’s The Goon Show was widely admired, bringing surrealism to the masses for the first time. Plays such as A Resounding Tinkle arguably gentrified the idiom for London’s theatregoers, and with them the highbrow elite.
Theatre career
A close relationship between Simpson and the Royal Court continued after Tinkle, encompassing the plays The Hole (1958), his key work One Way Pendulum (1959) and The Cresta Run (1965). He wrote The Form (1961) for the Arts TheatreArts Theatre
The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London. It now operates as the West End's smallest commercial receiving house.-History:...
, and contributed to the West End revues One To Another (1959), One Over The Eight (1961) and On The Avenue (1961), which variously involved Peter Cook
Peter Cook
Peter Edward Cook was an English satirist, writer and comedian. An extremely influential figure in modern British comedy, he is regarded as the leading light of the British satire boom of the 1960s. He has been described by Stephen Fry as "the funniest man who ever drew breath," although Cook's...
, John Mortimer
John Mortimer
Sir John Clifford Mortimer, CBE, QC was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author.-Early life:...
, Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
, Beryl Reid
Beryl Reid
Beryl Elizabeth Reid, OBE was a British actress of stage and screen.-Early life:Born in Hereford, England in 1919, Reid was the daughter of Scottish parents and grew up in Manchester where she attended Withington and Levenshulme High Schools.-Career:Reid applied for and was accepted in a revue in...
and Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Charles Williams was an English comic actor and comedian. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the Carry On films, and appeared in numerous British television shows, and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne.-Life and career:Kenneth Charles Williams was born on 22 February...
.
Following a long break from substantial theatre writing, Simpson returned to the Royal Court in 1972 with Was He Anyone?, which formed the basis of Harry Bleachbaker, a novel published in 1976.
In November 1976, Simpson was appointed Literary Manager of the English Stage Company at the Royal Court. Having supported new work by Barrie Keefe, Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
and Snoo Wilson
Snoo Wilson
Snoo Wilson, , born Andrew James Wilson, is an English playwright, screenwriter and director. His early plays such as Blow-Job were overtly political, often combining harsh social comment with comedy...
, he left in April 1978, returning to theatre for an Eduardo De Filippo
Eduardo De Filippo
Eduardo De Filippo was an Italian actor, playwright, screenwriter, author and poet, best known for his Neapolitan works Filumena Marturano and Napoli Milionaria.-Biography:...
translation, Inner Voices, at the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
in 1983.
Radio
The BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
were at first resistant to the new wave of English playwrights that emerged in the late 1950s. Simpson’s A Resounding Tinkle and The Hole were both rejected by the radio network controller in November 1959. Tinkle was eventually broadcast on the BBC Third Programme in July 1960, in its one-act form with Deryck Guyler
Deryck Guyler
Deryck Guyler was an English actor, best known for his portrayal of officious, short-tempered middle-aged men in sitcoms such as Please Sir! and Sykes.-Early life:...
and Alison Leggatt
Alison Leggatt
Alison Leggatt was an English character actress.-Career:Born as Alison Joy Leggatt in the Kensington district of London, Leggatt spent the early part of her career primarily on the stage. Her first major film credit was as Aunt Sylvia in This Happy Breed , Noel Coward's homage to the British...
as the Paradocks.
That year saw Simpson’s first radio commission, a sketch for the BBC Home Service
BBC Home Service
The BBC Home Service was a British national radio station which broadcast from 1939 until 1967.-Development:Between the 1920s and the outbreak of The Second World War, the BBC had developed two nationwide radio services, the BBC National Programme and the BBC Regional Programme...
’s weekly revue Monday Night At Home. Cold feet amongst the production team caused it to be dropped before transmission. Subsequently Simpson’s radio work rarely strayed from the confines of the Third Programme, most notably the 1982 monologues Snippets, read by Richard Vernon
Richard Vernon
Richard Vernon was a British actor. He appeared in many feature films and television programmes, often in aristocratic or supercilious roles...
.
Film and television
The Theatre of the AbsurdTheatre of the Absurd
The Theatre of the Absurd is a designation for particular plays of absurdist fiction, written by a number of primarily European playwrights in the late 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, as well as to the style of theatre which has evolved from their work...
arrived on television in 1961, with productions of Simpson plays on both British networks. BBC TV produced a live performance of One Way Pendulum, now lost, whilst Granada
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
mounted a shortened version of A Resounding Tinkle for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
.
He was invited to contribute to BBC TV’s That Was The Week That Was
That Was The Week That Was
That Was The Week That Was, also known as TW3, is a satirical television comedy programme that was shown on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced and directed by Ned Sherrin and presented by David Frost...
, although his sketch, ‘Televising Parliament’, was dropped due to overruns in the live transmission on 16 November 1963. and has never surfaced.
Hot on the heels of his Summer Holiday success, director Peter Yates
Peter Yates
Peter James Yates was an English director and producer. He was born in Aldershot, Hampshire.The son of an army officer, he attended Charterhouse School as a boy, graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked for some years as an actor, director and stage manager...
agreed to shoot Simpson’s most celebrated stage play, One Way Pendulum
One Way Pendulum
One Way Pendulum is a 1964 British comedy film directed by Peter Yates and starring Eric Sykes and George Cole. It is an adaptation of the play by N. F. Simpson.-Cast:* Eric Sykes as Mr. Groomkirby* George Cole as Defense counsel/friend...
, for release in 1964. Starring Eric Sykes
Eric Sykes
Eric Sykes, CBE is an English radio, television and film writer, actor and director whose performing career has spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and/or performed with many other leading comedy performers and writers of the period, including Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Peter...
, George Cole and a mute Jonathan Miller
Jonathan Miller
Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE is a British theatre and opera director, author, physician, television presenter, humorist and sculptor. Trained as a physician in the late 1950s, he first came to prominence in the 1960s with his role in the comedy revue Beyond the Fringe with fellow writers and...
, Yates’ rendition of the play captured Simpson’s matter-of-fact approach to nonsense but failed at the box office.
As the BBC’s Acting Assistant Head of Light Entertainment, Frank Muir
Frank Muir
Frank Herbert Muir was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wrote BBC radio's Take It From Here for over 10 years, and then appeared on BBC radio...
invited Simpson to write for BBC2
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
in 1965. The central characters of Tinkle were expanded into seven half-hours of Three Rousing Tinkles (1966) and Four Tall Tinkles (1967), featuring Edwin Apps and Pauline Devaney as Bro and Middie. He followed this with World in Ferment (1969), a six-part parody of current affairs programming starring John Bird
John Bird (actor)
John Bird is an English satirist, actor and comedian.-Early life:Born in Bulwell, Nottingham, England, and educated at High Pavement Grammar School, Nottingham, Bird briefly joined the Socialist Party of Great Britain, while still at school...
, Eleanor Bron
Eleanor Bron
Eleanor Bron is an English stage, film and television actress and author.-Early life and family:Bron was born in 1938 in Stanmore, Middlesex, to a Jewish family of Eastern European origin...
, Jack Shepherd
Jack Shepherd
Jack Shepherd is an English actor, playwright, theatre director, saxophone player and jazz pianist, who made his film debut in 1969 with All Neat in Black Stockings and The Virgin Soldiers. He is perhaps best known for his television roles, most notably the title role in detective drama Wycliffe...
and Angela Thorne
Angela Thorne
Angela Thorne is an English actress who is best known for her roles in To the Manor Born and Anyone for Denis?-Early life:Angela Thorne was born in Karachi, British India, , in 1939...
. His final series for television was the unsuccessful Charley’s Grants (1970), co-written with John Fortune
John Fortune
John Fortune is a British satirist, comedian writer and actor, best known for his work with John Bird and Rory Bremner on the TV series Bremner, Bird and Fortune. He was educated at Bristol Cathedral School and King's College, Cambridge, where he was to meet and form a lasting friendship with John...
and John Wells
John Wells (satirist)
John Wells was an English actor, writer and satirist, educated at Eastbourne College and St Edmund Hall, Oxford...
, starring Hattie Jacques
Hattie Jacques
Josephine Edwina Jaques was an English comedy actress, known as Hattie Jacques.Starting her career in the 1940s, Jacques first gained attention through her radio appearances with Tommy Handley on ITMA and later with Tony Hancock on Hancock's Half Hour...
, and produced by Ian MacNaughton
Ian MacNaughton
Edward Ian Macnaughton was a Scottish former actor-turned-television producer/director, best known for his work with the Monty Python team...
, the producer of Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
Plays followed, including a satire on advertising, Thank You Very Much (1971), and an effective three-hander for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
, Silver Wedding (1974), directed by Mike Newell
Mike Newell (director)
Michael Cormac "Mike" Newell is an English director and producer of motion pictures for the screen and for television. After the release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2005, Newell became the third most commercially successful British director in recent years, behind Christopher Nolan...
. Simpson’s highest-profile production for television was Elementary, My Dear Watson (1973), a Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
parody for BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
’s Comedy Playhouse starring John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
and Willie Rushton
Willie Rushton
William George Rushton, commonly known as Willie Rushton was an English cartoonist, satirist, comedian, actor and performer who co-founded the Private Eye satirical magazine.- School and army :William George Rushton was born 18 August 1937 in the family home at Scarsdale Villas,...
. It has been screened several times at the National Film Theatre in London.
It is frequently argued that Simpson’s work operates better in small doses, so it is natural that he should have produced so much sketch material for television. World in Ferment lent towards this strength, and his skilful monologues for women were seen again in But Seriously – It’s Sheila Hancock (1972). Other vehicles included Ned Sherrin
Ned Sherrin
Edward George "Ned" Sherrin CBE was an English broadcaster, author and stage director. He qualified as a barrister and then worked in independent television before joining the BBC...
’s A Rather Reassuring Programme (1977), Beryl Reid Says… Good Evening (1968) and The Dick Emery Show (1977–1980).
Later activities
Simpson lived in CornwallCornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
in later life.
A radio documentary about his life and work, Reality is an Illusion Caused by Lack of N. F. Simpson, produced by Curtains For Radio on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
on 5 April 2007, featured contributions from Eleanor Bron
Eleanor Bron
Eleanor Bron is an English stage, film and television actress and author.-Early life and family:Bron was born in 1938 in Stanmore, Middlesex, to a Jewish family of Eastern European origin...
, Jonathan Coe
Jonathan Coe
Jonathan Coe is an English novelist and writer. His work has an underlying preoccupation with political issues, although this serious engagement is often expressed comically in the form of satire. For example, What a Carve Up! reworks the plot of an old 1960s spoof horror film of the same name...
, John Fortune
John Fortune
John Fortune is a British satirist, comedian writer and actor, best known for his work with John Bird and Rory Bremner on the TV series Bremner, Bird and Fortune. He was educated at Bristol Cathedral School and King's College, Cambridge, where he was to meet and form a lasting friendship with John...
, Sir Jonathan Miller
Jonathan Miller
Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE is a British theatre and opera director, author, physician, television presenter, humorist and sculptor. Trained as a physician in the late 1950s, he first came to prominence in the 1960s with his role in the comedy revue Beyond the Fringe with fellow writers and...
, Sir John Mortimer, David Nobbs
David Nobbs
David Gordon Nobbs is an English comedy writer.Following an education at Marlborough College and Cambridge University, Nobbs wrote for many of Britain's comedy performers over the years, including Kenneth Williams, Frankie Howerd, Les Dawson and The Two Ronnies...
, Ned Sherrin
Ned Sherrin
Edward George "Ned" Sherrin CBE was an English broadcaster, author and stage director. He qualified as a barrister and then worked in independent television before joining the BBC...
, Eric Sykes
Eric Sykes
Eric Sykes, CBE is an English radio, television and film writer, actor and director whose performing career has spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and/or performed with many other leading comedy performers and writers of the period, including Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Peter...
and Simpson himself.
It featured material recorded at a workshop for a new play, If So, Then Yes, his first full-length piece in 30 years. The Royal Court presented a rehearsed reading on 11 July 2007. The script was published in February 2009. The production made its world premiere at the Jermyn Street Theatre
Jermyn Street Theatre
Jermyn Street Theatre is a performance venue situated in Jermyn Street, London.Formerly a restaurant, under the leadership of Howard Jameson, it was transformed into a 70-seat studio theatre right in the heart of London's West End...
in September, 2010, featuring actor Roddy Maude-Roxby, who appeared in the 1959 production of Simpson's play, One Way Pendulum, at the Royal Court Theatre.
Absurdia, a grouping of short plays by Simpson and Michael Frayn ran at the The Donmar Warehouse from July to September 2007. The short version of A Resounding Tinkle and the sketch Gladly Otherwise were directed by Douglas Hodge
Douglas Hodge
Douglas Hodge is an English actor, director, and musician who trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.Hodge is a council member of the National Youth Theatre for whom, in 1989, he co-wrote Pacha Mama's Blessing about the Amazon rain forests staged at the Almeida...
and starred Peter Capaldi
Peter Capaldi
Peter Dougan Capaldi is an Academy Award and BAFTA award winning Scottish actor and film director. In 1995, his short film Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life won the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film...
. Both scripts were republished by Faber to mark this revival.
A London revival of Was He Anyone? was staged at the Union Theatre
Union Theatre (London)
The Union Theatre is a small fringe theatre situated in the borough of Southwark in London, England. It was established in 1998 by Sasha Regan who took the initiative to convert a disused paper warehouse near Southwark station into a functioning theatre...
during November 2007 by Oblique House.
A comprehensive season of Simpson's work for the screen – both silver and small – took place at BFI Southbank during May 2008.
If So, Then Yes premiered at the Jermyn Street Theatre, London, running from 7 September - 2 October 2010.
Theatre
- A Resounding Tinkle (1957)
- The HoleThe Hole (1958 play)"The Hole" is an absurdist play published in 1958, written by N.F. Simpson, a British playwright associated with the Theatre of the Absurd.-Plot:According to the Samuel French Website:...
(1958)
- One To AnotherOne to Another"One to Another" is a song by British band The Charlatans . It was the first single from the album "Tellin' Stories", and the first single since the death of band member Rob Collins. The single remains their highest charting of all time reaching the number 3 position in the UK Singles Chart....
[sketch writer] (1959)
- One Way PendulumOne Way PendulumOne Way Pendulum is a 1964 British comedy film directed by Peter Yates and starring Eric Sykes and George Cole. It is an adaptation of the play by N. F. Simpson.-Cast:* Eric Sykes as Mr. Groomkirby* George Cole as Defense counsel/friend...
– A Farce in a New Dimension (1959)
- The Form (1961)
- On The AvenueOn the AvenueOn the Avenue is a 1937 American musical film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Dick Powell, Madeleine Carroll, and Alice Faye. All of the songs in this film were composed by Irving Berlin.-Plot:...
[sketch writer] (1961)
- One Over The Eight [sketch writer] (1961)
- The Cresta Run (1965)
- How Are Your Handles? [sketches old and new] (1970)
- Playback 625 [with Leopoldo Maler] (1970)
- The Bear by Anton ChekhovAnton ChekhovAnton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
[adaptation] (1972)
- Was He Anyone? (1972)
- Whither the Ancient Burial Mounds of Old New Brunswick (1978)
- Inner VoicesInner VoicesInner Voices is a 1977 album by jazz pianist McCoy Tyner, his twelfth to be released on the Milestone label. It was recorded in September 1977 and features performances by Tyner with rhythm section horn section and vocalists...
by Eduardo De FilippoEduardo De FilippoEduardo De Filippo was an Italian actor, playwright, screenwriter, author and poet, best known for his Neapolitan works Filumena Marturano and Napoli Milionaria.-Biography:...
[adaptation] (1983)
- One Way PendulumOne Way PendulumOne Way Pendulum is a 1964 British comedy film directed by Peter Yates and starring Eric Sykes and George Cole. It is an adaptation of the play by N. F. Simpson.-Cast:* Eric Sykes as Mr. Groomkirby* George Cole as Defense counsel/friend...
[revival by Jonathan MillerJonathan MillerSir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE is a British theatre and opera director, author, physician, television presenter, humorist and sculptor. Trained as a physician in the late 1950s, he first came to prominence in the 1960s with his role in the comedy revue Beyond the Fringe with fellow writers and...
] (1988)
- Royal Court 50: A Resounding Tinkle (2006)
- If So, Then Yes [reading at Royal Court TheatreRoyal Court TheatreThe Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
] (2007)
- Absurdia: A Resounding Tinkle [revival by Douglas HodgeDouglas HodgeDouglas Hodge is an English actor, director, and musician who trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.Hodge is a council member of the National Youth Theatre for whom, in 1989, he co-wrote Pacha Mama's Blessing about the Amazon rain forests staged at the Almeida...
] (2007)
- Was He Anyone? [revival at Union Theatre] (2007)
- If So, Then Yes [premiere at Jermyn Street Theatre] (2010)
Radio
- A Resounding Tinkle [one-act play] (1960)
- Something Rather Effective [play] (1972)
- Sketches for Radio [sketches] (1974)
- Whither the Ancient Burial Mounds of Old New Brunswick (1979)
- The Parrot Cage Inspector [monologue] (1982)
- Snippets [monologue] (1982)
- Snippets Two [series] (1982)
Television
- One Way Pendulum (1961)
- A Resounding Tinkle [for Television Playhouse] (1961)
- Uhu… Huh? [sketches for Canadian television] (1965)
- 'Make-A-Man, or The Human Being: Is It Obsolete?' [for New Release] (1966)
- Three Rousing Tinkles [series] (1966)
- Four Tall Tinkles [series] (1967)
- Beryl Reid Says… Good Evening [sketches] (1968)
- World in Ferment [series] (1969)
- Charley’s Grants [co-writer, with John WellsJohn Wells (satirist)John Wells was an English actor, writer and satirist, educated at Eastbourne College and St Edmund Hall, Oxford...
and John FortuneJohn FortuneJohn Fortune is a British satirist, comedian writer and actor, best known for his work with John Bird and Rory Bremner on the TV series Bremner, Bird and Fortune. He was educated at Bristol Cathedral School and King's College, Cambridge, where he was to meet and form a lasting friendship with John...
] (1970)
- Thank You Very Much [for Play For Today] (1971)
- But Seriously – It’s Sheila Hancock [sketch writer] (1972)
- 'People Ltd.' [for Full House] (1972)
- Elementary, My Dear Watson [for Comedy Playhouse] (1973)
- Silver Wedding [for Late Night Theatre] (1974)
- An Upward Fall [for Crown Court] (1977)
- The Dick Emery ShowDick EmeryRichard Gilbert "Dick" Emery was an English comedian and actor. Beginning on radio in the 1950s, an eponymous television series ran from 1963 to 1981. He was the brother of Ann Emery.-Life and career:...
[sketch writer] (1977–1980)
- 'One Of Our St Bernard Dogs Is Missing' [poem, for Closedown] (1977)
- A Rather Reassuring Programme [sketch writer] (1977)
- Wainwright’s Law [scene writer for educational series] (1980)
Films
- One Way Pendulum [screenplay] (1964)
- Diamonds for BreakfastDiamonds for Breakfast (film)Diamonds for Breakfast is a 1968 British comedy film directed by Christopher Morahan.-Cast:* Marcello Mastroianni - Grand Duke Nicholas Wladimirovitch Goduno* Rita Tushingham - Bridget Rafferty* Elaine Taylor - Victoria* Margaret Blye - Honey...
[contributing writer] (1968)
Publications
- A Resounding Tinkle [one-act] (1958)
- The Hole (1958)
- The Observer Plays [featuring two-act Tinkle] (1958)
- New English Dramatists [featuring two-act Tinkle] (1960)
- One Way Pendulum: A Farce in a New Dimension (1960)
- 'The Overcoat' [short story for Man About Town magazine, illustrated by Peter BlakePeter Blake (artist)Sir Peter Thomas Blake, KBE, CBE, RDI, RA is an English pop artist, best known for his design of the sleeve for the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He lives in Chiswick, London, UK.-Career:...
] (1960)
- Sketches from One To Another (1960)
- 'The Strawlined Hydrant' [short story for Vogue magazine] (1960)
- The Form (1961)
- New Directions: Five One-Act Plays in the Modern Idiom [featuring one-act Tinkle] (1961)
- The Hole, and Other Plays & Sketches (1964)
- The Long and the Short and the Tall [featuring one-act Tinkle] (1964)
- The New British Drama [featuring One Way Pendulum] (1964)
- The Cresta Run (1966)
- A Resounding Tinkle [two-act] (1968)
- Some Tall Tinkles [selected television scripts] (1968)
- Was He Anyone? (1973)
- Harry Bleachbaker: A Novel (1976)
- Play Ten [featuring two short plays] (1977)
- Inner Voices by Eduardo De FilippoEduardo De FilippoEduardo De Filippo was an Italian actor, playwright, screenwriter, author and poet, best known for his Neapolitan works Filumena Marturano and Napoli Milionaria.-Biography:...
[translation] (1983)
- Snippets (2006)
- A Resounding Tinkle [two-act, also featuring 'Gladly Otherwise'] (2007)
- If So, Then Yes (2009)
Unproduced or unfinished works
- Crates [stage play] (1957)
- 'Out There By All Means But Not In Here If You Don’t Mind' [sketch] (1960)
- 'Televising Parliament' [sketch] (1963)
- A Seasonal Swing [television play] (pre-1965)
- The Consultant [television play] (1965)
- The Row [television play] (1965)
- Afternoon Tea (In A High-Ceilinged Room) [television play] (1975), [radio play] (1978)
- Napoli Milionaria by Eduardo De FilippoEduardo De FilippoEduardo De Filippo was an Italian actor, playwright, screenwriter, author and poet, best known for his Neapolitan works Filumena Marturano and Napoli Milionaria.-Biography:...
[translation, used as basis for Peter TinniswoodPeter TinniswoodPeter Tinniswood was an English radio and TV comedy scriptwriter, and author of a series of popular cricketing novels...
’s 1991 script produced at the National TheatreRoyal National TheatreThe Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
]
External links
- Samuel French, publisher of key works
- Errata, publisher of If So, Then Yes (2009)
- The Society of Wood Engravers, publisher of Snippets (2006)
- The William Ready Division Of Archives and Research Collections, N.F. Simpson Manuscripts Collection