| Olly's Prison | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Written by | Edward Bond |
| Date premiered | 1 May 1993 [1] |
| Original language | English |
Olly's Prison is a 1993 play by English dramatist Edward Bond. In it, a man who has killed his daughter and forgotten his crime tries to find meaning in his life. The work divided critics.
Gary Lawrence of Bucks Free Press billed Olly's Prison as "long, baffling, and ultimately annoying". [2] Tony Coult argued that "why it's so profoundly political - and so brilliant and disturbing - is that he paints a portrait of an everyday, small 'F' fascist and he finds the fascist in everybody. [...] In some respects it embodies a kind of cliche about who is really in prison, who is really free. It ceases to be a cliche because it's worked through with such thoroughness and truth." [3] The Independent's W. Stephen Gilbert called the work "dense and concentrated. At a glance, it can be daunting: easy enough to characterise it so. [...] To go with the play, though, is to be gripped in a painful but enlightening experience." [4] Frank Rizzo of Variety wrote of the play, "Bond is still exploring violence disguised by domesticity and medicated by social norms. And he is still doing it in ways that leave audiences stunned. Call it shock therapy for the theatrically blase." [5]
The Guardian's Michael Billington stated that the work "shows the weaknesses as well as the strengths of late Bond", praising the "cryptic vigour of Bond's language" but also arguing that what the work "doesn't admit, in contrast to an early masterpiece like Saved, is the possibility of change." [6] Ed Siegel of Boston.com said that "his theatrics are much less predictable [than his writing about theater], and despite the trappings of working-class drama, he keeps an audience very much on its toes." But Siegel also argued, "Shock gives way to anti-authoritarian symbolism that is obvious and clumsy. [...] The fight that erupts toward the end of the play goes on way too long. Worse, it seems inspired by Bond's worldview rather than by the flow of the play, particularly since it involves the least interesting characters onstage." [7] In World Literature Today, Stephen Grecco wrote that Olly's Prison is "not nearly as dramatically effective" as Saved, criticizing the narrative as improbable. He also deemed Bond's view of society and human behavior "narrow and somewhat paternalistic". [8]
Toby Stephens is an English actor who has appeared in films in the UK, US and India. He is known for the roles of Bond villain Gustav Graves in the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day, Edward Fairfax Rochester in a BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre and in his role as Captain Flint in the Starz television series Black Sails. Stephens was one of the leads in the Netflix science fiction series Lost in Space, which began streaming in 2018.
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Edward Bond is an English playwright, theatre director, poet, theorist and screenwriter. He is the author of some fifty plays, among them Saved (1965), the production of which was instrumental in the abolition of theatre censorship in the UK. Other well-received works include Narrow Road to the Deep North (1968), Lear (1971), The Sea (1973), The Fool (1975), Restoration (1981), and the War trilogy (1985). Bond is broadly considered one among the major living dramatists but he has always been and remains highly controversial because of the violence shown in his plays, the radicalism of his statements about modern theatre and society, and his theories on drama.
Lear is a 1971 three-act play by the British dramatist Edward Bond. It is a rewrite of William Shakespeare's King Lear. The play was first produced at the Royal Court Theatre in 1971, featuring Harry Andrews in the title role. It was revived by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1982 with Bob Peck, and revived again at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, in 2005 with Ian McDiarmid.
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Saved is a play by Edward Bond which premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in November 1965.
Jumpers is a play by Tom Stoppard which was first performed in 1972. It explores and satirises the field of academic philosophy, likening it to a less-than skilful competitive gymnastics display. Jumpers raises questions such as "What do we know?" and "Where do values come from?" It is set in an alternative reality where some British astronauts have landed on the moon and "Radical Liberals" have taken over the British government. It was inspired by the notion that a manned moon landing would ruin the moon as a poetic trope and possibly lead to a collapse of moral values. It has been said that Jumpers is "a play often dismissed as too clever by half", though a number of other writers have listed it among Stoppard's highest achievements.
Pet Sematary Two is a 1992 American horror film directed by Mary Lambert. The screenplay was written by Richard Outten. It is the sequel to the film Pet Sematary which was based on Stephen King's novel of the same name. The film stars Edward Furlong, Anthony Edwards, and Clancy Brown. Pet Sematary Two was theatrically released in the United States on August 28, 1992, by Paramount Pictures and grossed $17.1 million worldwide. It received negative reviews from critics, but Clancy Brown's performance received critical acclaim.
The Sea is a 1973 play by Edward Bond. It is a comedy set in a small seaside village in rural East Anglia during the Edwardian period and draws from some of the themes of Shakespeare's The Tempest. It was well-received by critics.
Far Away is a 2000 play by British playwright Caryl Churchill. It has four characters, Harper, Young Joan, Joan, and Todd, and is based on the premise of a world in which everything in nature is at war. It is published by Nick Hern Books. While some critics have expressed reservations about the play's ending, many regard Far Away as one of Churchill's finest plays.
Fred Billington was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. His career with the company began in 1879 and continued with brief interruptions until his death in 1917.
City of Hope is a 1991 American drama film written, directed, and edited by John Sayles. The film features Vincent Spano, Stephen Mendillo, and Chris Cooper.
Naked Ambition: An R Rated Look at an X Rated Industry is a 2009 American documentary film written by Charles Holland and directed by Michael Grecco based upon the Grecco's third portrait photography book by the same name.
Bingo: Scenes of Money and Death is a 1973 play by English playwright Edward Bond. It depicts an ageing William Shakespeare at his Warwickshire home in 1615 and 1616, suffering pangs of conscience in part because he signed a contract which protected his landholdings, on the condition that he would not interfere with an enclosure of common lands that would hurt the local peasant farmers. Although the play is fictional, this contract has a factual basis. Bingo is a political drama heavily influenced by Bertolt Brecht and Epic theatre. Some have praised Bond’s portrayal of Shakespeare while others have criticized it.
The Fool: Scenes of Bread and Love is a play by the English playwright Edward Bond. It traces the life of the poet John Clare against the backdrop of the Industrial Revolution, from his roots in rural East Anglia via literary success in London to his final years in a lunatic asylum. The play was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre in 1975, in a production directed by Peter Gill and featuring a cast including Tom Courtenay, David Troughton and Nigel Terry among others.
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Escaped Alone is a 2016 play by Caryl Churchill. Critics' reviews were mostly positive.
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The War Plays is the name often given to a trilogy of plays by English dramatist Edward Bond: Red Black and Ignorant, The Tin Can People, and Great Peace.