Difference between revisions of "Blue Remembered Hills"

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(Created page with "Dennis Potter (1935-1991) Although Potter only produced one play exclusively for theatrical performance (Sufficient Carbohydrate, 1983 – later filmed for television as Vis...")
 
 
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Dennis Potter (1935-1991)
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''[[Blue Remembered Hills]]'' is a play by Dennis Potter (1935-1994). Although Potter only produced one play exclusively for theatrical performance, he adapted several of his television works for the stage.
  
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Potter's work is distinctive for its use of non-naturalistic devices. Works where "the child is father to the man", in which he used adult actors to play children (''Stand Up'', ''Nigel Barton''; ''Blue Remembered Hills'') have become Potter trademarks.
  
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Although Potter only produced one play exclusively for theatrical performance (Sufficient Carbohydrate, 1983 – later filmed for television as Visitors in 1987), he adapted several of his television works for the stage. Vote, Vote, Vote for Nigel Barton, which featured material from its sister-play Stand Up, Nigel Barton, was premiered in 1966, while Only Make Believe, which incorporated scenes from Angels Are So Few, made the transition to the stage in 1974. Son of Man appeared in 1969 with Frank Finlay in the title role (Finlay would also play Casanova in Potter's 1971 serial) and was restaged by Northern Stage in 2006.[19] Brimstone and Treacle was adapted for the stage in 1977 after the BBC refused to screen the original television version. The play text for Blue Remembered Hills was first published in the collection Waiting for the Boat (with Joe's Ark and Blade on the Feather) in 1984 and has since enjoyed several successful stage performances. Potter proposed to write an "intermedia" stage play for producers Geisler-Roberdeau based on William Hazlitt’s Liber Amoris, or The New Pygmalion, but he died before it could be commenced.
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== The original text ==
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The play text for ''Blue Remembered Hills'' was first published in the collection ''Waiting for the Boat'' in 1984 and has since enjoyed several successful stage performances, the first being at the 1985 International Edinburgh Festival, YMCA Theatre, August 11.  
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Style and themes[edit]
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== Performance history in South Africa ==
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Potter's work is distinctive for its use of non-naturalistic devices. The 'lip-sync' technique he developed for his "serials with songs" (Pennies from Heaven; The Singing Detective and Lipstick on Your Collar), extensive use of flashback and nonlinear plot structure (Casanova; Late Call), direct to camera address (Vote, Vote, Vote for Nigel Barton) and works where "the child is father to the man", in which he used adult actors to play children (Stand Up, Nigel Barton; Blue Remembered Hills) have all become Potter trademarks. They are frequently deployed in works where the line between fantasy and reality becomes blurred, often as a result of the influence of popular culture (Willie, the Wild West obsessive played by Hywel Bennett in Where the Buffalo Roam) or from a character's apparent awareness of their status as a pawn in the hands of an omniscient author (the actor Jack Black (Denholm Elliot) in Follow the Yellow Brick Road).
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1986: Produced in South Africa, opening 30 April 1986, by Baxter Company '86. Directed by [[Don Maguire]], featuring [[Richard Farmer]] (Willie), [[Grant Preston]] (Peter), [[John Dennison]] (John), [[Glynn Day]] (Donald Duck), [[Gordon van Rooyen]] (Raymond), [[Jennifer Steyn]] (Angela), [[Kate Edwards]] (Audrey). Design and lighting by [[Brian Collins]], sound design [[Julian Ford]].
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(Source: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
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== Sources ==
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''Blue Remembered Hills'' theatre programme, 1986.
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[[ESAT Bibliography Bar-Bas|Barrow, Brian & Williams-Short, Yvonne]] 1988.
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''Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia'' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Remembered_Hills]
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== Return to ==
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Return to [[ESAT Plays 2 B|B]] in Plays 2 Foreign Plays
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Return to [[South_African_Theatre/Plays]]
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Return to [[Main Page]]

Latest revision as of 16:42, 5 May 2020

Blue Remembered Hills is a play by Dennis Potter (1935-1994). Although Potter only produced one play exclusively for theatrical performance, he adapted several of his television works for the stage.

Potter's work is distinctive for its use of non-naturalistic devices. Works where "the child is father to the man", in which he used adult actors to play children (Stand Up, Nigel Barton; Blue Remembered Hills) have become Potter trademarks.

The original text

The play text for Blue Remembered Hills was first published in the collection Waiting for the Boat in 1984 and has since enjoyed several successful stage performances, the first being at the 1985 International Edinburgh Festival, YMCA Theatre, August 11.

Performance history in South Africa

1986: Produced in South Africa, opening 30 April 1986, by Baxter Company '86. Directed by Don Maguire, featuring Richard Farmer (Willie), Grant Preston (Peter), John Dennison (John), Glynn Day (Donald Duck), Gordon van Rooyen (Raymond), Jennifer Steyn (Angela), Kate Edwards (Audrey). Design and lighting by Brian Collins, sound design Julian Ford.

Sources

Blue Remembered Hills theatre programme, 1986.

Barrow, Brian & Williams-Short, Yvonne 1988.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [1]

Return to

Return to B in Plays 2 Foreign Plays

Return to South_African_Theatre/Plays

Return to Main Page

Retrieved from "https://esat.sun.ac.za/index.php?title=Blue_Remembered_Hills&oldid=187570"