David Storey, The Contractor

Nicolas Tredell (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of Glasgow), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1970

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

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David Storey (1933-2017) wrote

The Contractor

in “five days” (

Stinging

, 245). It was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre in London on 20 October 1969, directed by Lindsay Anderson (1923-94). Bill Owen and Constance Chapman, who had played Mr and Mrs Shaw in

In Celebration

, took the roles of Mr and Mrs Ewbank and other notable actors included Philip Stone (1924-2003) as Kay, T.P. McKenna (1929-2011) as Fitzpatrick and John Antrobus (b. 1933) as Glendenning.

Though The Contractor was the third of Storey’s plays to be staged, it was the second he had written after seeing a 1967 production, in the same theatre, of his first play, The Restoration of Arnold Middleton (“Introduction”, Plays: Two, x), an experience that had released a fluent dramatic talent that he had not

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4061 words

Citation: Tredell, Nicolas. "The Contractor". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 January 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1187, accessed 27 July 2024.]

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