''Lloyd George Knew My Father'' is a 1972 play by the British playwright

William Douglas-Home William Douglas Home (3 June 1912 – 28 September 1992) was a British dramatist and politician. Early life Douglas-Home (he later dropped the hyphen from his surname) was the third son of Charles Douglas-Home, 13th Earl of Home, and Lady Lili ...

. The

black 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 discu ...

features an elderly and eccentric aristocratic couple who learn that a bypass is to be built through their property. The wife declares her intention to commit suicide in protest, and the complications arising from this set up the rest of the play's action. The play has had various revivals and has continued to be staged into the 21st Century. The Devonshire Park Theatre staged the play in 1974.

Wendy Toye Beryl May Jessie Toye, (1 May 1917 – 27 February 2010), known professionally as Wendy Toye, was a British dancer, stage and film director and actress. Life and career Toye was born in London. She initially worked as a dancer and choreographer ...

directed the play in 1995 at the

Watermill Theatre The Watermill Theatre is a repertory theatre in Bagnor, Berkshire. It opened in 1967 in Bagnor Mill, a converted watermill on the River Lambourn. As a producing house, the theatre has produced works that have subsequently moved on to the West E ...

, which was topical because of the nearby construction of the

Newbury bypass The Newbury bypass, officially known as The Winchester-Preston Trunk Road (A34) (Newbury Bypass), is a stretch of dual carriageway road which bypasses the town of Newbury in Berkshire, England. It is located to the west of the town and forms p ...

. A production was mounted by the Salisbury Studio Theatre. The King's Theatre in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

mounted a production in 2009. A version was shown on British television in 1975.

Plot

It's breakfast time on Saturday morning at Boothroyd Hall and Lady Sheila Boothroyd is outraged to read in her newspaper that on Monday, bulldozers will start work on a new motorway running right through the grounds of their ancestral home. She tells her husband, General Sir William Boothroyd, that she will take drastic action: unless the scheme is halted she will commit suicide on Monday morning as a protest. None of her family take Lady Sheila's threat seriously, even when she tells them she's written her own epitaph and ordered her headstone and coffin. But a young, ambitious journalist, who is a weekend guest, makes the Sunday newspaper headlines with the dramatic story and a photograph of Lady Sheila standing by the grave hastily dug for her by the crusty and loyal old butler Robertson. Boothroyd Hall is immediately besieged by the world's press and TV reporters begging for interviews with Lady Sheila. The Prime Minister is prevailed upon to act, but refuses to cancel the project. Lady Sheila however is equally determined to halt the bulldozers.

Gibraltar Chronicle The ''Gibraltar Chronicle'' is a national newspaper published in Gibraltar since 1801. It became a daily in 1821. It is Gibraltar's oldest established daily newspaper and the world's second oldest English language newspaper to have been in pri ...

newspaper; TV guide section; 28/10/1989; Page 8

Original cast

*General Sir William Boothroyd - Ralph Richardson *Hubert Boothroyd MP -

James Grout James David Grout (22 October 1927 – 24 June 2012) was an English actor of radio and television. Early life Grout was born in London, the son of Beatrice Anne and William Grout. He trained to be an actor at RADA. Career His BBC Radio 4 appear ...

*Lady Boothroyd -

Peggy Ashcroft Dame Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft (22 December 1907 – 14 June 1991), known professionally as Peggy Ashcroft, was an English actress whose career spanned more than 60 years. Born to a comfortable middle-class family, Ashcroft was deter ...

*Maud Boothroyd -

Janet Henfrey Janet Ethne Anne Henfrey (born 16 August 1935) is a British stage and television actress. She is best known for playing Mrs. Bale on '' As Time Goes By'', and for her role as the schoolteacher in the Dennis Potter television play '' Stand Up, N ...

*Rev Trevor Simmonds - David Stoll *Robertson - Allan Barnes *Sally Boothroyd -

Suzan Farmer Suzan Maxine Farmer (16 June 1942 – 17 September 2017) was an English film and television actress. She was regularly cast in movies produced by Hammer Films. Early life The daughter of David Farmer, a trader in metals, and Eleanor (née Bes ...

*Simon Green -

Simon Cadell Simon John Cadell (19 July 1950 – 6 March 1996) was an English actor, best known for his portrayal of Jeffrey Fairbrother in the first five series of the BBC situation comedy ''Hi-de-Hi!''. Early life Born in London, he was the son of theat ...

References

External links

* English plays Black comedy plays 1972 plays Scottish plays Plays by William Douglas-Home {{1970s-play-stub