Déjàvu
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''Déjàvu'' (1992) is a stage play by John Osborne. It was Osborne's final work for the theatre, the failure of which on the stage made him decide to give up play-writing. The play is a sequel to Osborne's first successful play, ''
Look Back in Anger ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956) is a realist play written by John Osborne. It focuses on the life and marital struggles of an intelligent and educated but disaffected young man of working-class origin, Jimmy Porter, and his equally competent yet i ...
'' (1956); it portrays the life and thoughts of the central character from the earlier play, Jimmy Porter (referred to as J.P.), in middle age.


Creation

Osborne had been thinking about a sequel to ''Look Back in Anger'' for some years, and had been working on a draft of the play since 1987 when he started jotting down ideas and plotting it out. The play itself was written over several months in from December 1988 to April 1989. He tried out several titles, but decided on ''Déjàvu'', "deliberately misspelt", according to
John Heilpern John David Heilpern (8 April 1942 – 7 January 2021) was a British theatre critic, journalist, and author who worked both in the United Kingdom and the United States. He was a contributing editor to ''Vanity Fair'' (where he wrote the "Out To L ...
, as a single word (rather than the correct "Déjà vu").Heilpern, John, ''John Osborne: A Patriot for Us'', 2007, Random House, pp.446ff.


Production difficulties

The play was sent to
Richard Eyre Sir Richard Charles Hastings Eyre (born 28 March 1943) is an English film, theatre, television and opera director. Biography Eyre was born in Barnstaple, Devon, England, the son of Richard Galfridus Hastings Giles Eyre and his wife, Minna Mar ...
at the Royal National Theatre who rejected it, suggesting that it would work best as a "monologue performed prior to a performance of LOOK BACK IN ANGER".
Tony Richardson Cecil Antonio "Tony" Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was an English theatre and film director and producer whose career spanned five decades. In 1964, he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film ''Tom Jones''. Early ...
, the original director of ''Look Back in Anger'', was enthusiastic, but it was again turned down by
Max Stafford-Clark Maxwell Robert Guthrie Stewart "Max" Stafford-Clark (born 17 March 1941) is a British theatre director. Life and career Stafford-Clark was born in Cambridge, England. the son of David Stafford-Clark, a physician, and Dorothy Crossley (née Old ...
at the
Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...
. Several readers took the view that it was much too long, and so should be cut.
Stephen Daldry Stephen David Daldry CBE (born 2 May 1960) is an English director and producer of film, theatre, and television. He has won three Olivier Awards for his work in the West End and three Tony Awards for his work on Broadway. He has received thr ...
thought that Osborne would have been better advised to do a one-man show, performing Porter's rants in the play himself. Osborne approached various actors and directors but was unable to develop the production, at one point writing a bitter letter to ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' about his problems. Peter O'Toole agreed to play the main role, but dropped out after conflicts with Osborne over proposed cuts to the script.
John Standing Sir John Ronald Leon, 4th Baronet (born 16 August 1934) is an English actor and baronet who is known as John Standing. He is the stepson of John Clements. Early life Standing was born in London, the son of Kay Hammond (née Dorothy Katherin ...
also dropped out after an argument with Osborne. Eventually
Peter Egan Peter Joseph Egan (born 28 September 1946) is a British actor and animal rights activist. He is known for his television roles, including Hogarth in ''Big Breadwinner Hog'', the future George IV of the United Kingdom in ''Prince Regent'' (1979 ...
took the role of Porter, and the play was produced in May 1992 at the
Thorndike Theatre The Thorndike Theatre is a Grade II listed building in Leatherhead, Surrey, England. Roderick Ham Roderick Thomas Mathieson Ham (September 1925 – 19 January 2017) was a British architect, principally of theatres, who often worked with Ge ...
directed by
Tony Palmer Tony Palmer (born 29 August 1941)IMDb: Tony Palmer
Retrieved 24 September 2011
is a British film direc ...
. The play was not a commercial success, closing after a run of seven weeks. Egan later wrote, "I knew the play wouldn't work but I couldn't turn it down. I knew John deserved to be presented again – and that it would be his last work...The play was a commercial failure but it reawakened people to the great energy and power of Osborne." The failure of the play distressed Osborne who thereafter signed himself "John Osborne, ex-playwright". The play was revived at the Comedy Theatre, Panton Street, around 1993 but closed after some weeks. Peter O'Toole and Hayley Mills were there, among many others. O'Toole walked out shouting, "Oi've never heard such f...…. rubbish!"


Original cast

*
Peter Egan Peter Joseph Egan (born 28 September 1946) is a British actor and animal rights activist. He is known for his television roles, including Hogarth in ''Big Breadwinner Hog'', the future George IV of the United Kingdom in ''Prince Regent'' (1979 ...
as J.P. * Gareth Thomas as Cliff * Alison Johnston as Alison Porter, J.P.'s daughter *
Eve Matheson Eve Elisabeth Matheson (born March 1960) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles as Zoe Angell in ''May to December'' and Becky Sharp in the BBC adaptation of the novel ''Vanity Fair''. Matheson left ''May to December'' after two ...
as Helena


Plot

Jimmy Porter (J.P.) is living with his daughter Alison, who begins the play ironing, just as her mother, also Alison, did in ''Look Back in Anger''. J.P. and Alison argue relentlessly, as she expresses her contempt for her own misanthropic father. Jimmy's old friend Cliff tries to smooth things over, while Alison's friend Helena attempts to support her. J.P. takes consolation in his teddy bear as he objects to the vulgarisation of the English language and the corrupting influences of various social agencies. In the end, Alison walks out on her father.


Critical reception

Osborne and Palmer both argued that Jimmy Porter (J.P.) is essentially a "comedy character" comparable to
Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays '' Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...
, whose self-aggrandising rants are not to be taken too seriously. Osborne wrote that J.P. "generates energy, but, also, like, say, Malvolio or Falstaff, an inescapable melancholy". Palmer also argued that "J.P. has a life-enhancing Falstaffian quality; he alstaffwas a coward, a braggart, a liar, totally unscrupulous, a drunk, with an inheritance, like J.P. And just like Falstaff, J.P. can stop the play dead in its tracks and say 'what is honour'". The play's original reviews were mixed. ''The Independent'' noted that Jimmy's rants in the original play were exhilarating because they were transgressive, but the "ageing J.P. merely proves that, in less shockable times, the unspeakable is all too easily spoken". Several critics complained that the play was essentially a vehicle for J.P.'s pontifications, being as, as ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...
'' put it, "essentially one long speech".
Sheridan Morley Sheridan Morley (5 December 1941 − 16 February 2007) was an English author, biographer, critic and broadcaster. He was the official biographer of Sir John Gielgud and wrote biographies of many other theatrical figures he had known, includin ...
called it "a monologue without a play".Morley, Sheridan, "Déjàvu", ''International Herald Tribune'', 17 May 1992. Sheila Stowell, in an essay on ''Déjàvu'', comments that the play is not a "sequel" in the traditional Hollywood sense of an attempt to cash-in on an earlier success; rather it is an attempt to "blow up" the rebellious image of ''Look Back''’s Jimmy Porter. She disputes the comparison to Falstaff because J.P.'s antagonists are all "sham characters", easily outwitted by the hero, unlike Shakespeare's play in which Falstaff's bluster is exposed for what it is.Sheila Stowell "Honey, I Blew up the Ego", Patricia D. Denison, ''John Osborne: A Casebook'', pp.167ff. However, she argues that J.P.'s social criticisms are largely consistent with the anarchic attitudes of the 1956 Jimmy.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dejavu 1992 plays Plays by John Osborne Sequel plays