''Butley'' is a play by

Simon Gray Simon James Holliday Gray (21 October 1936 – 7 August 2008) was an English playwright and memoirist who also had a career as a university lecturer in English literature at Queen Mary, University of London, for 20 years. While teaching at Q ...

set in the office of an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

lecturer at a university in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

.Gray, Simon. ''Simon Gray: Plays 1''. London: Faber and Faber, 2010. The title character, a T. S. Eliot scholar, is an

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

who loses his wife and his close friend and colleague – and possibly male lover – on the same day. The action of the

dark comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

takes place over several hours on the same day during which he bullies students, friends and colleagues while falling apart at the seams. The play won the 1971 ''

Evening Standard Award The ''Evening Standard'' Theatre Awards, established in 1955, are the oldest theatrical awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. They are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre, and are organised by the ''Evening Standar ...

'' for Best Play.

Characters

*Ben Butley *Joseph Keyston *Miss Heasman *Edna Shaft *Anne Butley *Reg Nuttall *Mr Gardner

Productions

''Butley'' was first performed at the

Criterion Theatre The Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre at Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has a seating capacity of 588. Building the theatre In 1870, the caterers Spiers and Pond began developmen ...

on 14 July 1971, produced by

Michael Codron Sir Michael Victor Codron (born 8 June 1930) is a British theatre producer, known for his productions of the early work of Harold Pinter, Christopher Hampton, David Hare, Simon Gray and Tom Stoppard. He has been honoured with a Laurence Olivi ...

and directed by Harold Pinter, with the following cast: *Ben Butley – Alan Bates *Joseph Keyston – Richard O'Callaghan *Miss Heasman – Brenda Cavendish *Edna Shaft – Mary Wimbush *Anne Butley – Colette O'Neil *Reg Nuttall – Michael Byrne *Mr Gardner – George Fenton Alan Bates won the 1971 ''

'' for Best Actor for his performance. The role of Butley was subsequently taken on by

Alec McCowen Alexander Duncan McCowen, (26 May 1925 – 6 February 2017) was an English actor. He was known for his work in numerous film and stage productions. Early life McCowen was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, the son of Mary (née Walkden), a dance ...

and

Richard Briers Richard David Briers (14 January 1934 – 17 February 2013) was an English actor whose five-decade career encompassed film, radio, stage and television. Briers first came to prominence as George Starling in ''Marriage Lines'' (1961–66), but ...

in the same production. Bates reprised his performance the following year in a

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

production directed by James Hammerstein, set design Eileen Diss, lighting and set design Neil Peter Jampolis, at the Morosco Theatre, where it ran for 14 previews and 135 performances. The show cast Hayward Morse (Joseph Keyston),

Geraldine Sherman Geraldine Sherman (born Geraldine Judith Schoenmann) known as Dena Hammerstein, is a British actress and writer, and theatre producer. She was the third wife of James Hammerstein, and after his death became president/CEO of James Hammerstein ...

(Miss Heasman), Barbara Lester (Edna Shaft),

Holland Taylor Holland Virginia Taylor (born January 14, 1943) is an American actress. She won the 1999 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Judge Roberta Kittleson on ABC's ''The Practice'' (1998–2003). ...

(Anne Butley), Roger Newman (Reg Nuttall), and Christopher Hastings (Mr Gardner). Bates won the ''

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

'' for Best Actor in a Play and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance, and Gray was nominated for the ''

Tony Award for Best Play The Tony Award for Best Play (formally, the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award given to the best new (non-musical) play on Broadway, as determined by Tony Award voters. There was no award in the Tonys' first yea ...

''. A successful 2006 limited-run Broadway revival at the

Booth Theatre The Booth Theatre is a Broadway theater at 222 West 45th Street ( George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1913, the theater was designed by Henry Beaumont Herts in the Italian Renaissance ...

was directed by Nicholas Martin. It starred

Nathan Lane Nathan Lane (born Joseph Lane; February 3, 1956) is an American actor. In a career spanning over 40 years he has been seen on stage and screen in roles both comedic and dramatic. Lane has received numerous awards including three Tony Awards, ...

and Dana Ivey, who was nominated for the Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Play. A 2011 London West End production of the play was produced for the

Duchess Theatre The Duchess Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, London, located in Catherine Street near Aldwych. The theatre opened on 25 November 1929 and is one of the smallest West End theatres with a proscenium arch. It has 494 sea ...

, directed by Lindsay Posner with a cast including

Dominic West Dominic Gerard Francis Eagleton West (born 15 October 1969) is an English actor, director and musician. He is best known for playing Jimmy McNulty in HBO's ''The Wire'' (2002–2008), Noah Solloway in Showtime's '' The Affair'' (2014–2019), ...

Paul McGann Paul John McGann (; born 14 November 1959) is an English actor. He came to prominence for portraying Percy Toplis in the television serial '' The Monocled Mutineer'' (1986), then starred in the dark comedy '' Withnail and I'' (1987), which wa ...

Penny Downie A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is th ...

Amanda Drew Amanda Drew (born 12 December 1969) is an English actress with extensive credits in theatre, television and film. Biography One of four children, Drew was born in Boston, Lincolnshire. Drew's mother was a nurse and her father was a vicar. When ...

, and Emma Hiddleston. The production started at the

Brighton Festival Brighton Festival is a large, annual, curated multi-arts festival in England. It includes music, theatre, dance, circus, art, film, literature, debate, outdoor and family events, and takes place in venues in the city of Brighton and Hove in Engla ...

from 25 May 2011 and in the West End from 1 June 2011. In his introduction to the play, Harold Pinter wrote:

1974 film

A 1974 film adaptation '' Butley'' directed by Pinter starred Alan Bates,

Jessica Tandy Jessie Alice Tandy (7 June 1909 – 11 September 1994) was a British-American actress. Tandy appeared in over 100 stage productions and had more than 60 roles in film and TV, receiving an Academy Award, four Tony Awards, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe ...

, Richard O'Callaghan,

Susan Engel Susan Engel (born 25 March 1935) is a British actress. She was born in Vienna, Austria. Career Theatre Engel's work in theatre includes: ''Angels in America'' (1992), ''Richard III'', ''King Lear'' (1990), '' The Good Person of Sezuan'', '' W ...

, and Michael Byrne.

References

External links

* *
Butley informationSimon Gray website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butley (play) 1971 plays English plays West End plays Broadway plays Academic culture British plays adapted into films