The Debt Collectors Education Pack by Helen Cadbury

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 3 MEET JOHN GODBER 4 LIFE AND SELECTED WORKS 6 MEET THE ACTORS 7 MEET THE TOUR BOOKER 10 THE PROCESS OF BOOKING A TOUR

THE MODEL BOX MEETING 12 IN REHEARSAL 1 – The Practicalities

IN REHEARSAL 2 – It Would be Funny if it Wasn’t True

THE LIFE OF AN ACTOR 15 BRITAIN IN DEBT 16 LOZ AND SPUD’S DOUBLE HARD THEATRE QUIZ

NOTES ON DRAMA THEORY 18 GODBER AND BRECHT 19 FOLLOW UP IDEAS FOR THE CLASSROOM

THE DEBT COLLECTORS AS META TEXT

LOZ AND SPUD’S KNOWLEDGE BANK 22 WRITE A REVIEW 24 FURTHER RESOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY OF JOHN GODBER

THE COMPANY 27

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the official Education Resource Pack for The Debt Collectors, the brand new play written by John Godber, for The John Godber Company in partnership with Theatre Royal Wakefield. The play follows the fortunes of Loz and Spud, two out of work actors who resort to working as debt collectors to make ends meet. Comic and sad, fast and funny, it tells an essential story for our times. (There is some strong language in the play, used in context). This pack contains exclusive interviews with John Godber and the cast of The Debt Collectors as well as unique material about how the show has been put together. It also has important resources to enable young people to understand some of the issues behind the story. The pack links to Drama, Performing Arts BTEC, English, Business Studies and financial literacy within PSHE. It will be of benefit to those studying Godber’s plays, as well as those interested in acting, playwriting, contemporary drama and the application of drama theory. We have updated the pack during the rehearsal process to give you a behind-the-scenes glimpse of this exciting new project in production. Helen Cadbury September 2011 Education Writer www.theatrestudy.com For further details of education opportunities, workshops and Q & A sessions with the cast during the tour, and for information about Theatre Royal Wakefield’s wider education programme, please contact: Rhiannon Ellis Learning and Participation Manager Theatre Royal Wakefield Drury Lane, Wakefield, West Yorkshire WF1 2TE T : 01924 334114 Web : www.theatreroyalwakefield.co.uk Visit the Theatre Royal Wakefield website where the tour schedule will soon be finalised and find out where the play will be showing near you. The resources in this pack may be printed off for classroom use only and not for profit. Any other re-use of this material is prohibited without prior permission of the author © Helen Cadbury.

MEET JOHN GODBER We caught up with John, in the beautiful surroundings of Theatre Royal Wakefield, on the day he confirmed the casting for The Debt Collectors. Read our exclusive interview below. -What is the process of creating a new play, for a new company? It’s a bit like cooking, you’re not quite sure what you’re making, but you know you’ll need certain ingredients. I don’t want to repeat what I’ve done before, but at the same time, some things have worked extremely well. I’m known for particular kinds of plays and a particular style, and even though I can write in a multitude of different styles, I’d like to look at what works. A lot of my plays are about the way something might look from the outside, but say something very different on the inside. Bouncers is the best example; on the face of it these guys are on the door, but behind that there’s a kind of sensibility. -What is The Debt Collectors about? At this stage I’m looking at what stories are out there and I’ve got a fairly strong idea of the subject. There are two guys who are actors, who are out of work. In order to make ends meet and because of the way they look, they end up getting jobs as debt collectors. It’s a growing area of job creation, you don’t need much training for it and a lot of it is about image. I’m looking to develop their stories further, for example, they’ve got families of their own, and debt problems of their own. Maybe they’re desperate to work at the Royal Shakespeare Company, or the Globe or get a job on a Jimmy McGovern drama, but instead they find that they’re door-stepping people and asking for £20 4

for a microwave. There’s a dialectic about what they really want to do on the one hand and what they are actually charged to do as a job, and that’s something that seems to affect a lot of us. I’m one of the lucky ones, I always wanted to be a playwright and I became one. Mind you, I really wanted to play football for Leeds United, but that’s long gone! There’s a contrast between the image of them on the doorstep, being threatening, and what they’re reading. They might be reading Julian Barnes or Balzac, instead of a Kung Fu magazine, and therein lies their particular character development. During the play, like a writer investigating a topic, they become fascinated by the subject of debt. -What made you choose to explore debt? Everyone is affected by debt in some way and some of the stories that I’ve uncovered are mind-boggling. The most extreme was a man who owed £37,000 and 18 months ago he had a sex change in order not to be tracked down. Then there was a woman in Swindon, who was harassed for £16,000, when she only owed £400, and she drowned herself in the village pond.

The idea first started as a television series five years ago. I’d read a book called Maxed Out – before the credit crunch – about how people were using one credit card to pay off another credit card. I went to see Sita Williams, who is the producer of The Street by Jimmy McGovern, and I said ‘there’s going to be a huge debt problem and I want to write something about it.’ She commissioned a series, for which I wrote the first episode and story-lined eight others. It wasn’t taken up in the end, perhaps because some of it was quite funny. Television doesn’t do that very well, going from being very serious to funny; it’s either funny or it’s bleak. -Is that something theatre does better? I think of your plays as being very Brechtian, in the way they work between humour and very serious issues. I like Brecht – and in Hamlet, you don’t think, ‘why am I laughing?’ Nor do you in life. What happens in this play, is that because the guys have a certain sensibility, they try to help the people they come across and because they’re actors, they empathise with the people they are dealing with. It’s a quite an illusion, having a play in which we have two actors playing debt collectors, in a play about two actors who take on the job of being debt collectors. The Versfremdungseffekt* is in play! -What do you do to prepare to write a new play? Since leaving Hull Truck I’ve read a lot of plays. It’s something you don’t have much time to do when you’re running a theatre, but in last couple of months, I’ve read well over twenty plays. That’s good because it means I’ve been testing myself against other people. I’m alert to the genesis of the Bouncers, Up ‘n Under, Teechers type plays and the way they are being studied in school. I’m alert to what audiences get out of them, so one of the things I’m keen to do

is to develop that style. I want to ensure that I include in this play some of the things that might have become known as ‘Godberesque’ theatre techniques. Although in actual fact we only ever borrow these techniques from other people. I’ve borrowed from Brecht and Berkoff and European theatre and I’ve been re-reading Dario Fo recently. I also do my research. So this weekend I went to Goole to a debt-collecting agency, just to look at the offices. I found out about another agency that had loads of testimonials about how much money they’d recouped – but when I went on the website, the agency had folded, so I wonder if they’d disappeared with all the money. I’ve also discovered that women whose husbands are in the forces are significantly more likely to be involved in debt. Their husbands are serving abroad and they want to get nice things for the kids to compensate for their dad being away and before they know it, the debts have mounted up. There are so many personal stories out there at the moment. -Are you excited about this being the first play for the new company? Very much so. I feel energised about this new work, my work with my name on it; it has to be as good as what is behind it. It’s about getting the balance right, so it’s a comedy, which is not a slapstick, but something which is almost frightening, and absurd. It’s basically about how far we’ll go to earn a living and that’s been a theme of a lot of my work. * The Verfremdungseffekt – literally the effect of making things strange, or unfamiliar. This is the term used to described the theatre style of Bertolt Brecht. It was seen as a contrast to the naturalism of ‘slice-of-life’ theatre, which Brecht felt made the audience feel too comfortable, preventing them from thinking about the issues of the play. 5

LIFE AND SELECTED PLAYS OF JOHN GODBER 1956 1969-1974 Mid 70s 1977 1981 1981 1981-1983

John Godber is born in Upton, West Yorkshire, the son of a miner Attends Minsthorpe High School, South Elmsall, West Yorkshire John trains as a drama teacher at Bretton Hall College near Wakefield The first version of Bouncers, a two-hander at that time, appears at the Edinburgh Festival. Although audience numbers are tiny, it is seen by the actor Brian Glover, who encourages John to keep going Cry Wolf for Yorkshire Actors – John’s first professional production Yorkshire Actors ask him to re-work Bouncers for them, this time as a four-hander While teaching drama at Minsthorpe High School, John’s productions win every major award at the National Student Drama Festival

1984 1984 1986 1987 1988 1989 1991 1992 1993 1995 1995 1997 1997 1998 1998 2000 2002 2002 2007 2009 2010 2011

John comes to work at Hull Truck as Artistic Director. Over the next 25 years, he writes at least 30 new plays which are produced by Hull Truck; he directs most of them as well as directing several plays by other playwrights and develops the careers of numerous actors and young directors. Below are a selection, a full list can be found at www.johngodber.co.uk/playography Shakers (written with Jane Thornton) Blood, Sweat and Tears Teechers Salt of the Earth Office Party (with Nottingham Playhouse) Happy Families (Little Theatre Guild, West Yorkshire Playhouse) April in Paris A survey in Plays and Players cites Godber as the third most performed playwright in the English Language (after Shakespeare and Ayckbourn) Lucky Sods Dracula (written with Jane Thornton) Perfect Pitch (Theatre Royal Wakefield and Hull Truck) It Started With a Kiss (set at Bretton Hall College) The feature film of Up ‘N Under is released Weekend Breaks (West Yorkshire Playhouse and Hull Truck) Seasons in the Sun (Hull Truck and West Yorkshire Playhouse) Moby Dick adaptation (with Nick Lane) Reunion (2002) Next Best Thing Funny Turns 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea adaptation The Debt Collectors for The John Godber Company in association with Theatre Royal Wakefield

Further information about John Godber can be found near the end of this pack. 6

MEET THE ACTORS

ROB HUDSON Rob trained at Central School of Speech and Drama. His

theatre career has included thirteen different shows for Hull Truck Theatre Company. He was also in An Evening with Gary Lineker for Bill Kenwright Ltd and Privates on Parade for Birmingham Rep. His film, TV and radio credits include, Mike Basset England Manager (Hallmark films), Revelations (Romulus films), Bad Girls (ITV), Doctors, Murder in Mind, Sloggers, Dalziel and Pascoe (BBC), Always and Everyone, Coronation Street (Granada). The Vice (Carlton), Heartbeat, Emmerdale, Peak Practice (Yorkshire), Red Riding Trilogy (Channel 4) and he played P.C. Yorkie Smith in The Bill 1984-1989 (Thames). He was in Bell in the Ball, Jollocks Jollities 'n Jaunts, and Once More with Feeling (BBC Radio 4.) We talked to Rob just a few weeks before rehearsals began. -What excites you about working with John Godber? I first met him in 1989 and I’ve done a lot of his plays. Sometimes they’ve been ones that were already written and some have been new plays, like this one. What I love about working with John is that he knows how I work as an actor. All actors work in different ways and he kind of ‘gets’ me, therefore he directs me very well. He can be quite a minimalist director, but if you are on his wavelength then he’s got a shorthand way of directing. He’s only got to say one thing and I know exactly what he means, where I’m going wrong or exactly what I should be doing. I subscribe to his style of acting, which he calls ‘non-acting’ – it basically looks like you’re just making it up, that you’re just walking on stage and existing, being normal but within the realms of the piece. I love his dialogue. I think he writes dialogue better than anybody in the country, it’s just so natural and so real and if it’s done well, the biggest compliment you can get is when you come off stage and people say it just looks like you’re making it up. -Of the Godber shows you’ve done before, do you have a favourite part? It’s got to be Bouncers. Every actor worth his salt wants to do Bouncers and I’ve done it twice, playing Lucky Eric, the main bouncer. It was trailblazing when it came out because they’d been nothing done like that before. He also wrote a show that we did a few years ago at Hull Truck called Christmas Crackers. I loved doing that because I got to play five different parts in it, which is typical John. I’m quite excited about playing lots of different characters again in The Debt Collectors. -What’s the challenge of working on a completely new play that won’t really exist until almost the first day of rehearsal? It’s great, especially with it being a two-hander. It really will be a team effort. Obviously the script will be there, but during rehearsal John will be refining it, honing it and seeing what works and what doesn’t work and he’ll be listening to suggestions from the actors. The way John works these days is that he has an idea about a piece, what he wants to write about, then he thinks about who he wants to be in it. Then if they’re available and they agree to do it, he’ll sit down and write the thing, with those actors in mind and he’ll know the strengths and weaknesses of the actors concerned. I’m a character actor and I can do lots of different voices and lots of different accents. 7

So if John’s writing a piece that I’m going to be in and it’s got multi-role play, he knows what I’m capable of. He’ll think ‘now Rob’s this, now Rob’s that’ and so on. It’s really nice as an actor to know that he’s writing for you. -Will this role be very different to other parts you’ve played? I’ve done a real variety of work. My career as an actor has been a bit back to front. A lot of actors do a lot of theatre then they break into television but I did it the other way round. I did a lot of TV first, I was in the original series of The Bill from 1984 to 1989 playing a character called PC Yorkie Smith. Everybody at the time knew who I was because of the show, but after five years I left it to do other stuff. I always wanted to play different parts and do different kinds of acting work and I felt a bit of a fraud, like I wasn’t being a proper actor. When I came out of The Bill, that’s when I met John and started to do more theatre. The business has changed so much from then, nowadays you can’t get in a theatre show unless you’ve been in a soap, whereas it used to be that if you were in a soap or a long-running series, they wouldn’t cast you in theatre because the audience would only know you as the person that you played on the TV. Nowadays being from the TV is a selling point. As regards the theatre work I’ve done, it’s been so varied. One year at Hull Truck, I was in a show called A Kick in the Baubles, where I played a Dad whose Christmas goes horribly wrong when his snobby sister-in-law and her husband turn up for Christmas day dinner, then I played a bi-sexual club singer and then I played Macduff in Macbeth. You couldn’t get three more contrasting parts. But that’s the kind of actor I am, I love being someone else and changing myself as much as possible. In this particular play, although the character will be based on someone very like me, I will also get a chance to play a load of other characters.

MEET THE ACTORS

WILLIAM ILKLEY William trained at Rose Bruford on the B.A. (Hons) Theatre Arts Course. He has worked in theatre all over the country including numerous shows for Hull Truck Theatre. He has just been seen as the Doctor – Richardetto, in the critically acclaimed West Yorkshire Playhouse production of Tis Pity She’s A Whore. He also has 80 TV credits including Harry’s Game, Doctor Who, Howards Way, All Creatures Great And Small, The Bill, Last Of The Summer Wine, Heartbeat, Emmerdale, Pigeon Summer, The Ward, Coronation Street, Wing And A Prayer, Gold, Hetty Wainthrop Investigates, Casualty, Judge John Deed, Dalziel & Pascoe, Holby City, The Last Detective, Eastenders, Battlefield Britain, Doctors, Family Affairs, Breaking The Chains, Vincent, Class Of 76, Thin Ice, Midsomer Murders, The Royal and Casualty 1909. -What excites you about working with John Godber? It’s a long-standing relationship going back to 1988. The best thing for me is the opportunity to work on new writing, which is always more exciting than going back to a play that is already in existence. Certainly, from my point of view, the best times I’ve had with John and the times where I’ve felt that John’s been at his most forceful and dynamic, is when we’ve been working on a brand new project, which The Debt Collectors is absolutely going to be. The first time I worked for John was on Salt of the Earth. When I came on board it was just a concept, just like this, so he began by describing what was in his mind and how it was going to be. There’s no other writer or director in the country where the actors would say, ‘yes I’ll do the job’ without even knowing what they’re going to be doing, but I’ve done that with John five or six times over the years and it’s always been all right. The Debt Collectors is going to be just as exciting because it’s a completely new piece. -What particular aspects of his style do you hope to see in the play? He’ll try to encompass the aspects of the ‘John Godber style’ – the physicality, the muscular aspect, the multi-role play and the minimalist style. If you were to ask people ‘what is John Godber’s style’ they’ll talk about shows like Up ‘n Under and the physicality of that kind of show, and the ability of a small cast to create a whole world, so the whole game of rugby is re-created on stage with just six people. Or they’ll talk about Bouncers and the multi-role play, jumping in and out of one character to another without changing costumes or hats or wigs. And they’ll talk about how he allows the audience members to use their imagination in a very big way by letting the actors take them on a journey. For example, if we’re going up Blackpool Tower, for the audience we really are going up Blackpool Tower, but we’re not – we’re standing on two wooden chairs in the middle of an empty stage. I think this is what he’s trying to encompass within this new production. It’s a very exciting time because it’s the start of a new venture and a new company, The John Godber Company. I think this is going to be a really good piece because it’s going to have all the qualities built into it that people will want but also we’ve got a subject matter that is so topical and relevant to today and which will affect so many people in the audience. Another of John’s great abilities is to write recognisable characters that people immediately identify with and who will take them on a journey with laughter and tears throughout the whole piece. We will be meeting the actors again in rehearsal to see how the show is taking shape. Watch out for the updates to the Education Pack. 9

MEET THE TOUR BOOKER: ELIZABETH JONES

Elizabeth works as a freelance arts manager. This means that she’s not employed by one company but works for different organisations, usually on specific projects. Often two or three projects overlap. Elizabeth was involved with amateur dramatics when she was a teenager and then did a degree in English & Drama. Her early jobs, after university, included working in a theatre wardrobe department and in a box office in the West End of London. She went on to be the General Manager of a touring theatre company and then General Manager of the Octagon Theatre in Bolton and later spent ten years as Chief Executive of York Theatre Royal, where she was responsible for all aspects of the organisation, including programming, finance and personnel. She currently has three strands of freelance work: • Producer & General Manager for Watershed Productions which tours family theatre across the UK and, recently, abroad. • Booking tours for other organisations. • Interim management of theatres, which need a senior manager for a short period of time, perhaps to cover a gap or a maternity leave or to solve a particular problem. • At the time of writing (May 2011), she’s doing the following: • Planning Watershed’s current tour of Charlie and Lola’s Best Bestest Play, which is touring throughout the autumn 2011 and spring 2012. This involves booking tour dates, working on marketing, casting and various production issues. • Working for Watershed on a new project for touring later this year or next. • Managing a theatre in Hastings - spending roughly alternate weeks there. • Doing the accounts for a small theatre company in York, which works in schools and with social services. • Finishing off the tour booking for The Debt Collectors. 10

THE PROCESS OF BOOKING A TOUR

An insight into Elizabeth’s job You have to start with establishing information about the show, which will include the physical size and shape of its staging. This play is unusual because we have both an in-the-round and an end-on version. Then we look at the scale – i.e. 20 dancers or 2 or 3 actors. We knew with The Debt Collectors that it only had a small cast, so it would be perfect for small to middlesized theatres. That gave me a long-list of theatres to approach. I also have a conversation with the co-producer (Murray Edwards at Theatre Royal Wakefield) about the level of income they need and the level of financial risk they are prepared to take – the choice is to charge a lower, but more reliable fee or to share a higher fee with the venue. Our initial approach is to list the likely theatres first, either because they’ve had John Godber shows in the past – or because they fit the criteria for shape and size of theatre. I’m on the mailing list of lots of theatres, so I can look through and see what kind of shows they present and I can also tell whether they have tours for a whole week or just three nights. Then I sent out an email – like a small advert for the tour. We try to get the whole weeks booked in first, then we get the split weeks (2 or 3 nights in a venue) fitted around them, bearing in mind manageable driving distances. Then I have to fill in the gaps and follow things up – each conversation goes through a process of negotiation, agreeing dates that work for both, agreeing the final deal – it can take anything from a few days to a few weeks. My objective is to ensure a secure, safe level of income for each week. The venue managers are trying to reduce their level of risk, so making sure they don’t pay out more money than they can get back at the box office. The last bit of the process is that I will reach an agreement and then I go back to the coproducer to sign it off. Then I do a ‘deal memo’ for the theatre – confirmation of everything discussed before contracts get exchanged. Did you know… There are three broad categories of theatre in the UK. 1. 2. 3. 4.

a producing theatre – which puts on productions made by it’s own Artistic Director. a presenting theatre (sometimes called a ‘receiving house’) which puts on plays created by other companies. or a mixed economy, which is quite common, of a producing theatre which also brings in work by other companies, typically producing companies which don’t have their own theatre. Can you name one theatre of each type?

THE MODEL BOX MEETING 5th July 2011

Upstairs in a corner of the theatre bar at the Theatre Royal Wakefield we find: John Godber, writer and director; Gareth Williams, production manager of the Theatre Royal Wakefield; Pip Leckenby, designer; Graham Kirk, lighting designer; and Jen Hirst, company manager, who will be going out on tour with the show (along with Nicci Colclough, the DSM who we’ll meet later in the rehearsal room.) This tour is particularly unusual because at some venues, the show will be performed in-theround and at others, it will be end-on (for example with a proscenium arch). Pip sets up the model box, with its scaled-down furniture, to show how it will look in-theround (see below). Yesterday, John asked for a cello and it has appeared straight away. The strength of their collaboration is one that has seen them create over thirty productions together. ‘Baths are hard to make out cardboard’ – Pip says, showing us a very small bath. She then moves the pieces into the proscenium arch model box (see below) and adds the flats, which won’t be needed at Stoke, York or Scarborough, because these are in-the-round venues. As John shares his ideas about the story with the design and technical team, he explains how he wants to create an effect of cutting in and out of the theatrical world and the real world. The breakthrough has been the decision to set the whole thing backstage in a theatre, instead of in a debt collector’s office. Backstage you can find anything, any object or piece of furniture that may have been left behind after a show and which will serve to tell the story.

The model of the in-the-round configuration

There is some discussion about whether or not the cello will be able to play, using some sort of mechanism in the rig, or whether this can be achieved just with sound. The flooring will be made of three pieces of dance flooring, which can have other bits added on. The lighting design will employ spotlighting, where pools of light will emphasise the action and focus in on the two performers. Gareth confirms that set building will start a week from now in a warehouse across town, which used to be a shirt factory. The first test for Jen is going to be how to get it all in the back of a van, but the whole company is going to be faced with the challenge of re-rehearsing from inthe-round to end-on. When they arrive in Halifax they’ll only have twenty-four hours to get-in, re-tech and re-rehearse on the set. Halifax is the first end-on venue. John ends the meeting by saying, ‘Now I’ve seen the set, I can go and write the play.” I’m not sure he’s entirely joking.

The model of the end-on version of the set 12

IN REHEARSAL

of costume they need to become their characters and then they are into Act 1 Scene 1.

1. The Practicalities

The stage space takes up most of the floor of the hall. It is marked out for The Debt It’s the second week of rehearsals, just before Collectors’ ‘in the round’ version and it 10 a.m., and the Company is gathering in a helps that there are pews on three sides beautiful old church building just down the to give the actors the sense of where the road from The Theatre Royal, Wakefield. On audience will be. John’s direction enables our way to this unique sneak preview of work the actors to think about what is going on for in progress, we find Rob Hudson, finishing their characters, in terms of their emotional a coffee and going over his lines in a nearby journey, while at the same time being very café. practical. At one point he reminds Rob that he needs to be careful not to get blocked on one Q: So Rob, here’s the question that side by the cello he’s holding and to make everybody wants to ask, how do you learn sure he shares the speech out to the whole all those lines? audience. The effect is instant; the delivery is now punctuated by natural changes of focus, A: I don’t record my lines or anything like that. and gains an added depth of feeling. I can’t really describe my system. There’s a lot here to learn and it’s hard getting it The actors weave effortlessly between tea all to stick, so I go over it and over it, and chests overflowing with bric-a-brac and piles in rehearsal it starts to sink in. of abandoned furniture. Occasionally they pick up an essential prop or its equivalent; Once the rehearsal has begun, it’s impressive today the cello is still a mop, as the real thing to see how much Rob and fellow actor Bill hasn’t yet arrived. Ilkley have managed to get ‘off book’ in just a week. Nicci Colclough, the Deputy Stage Manager is ‘on the book’ – that means she is following the script. She has marked her copy of the script with the blocking that was worked out in the first week and she will amend it as things change. If the actors get stuck they call ‘line’ (not ‘prompt’ as is still occasionally heard in amateur theatre).

John, Rob and Bill in rehearsal John tells Rob to give his speech: “a bit more petrol, a bit more resentment in the speech about ‘waiting for a break a call, a text’ this is the reason we’re here, because we’re not masters of our destiny, we’re waiting for someone else…” The DSM’s desk. The script is in a green ring binder. John’s script and notebook and some essential supplies for breaks on the right. Before the work begins, everyone gathers for a cup of tea and to look at some research that John has brought in. There is no warmup as such, although the actors begin quietly pacing the set, going over lines under their breath. They put on the essential pieces

A little later, Bill reaches for his script for a section that hasn’t quite stuck. John is reassuring: “don’t worry, pick the script up. It can be destructive to get off it too early.” The dialogue is packed with short sentences; some lines are just one syllable. It’s easy to see why it’s hard to learn, but the natural flow of the language is what makes it seem so authentic, like an easy conversation between two men who know each other very well.

IN REHEARSAL 2: It would be funny if it wasn’t true… by Rhiannon Ellis, Learning and Participation Manager, Theatre Royal Wakefield Watching rehearsals in Wakefield with John, Bill and Rob I am struck by how relaxed they are in one anothers’ company. The language they use: a short-hand between mates, uncompleted sentences and overlapping ideas all feature heavily in their conversations. There are similarities to the opening scene of the script where Spud and Loz are so evidently relaxed with each other that the audience has to be on their toes to keep up with their conversation, which takes tangents, twists and turns – the language of those who know each other inside-out. At points in rehearsal I find myself wondering what is the play and what is real life. SPUD LOZ SPUD A beat LOZ SPUD LOZ SPUD LOZ SPUD LOZ SPUD LOZ SPUD

Not much to snaffle! Four quid! That’s two coffees! No trick bikes? The Birthday Party? The door? Why did the chicken cross the road? Goldberg and McCann! Remember Louth? Oph! Remember Sheffield Trades and Labour Club? That wasn’t The Birthday Party Dumb Waiter.

There are also various points within the play where real life and fantasy clash. The actors ‘in role’ as debt collectors take the role too far. Spud has watched a bit too much Lethal Weapon and is allowing this to colour his ‘Action Man’ version of a debt collector. SPUD LOZ SPUD LOZ SPUD LOZ SPUD

So what’s the plan? Knock, take it easy, ask if they’d been aware of the mobile phone contract. And then bang… Eh? Bang! Bang what? Bang we’re in!

Loz has to remind him: ‘this is the real world. When people die they don’t get up again.’ The world of the play is set backstage at the theatre, yet we are transported to waiting rooms, cafés, a job interview and a variety of houses. We are constantly reminded that we are watching a play within a play with Loz’s refrain: ‘and then I’d have the scene where…’ A meta-theatre is created where the artifice is constantly the subject of comment. This is a play about actors being ‘off-stage’: a kind of Noises Off for the 21st Century, but 14

Loz and Spud can only dream of having a dressing room to go to. We are shown the private life of an actor and we see it’s not a happy place to be. John seems to enjoy playing with the ambiguity of what is true or not: pointing out where real life melts in to the world of the play: Rob Hudson, who plays Spud, really was in The Bill. He has recently been working as a bouncer in a nightclub in Sheffield, because he looked the part. Both he and Bill Ilkley have many years experience of touring theatre, of dealing with agents, of waiting for the phone to ring. This merging of reality and fiction also brings the theme of debt closer to home. If elements of the actors’ stories are true, what else is true? The stories of debt that John references in the script are, scarily, all based on fact. We recognize the truth of our own lives in the relationships and problems being played out in front of us. At one point in rehearsals, John asks everyone to gather round. His previous evening’s research has led him to a series of employment ads for debt collectors. The criteria they require sound eerily like a character study for this play. Here are some extracts from the adverts: …collectors to make regular cash collections in and around your local area on a self employed basis… …a team-player with a military background to become a key member of the team and to make their mark on this highly successful, rapidly growing business… …able to act politely and respectfully whilst maintaining a strong stance… …being prepared to go the extra mile to achieve exceptional personal rewards… …candidates with a strong military background are strongly encouraged to apply... ...do you wish to supplement your income?

All you need is transport, a telephone and a few

spare hours a week...

Sometimes fact is as strange as fiction.

Points for discussion and drama stimuli:

Did you notice how many times the word ‘strong’ appeared in the extracts from job adverts above? In pairs, create a freeze frame of the impression you think a debt collector would give to a householder. Create a scene of an interview for a job as a debt collector. How does the candidate convince the employer of their suitability? Is it just about looking ‘heavy’ or will other qualities be important?

THE LIFE OF AN ACTOR

The play is about two actors and the job they take as debt collectors when they can’t get acting work. Rob Hudson, William Ilkley and John Godber share their thoughts on the reality of the actor’s life. Rob: People think you work all the time, but of course it’s not like that. Especially in theatre, because the money’s not brilliant, not compared to TV, and you do have to do other things because you’ve got to pay the rent. At this current point in time, it’s quite ironic, because a friend of mine, who has a bar in town, asked if I’d do the door for him on Friday and Saturday nights. I said yes, and so Lucky Eric (from Bouncers) has come to life. It’s like life imitating art! It actually fits how I look at the moment too, I look the part, literally like I could rip somebody’s head off. It probably frightens them to death, so it helps that I can talk to them too. One minute I’m talking ‘Bouncers-speak’ and the next minute I’ll be talking to an English teacher about how I’ve played Macduff in Macbeth. I can easily switch from one voice to another, because of the kind of acting I’ve done. John: I think what’s interesting is that we get wrapped up with the Johnny Depps and the Jude Laws – and all that X Factor stuff, which is a kind of lottery, while the reality of being an actor is anything but glamorous. Some of my close friends and people I taught who are now actors, earn their living marking GCSE papers, labouring or doing corporate training. But I don’t frown on that, it’s part of life. I remember in about 1988, when we first started touring with Hull Truck, I was sweeping the stage at one of the big regional rep theatres, it wasn’t my job but we were getting the show in. The Artistic Director from the theatre said: is John Godber around? And someone said yes, he’s over there, sweeping the stage and she said, why are you sweeping the stage? I got the impression she would never have swept the stage because that was something the Artistic Director doesn’t do. But to me, I thought, what’s your problem? If you’re in a team, you’re in a team. William: When I’m not acting, I run a business working with schools and colleges from throughout the world. This morning I’ve been liaising with schools in Qatar, Delhi, Kenya, Oman and Hamburg – all of whom are coming to the UK in the autumn. They come to see shows and, because I’m an actor, I can get them backstage and do practical workshop sessions and have a certain access to the theatre process that they wouldn’t get otherwise. I took the two passions in my life, a passion for the arts and a passion for travel and I thought, how can I create something that’s both going to give me a business and an income when I’m not acting? A lot of people work as supply teachers or with medical companies doing role-play work or within business and industry as trainers. One girl I know does roleplay on an airliner, with airline staff, practising armed hostage situations at twenty-five thousand feet. Discussion Point: We did a short survey of actors and heard about jobs ranging from pool attendant through charity fundraiser to sign language support worker. Shireen Farkhoy, an actress from Leeds says: “Actor training helps with interviews, with presentations, with promotions work - studying communication is a huge plus.” What qualities do you think a trained actor has, which are transferrable to other jobs? 15

BRITAIN IN DEBT DEBT STATISTICS The story behind The Debt Collectors is one of real everyday lives in Britain in 2011. Last year unemployment reached 2.5 million and 135,089 people were declared insolvent, more than in any year since records began in 1960. In one tower block in Birmingham, a recent report discovered that 36% of residents were in debt (47% of whom had already cut back on basics such as food and heating), 15% had turned to pawn brokers and 8% had borrowed from moneylenders. (source: Guardian.co.uk/society/2011 Feb) According to figures from Credit Action, the national money education charity, 1,384 people are made redundant daily.

9,498

number of new debt problems dealt with by CAB each working day

1,384 people

made redundant daily

850,000

unemployed for > 12 month

£55,854

average household debt

£179m

The cost of everything… It’s very easy when you have a credit card to say ‘yes’ to purchases without thinking about the long-term cost, or to take out hire purchase agreements, which you may have problems paying further down the line. Did you know:

personal interest paid in UK daily

• The average car will cost £16.08 to run a day • It costs £68.45 on average to fill a car with a 50 litre tank of unleaded petrol. • If you buy a television outright, for example with money saved up, you will pay, on average, half what you would pay if you bought it on hire purchase, where you would pay for it over several months, with interest added on. Do you really want to share your new TV with a finance company?

a property is repossessed

Budgeting and Learning about Money It’s never too late to learn about how to work out an affordable household budget. Credit Action recommend that you start with a simple notebook and pencil and write down your incomings and outgoings, they also offer an online budgeting tool at www.creditaction.org.uk/helping-yourself Discussion Points What is the best way to manage finances? Do you know how to get help if you get into debt? Why not research the interest rates on different kinds of loans: e.g. banks, credit unions, doorto-door moneylenders. You might be surprised at the different rates you find. 16

JUNE 2011

£20.71m

daily write-offs of loans by banks & building societies

every 14 minutes

every 4.36 minutes

someone will be declared insolvent or bankrupt

£199,700,000

daily increase in Government national debt (PSDN)

£1,156,000,000 total value of all purchases made using plastic cards today

source: www.creditaction.org.uk

LOZ AND SPUD'S DOUBLE HARD THEATRE QUIZ Test your knowledge of theatre references from the play. In teams, see how many of these titles and names you know. To mark the quiz, swap answers with another team. You’ll find the answers at Loz and Spud’s Knowledge Bank, a few pages from here (just above a tattoo parlour and opposite the reptile shop). 1.

Was Fred Astaire a a) famous dancer b) a famous soldier or c) a famous debt collector?

In which Shakespeare play does Ophelia drown herself?

What TV cop series ran on ITV from 1984 and ended in 2010?

What profession is known by the term ‘rogues and vagabonds’?

The Dumb Waiter and The Birthday Party are plays written by which British playwright?

What nationality was the playwright Anton Chekhov?

What is the name of the national funding body for the arts in England?

Michael Ball and Laura Ashley: one was a British designer, the other is a singer, which is which?

Georg Kaiser was a playwright of the Weimar period, in which country?

10.

Who are Goldberg and McCann?

11.

Name one of the rivers at the confluence of which you would find the docklands of Goole.

12.

Name the other one.

13.

Goole comes from the Middle English term meaning stream or channel; name a play by Alan Ayckbourn with the word ‘upstream’ in the title.

14. 15.

In which country was Hollywood director Ridley Scott born? For an extra point, which town?

16.

What is the name of the weekly trade newspaper for theatre professionals?

17.

What does R.S.C. stand for?

GOOD LUCK!

What major international prize did Nigerian playwright Wole Soyinka win in 1986?

JOHN GODBER: NOTES ON DRAMA THEORY During our exclusive interview with John, he had several insights into drama theory, which we have gathered together here.

BRECHT

Brecht is often seen in this country as being quite dry, but in reality he was funny. I like his idea of Epic Smoke theatre, where theatre was playing to working class audiences and people would drink and smoke. We tried to do this at Hull Truck, encourage people to take their drinks in so they were comfortable and so it wasn’t a bourgeois experience. Also it’s about the way he approached the work. Brecht didn’t want a stuffy theatre, and sometimes English theatre can be very stuffy. There’s often a gentrification of the process in British theatres.

AUDIENCE

There is something about my work which is quite formalistic, but it never pretends that the audience isn’t there. Without the audience there’s no point in doing the play, but in some plays the audience almost doesn’t need to be there because the actors are so wrapped up in the play. Initially I saw this as a realistic play, maybe because it started as a television series. I imagined two guys in an office, talking about their life and it would work like the Odd Couple or Orphans, in a closed world 18

of sealed, fourth-wall realism. It might have worked very well like that, but there was something that didn’t sit right. Perhaps because it’s a new play and a new start, I didn’t want to fall back into a traditional wellmade play style. Plays are either the ones that behave as if the audience isn’t there, or plays that know that the audience is there. Between those two things you can look at anything you like, you can look at any subject matter, but there is a difference as to what the relationship is between the actors on stage and the audience. The first time I read “The Empty Space” Peter Brook’s book, I was really impressed. I’ve also re-read read Dario Fo recently, so these are still very strong influences.

LANGUAGE

My language is very sparse, as it is in Brecht and Buchner and the German writers of the 1970s. In my case it may be to do with the sparseness of the language I grew up with. Yorkshire men, especially miners who worked in lots of noise, used language in a way that was straight to the point and sometimes very brutal. Young people who are growing up with the directness of rap might identify better with that kind of language than with pages of Hedda Gabler’s internal monologue in translation. There’s something to be said for not messing about with language - take the Wakefield Mystery Plays, lines like: ‘In comes I, Saint George.’ It’s direct, to the point. My play titles are the same, they do what they say on the tin: Bouncers is a play about Bouncers, Teechers is a play about teachers. Up ‘n Under is a play about Rugby League. It’s what Nick Hornby calls ‘putting clear glass between the story and the reader’.

DISCUSSION POINT:

When you have watched the show, in what ways do you think The Debt Collectors is influenced by Brecht, Brook or the Italian political playwright Dario Fo?

GODBER AND BRECHT It is easier to rob by setting up a bank than by holding up a bank clerk. Bertold Brecht

John Godber’s style of theatre, according to The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance is: “accessible to northern working class oral cultures, utilizes a small ensemble who play multiple characters, has physical gags and mocks the establishment.” Godber mentions Brecht as a big influence on him, how do they compare? See if you can fill in the last three boxes… BRECHT Brecht dies German expressionism, including Kaiser and Buchner A rejection of the bourgeois values on which he had been raised.

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES 1956 influences

German theatre including Brecht and Buchner, Kaiser

Concerns

A rejection of the bourgeois values which had little to offer a young man from a working-class background

An affinity with and empathy for the working class. A concern about the commercialism of Weimar Germany Brecht wrote a series of “Lehrstücke’ – teaching plays.

John Harry Godber is born

teaching

A concern, in Debt Collectors, about the consumerism which has made people’s lives miserable Godber taught at Minsthorpe High School in South Yorkshire. One of his best known plays is ‘Teechers.’

laughter directing style

Add any boxes of your own where you find similarities and differences…

FOLOW UP IDEAS FOR THE DRAMA CLASSROOM 1. Two actors out of their depth. The tension and comedy in the Debt Collectors come from placing two characters in an unfamiliar context. It is often said that a good story concerns ordinary people in an extraordinary situation or extra-ordinary people in an ordinary situation. Create a scene where your characters are placed in an unusual context, but keep the speech patterns, vocabulary and physicality of their original profession. It could be comic or serious. Here are a few ideas: - - -

A taxi driver unwittingly involved in a high-speed chase An estate agent on a camping holiday A doctor who is an asylum seeker, taking work as a cleaner

Direct Address ‘Then I‘d give him a speech, so we knew what was what….’ Loz

Loz’s direct comments to the audience are an example of what is described in Brechtian theory as the Verfremdungseffekt – the effect of making the familiar unfamiliar. By speaking to the audience directly, it breaks the illusion that we are watching a slice of real life. But the role of the story-teller goes right back beyond the medieval mystery plays to the Greek chorus. Re-work the scene you created in exercise one, but this time one of your characters speaks directly to the audience. Like Loz, he or she can control the action, tell the other characters what to say. Experiment with letting some scenes run longer than others, before your story-teller interrupts. What happens if the other characters rebel? Might someone else take over the story? Remember, we all have different perspectives on the same events. 20

‘We’re in the real world now mate, when people die they don’t get up again!’ Loz

This is currently one of the big questions: do films and video games desensitize us to reality? Were the recent riots made possible because some of the rioters didn’t see the effect of their actions on real people? Do you agree with Jarvis Cocker who said at Reading Festival: ‘they weren’t rioting, they were just playing Grand Theft Auto outdoors’? Create a scene with no words, using physical theatre techniques, (slow motion, mime, sounds effects) to portray an image of the media coverage of the summer’s riots, which has stayed with you. Then focus in on one family, who will have been affected by what happened. Discussion: Theatre enables us to empathise, to stand in another person’s shoes. Do video games work in the same way if we always play the part of the winner? Or is the problem to do with how we behave in a crowd? 4.

Performing Arts: Acting

How does this play make you feel about the acting trade? There is implicit status given to different types of Acting Work… what kinds of jobs are mentioned in the show? Can you rank the jobs below in order of ‘high status’ to ‘low status’ work? Do you know which pay the most money? Do you know which contracts last longest? Why do you think agents favour one kind of job over another? Which would you choose if you are an actor? RSC /Corporate/ Birmingham Rep / Panto / T.I.E (Theatre in education) / Touring/ Independent Film / Blockbuster/ Advert / Film / Pinter / National Theatre / Fringe Write a biography for the characters in the show: can you remember what parts have they played through their careers? Fact According to a recent European study, 38% of female performers and 24% of male performers earn less than £6000 per year from performing. The next highest percentage is in the £6000-£12000 category. Taking men and women together, over half of all performers earn below the average national UK wage.

THE DEBT COLLECTORS AS META-TEXT Meta- (from Greek: μετά = “after”, “beyond”, “with”, “adjacent”, “self”), is a prefix used in English… to indicate a concept which is an abstraction from another concept, used to complete or add to the latter. (with thanks to Wikipedia) …in other words, films about film, plays about playwriting, or plays about acting, films about playmaking…. The Debt Collectors is written in a fine tradition of meta-theatre and meta-film. Plays such as Noises Off (Michael Frayn), The Dresser (Ronald Harwood) and even the play within a play in Shakespeare’s Hamlet all comment on the role of actors and the idea of creating a fictional representation of life, on stage. Film and television have given us several more examples of meta-texts: • • • • •

Withnail and I – two inebriated actors go on holiday by mistake. Fame – overly sweet backstage movie about the lives of students at a performing arts school in New York. Tropic Thunder – Ben Stiller movie in which a group of actors become the soldiers they are portraying. Extras (TV) – bitter comedy about the life of TV and film extras with Ricky Gervais. Being John Malcovich – surreal goings on when a puppeteer gets into the head of a movie star.

And a couple of recommendations from Amy Charles, on specialist placement here at Theatre Royal Wakefield during rehearsals for The Debt Collectors. A Bunch of Amateurs (2008) dir. Andy Cadiff Starring Burt Reynold’s who plays a faded American action film star trying to build up his career again. Desperate, he agrees to play King Lear in an amateur charity production in England. Debt Collectors made me think of this, as the play presents issues in life that the actors themselves may face today, linking with Burt Reynold’s dry patch in his career where for a long time some of the roles he played didn’t grab the public’s attention. Godber’s play is almost a play within a play, and in A Bunch of Amateurs it is a play within a film. It also links to the question of how far will we go when we’re desperate? Adaptation (2002) dir. Spike Jonze Written by screenwriter Charlie Kaufman about his own struggle to write a screenplay. At the moment in The Debt Collectors when Spud says he: ‘would be good at playing a father who’s proud of his daughter in a film’ - we come across the same paradox of the artist unable to adapt to real life, who sees it all as material for a performance. 21

LOZ AND SPUD'S KNOWLEDGE BANK Don’t be fooled by appearances, Loz and Spud are well read and well educated (Loz has trained to be a teacher). They love nothing better than to show off their knowledge. Here are some brief explanations to help the rest of us catch up. The Docklands of Goole – Site of Katrina’s office. Goole is a town on confluence of the River Ouse and the River Don, about 80 km from the open sea, via the Humber Estuary, and 2km from the M62. The docks are still very active, moving freight from ships to road. Goole docks handle over 90 million tonnes of cargo annually (source: Hull and Goole Port Authority.) Goole comes from the Middle English word goule meaning stream or channel. Way Upstream – is Alan Ayckbourn’s 1981 play about boating. Jean Louis Barrault – a French director, actor, playwright and drama theorist. His famous essay, The Best and Worst of Professions appears in The Uses of Drama by John Hodgson. Elsewhere he is quoted a saying: “drama is as old as man: it is as closely linked to him as his double, for the theatrical game is inherent in the existence of any living being.” The Birthday Party – written in 1958, the first full-length play by British playwright Harold Pinter. The Dumb Waiter – Pinter play about two men on a sinister mission, first performed in 1960. Rogues and Vagabonds – a term for actors. “All stage players of interludes and common plays are hereby declared to be, and are and shall be taken to be rogues and vagabonds whether they be wanderers or no…” Ordinance of Parliament February 9th 1647 The Bill – ITV cop series, 1984 – 2010. R.S.C. – The Royal Shakespeare Company based in Stratford-upon-Avon, considered by many actors to be the pinnacle of a stage career. Chekhov – 1860 – 1904 Russian dramatist. His plays are classics of naturalism. Ayckbourn – Sir Alan Ayckbourn, British playwright born in 1939. Tons of Money – originally written in 1922. A new version by Alan Ayckbourn was produced at The National Theatre in 1986. The plot concerns an upper class couple who are deeply in debt and who try increasingly farcical ways of trying to escape their problems. 22

Goldberg and McCann – Sinister characters in Pinter’s play The Birthday Party. Oi for England – 1982 television play by Trevor Griffiths set in Moss Side, Manchester, about an ‘Oi’ band (pre-Punk skinheads). The Arts Council – the funding body which distributes government subsidy and lottery money to arts organisations and artists. Mikado – a comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan first produced in 1885. Ridley Scott – Hollywood film director (Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma and Louise, Gladiator etc) born in South Shields, Tyne and Wear in 1937. Shakespeare in Love - 1998 Film co-written by Tom Stoppard and Marc Norman. Christopher Marlowe – Sixteenth Century dramatist born the same year as Shakespeare. Toyah Wilcox - punk singer and actress, born in Birmingham in 1958. The Stage – the trade newspaper for theatre professionals. TSB Trustcard – a credit card issued by the Trustee Savings Bank, now part of Lloyds TSB. Visa – another credit card. Zumba – a new dance/exercise craze. Birmingham Rep – The Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Georg Kaiser a German expressionist playwright, the most frequently performed playwright during the Weimar Republic. His 1923 play Nebeneinander (Side-by-Side) deals with the hyperinflation that hit Weimar Germany in the early 20s, and led to people carrying suitcases and wheelbarrows full of cash to buy basic supplies. Laura Ashley - a British designer whose name is still carried by the chain of shops she founded. Its brand of wallpapers are famously floral. Michael Ball – British singer and musical theatre star, born 1962. Fred Astaire – Hollywood and Broadway dancer, singer and actor born in 1899. Wole Soyinka - Nigerian playwright, poet and writer awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize for Literature.

WRITE A REVIEW OF THE DEBT COLLECTORS Watch and listen carefully during the performance. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t make notes during the play itself or you may miss things. You will have to turn your phones off too, so use your eyes, ears and memories and then make your notes in the interval or after the performance.

Review Writing Questions What do you first notice when you come into the theatre?

Is the production in-the-round or end-on at the venue where you are seeing it? And what is the effect of this choice? Can you visualise it the other way round?

What is the effect of multi-role playing?

Which characters stand out for you?

What is the effect of mixing humour with serious subject matter?

Can you detect the influence of any practitioners you have studied?

What do you notice about the design (set, costumes) of the play? What is the effect of the visual elements on: the story-telling, the mood and the atmosphere?

What is the effect of the lighting design on mood, atmosphere and story?

What does the play make you feel or think about?

FURTHER RESOURCES Texts you may wish to explore before seeing the play or afterwards to make comparison. • • • •

Any of Godber’s earlier plays particularly Bouncers and Teechers Can’t Pay Won’t Pay by Dario Fo The Good Person of Sezuan by Bertolt Brecht The Empty Space by Peter Brook

Films for comparative study: Up ‘n Under, The Full Monty, Brassed Off

John Godber Bibliography Published Plays:

April in Paris (London: Samuel French, 1993) Blood, Sweat and Tears (London: Samuel French, 1995) Bouncers (Oxford: Amber Lane Press, 1985) Bouncers (London: Warner Chappell Plays, 1987) Bouncers 1990’s Remix (London: Warner Chappell Plays, 1993) Gym and Tonic (London: Samuel French, 2000) Happy Families (London: Samuel French, 1992) Happy Jack (London: Penguin, 1989) It Started With a Kiss (London: Samuel French, 2001) Lucky Sods (London: Samuel French, 1996) On a Night Like This (London: Josef Weinburger, 2001) On the Piste (London: Warner Chappell Plays, 1991) Passion Killers (London: Samuel French, 1996) Salt of the Earth (London: Samuel French, 1990) September in the Rain (London: Penguin, 1989) Teechers (Oxford: Amber Lane Press, 1985) Teechers (London: Samuel French, 1989) The Office Party (London: Warner Chappell Plays, 1994) Unleashed (London: Samuel French, 2001) Up’n’Under (London: Samuel French, 1991) Up’n’Under (Oxford: Amber Lane Press, 1985) Up’n’Under II (London: Samuel French, 1994) WITH JANE THORNTON: Dracula, adapted from Bram Stoker’s novel(London: Warner Chappell Plays, 1996) Shakers (London: Warner Chappell Plays, 1987) Shakers Re-stirred (London: Warner Chappell Plays, 1993) 25

Collections: Bouncers, Shakers: (London: Warner Chappell Plays, 1989) Five Plays: Bouncers, Teechers, Up’n’Under, September in the Rain, Happy Jack (London: Penguin, 1989) Lucky Sods and Passion Killers (London: Methuen, 1995) Godber Plays One: Bouncers, Happy Families, Shakers (London: Methuen 2001) Godber Plays Two: Teechers, Happy Jack, September in the Rain, Salt of the Earth (London: Methuen 2001) Godber Plays Three: Up’n’Under, Perfect Pitch, April in Paris (London: Methuen 2003)

Other Published Work: The Rainbow-Coloured Disco Dancer by C. P. Taylor, adapted by John Godber, published in Right On Cue (ed. Gervase Phinn) Worcester: Unwin Hyman, 1989 National Theatre Platform Papers: Making Them Laugh, Strictly Unscripted: (6 May 1993) With Ray Cooney and Simon Donald

Work in Media Other than Theatre: Screenplays:

Up’n’Under 21 January 1998, Touchdown Productions, Film of the 1984 play.

Television Scripts: Blood, Sweat and Tears Broadcast by BBC Television, 10 September 1986 Bloomin’ Marvellous 8th September 1997 BBC Television, eight-part situation comedy Brookside (Mersey Television) 1983. Eleven episodes Chalkface 6 May 1991 BBC Television (Writer and series adviser) Crown Court (Granada Television) three-part episode entitled Night Fever, 1981. Grange Hill (BBC Television) Five Episodes: Series 7 (1984) Episode 13 - February 14 & Episode 15 - February 21, Series 8 (1985) Episode 6 - March 6 & Episode 15 - April 10,  Series 9 (1986) Episode 11 - February 11 My Kingdom for a Horse 13 March 1991 BBC Television Oddsquad 16 June 2005 13:00 - 13:30 Original television production for BBC2’s Scene children’s series Shakers the Television Play. Date unknown The Continental BBC Television 1987 The Rainbow-Coloured Disco Dancer (Thames Television) Adaptation of C.P. Taylor short story. 1983 The Ritz BBC Television six part series April 1986 Toys of Age (With Richard Lewis) 1979 for Southern Television

Other: Happy Jack Adapted and broadcast as a radio play on BBC Radio 4. Broadcast date unknown Three short comedy sketches for Radio Sheffield, broadcast in 1972, precise date unknown  (bibliography courtesy of www.johngodber.co.uk)

THE COMPANY In March 2011 John and Jane Godber launched The John Godber Company. Its home will be at Theatre Royal Wakefield, West Yorkshire. The Theatre will co-produce future UK tours of his work, with the majority opening at the Wakefield venue. The company will be touring two shows per year across the UK with a third tour being added later next year. The Theatre Royal is just over ten miles from the village of Upton where John Godber was born. It is a beautiful Victorian theatre from 1894, designed by Frank Matcham. At the launch, Murray Edwards, Executive Director of Theatre Royal Wakefield said: “This is exciting news for the Theatre and the Wakefield District. In celebration of our new partnership John has written a new play entitled The Debt Collectors which will start touring in the Autumn of this year, we look forward to this new era with great anticipation.” John Godber’s move to Wakefield has huge significance for him both professionally and personally. He said “When considering a home for my new Company it made perfect sense to come back to my Wakefield roots, I have no doubt the new partnership with Theatre Royal Wakefield will be a happy and productive one.” 27

Theatre Royal Wakefield