 First edition | |
| Author | Michael Campbell |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | William Heinemann |
Publication date | 1967 |
| Media type | Hardback and paperback |
| Pages | 378 p. (hardback edition) |
| ISBN | 978-0-552-08042-2 |
| OCLC | 30292393 |
Lord Dismiss Us is a 1967 novel by Michael Campbell, that deals with issues of homosexuality in an English boys' public school.
The novel is set in a public school in England in the 1960s. It deals with the love affair between two boys, together with the internal politics of the school itself. Carleton, a sixth former loves Allen, a boy two years his junior. At the same time, the headmaster is trying to enforce a policy against such liaisons.
The novel is set firmly in the era in which it was written. It appeared in the same year that homosexuality between consenting adults was legalised in the UK. [1]
In 2017, Taggart creator Glenn Chandler [2] adapted the novel into a play for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, to mark the 50th Anniversary of the partial legalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales. [3] The play received positive reviews, [4] [5] [6] [7] and subsequently transferred to the Above The Stag Theatre in London later that year. [8] The play was once again reviewed positively, [9] [10] [11] and received four Off West End Award nominations, including "Best Production" and "Best New Play". [12]
The author, Michael Mussen Campbell (1924–1984) was the grandson of the 1st Lord Glenavy and brother of the 3rd Baron, the humorist Patrick Campbell. He was a Dubliner who attended St Columba's College and Trinity College. Lord Dismiss Us was allegedly based on the suicide of a St Columba's schoolmaster.[ citation needed ]
Briefly a barrister at the Irish Bar, Campbell worked in London for the Irish Times . His other novels included Peter Perry (1956), a "story of Dublin Theatrical Life", Oh Mary, This London (1959), a fantasy set in London, and Across the Water (1959).
Michael Campbell succeeded his brother Patrick in 1980 to become the 4th and last Baron Glenavy. He died in 1984, having never married.
Sir Ian Murray McKellen is an English actor. His career spans seven decades, having performed in genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. Over his career he has received numerous awards including seven Laurence Olivier Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. He has also received nominations for two Academy Awards, five Primetime Emmy Awards, and four BAFTAs. He achieved worldwide fame for his film roles, including the titular King in Richard III (1995), James Whale in Gods and Monsters (1998), Magneto in the X-Men films, and Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.
Maurice is a novel by E. M. Forster. A tale of homosexual love in early 20th-century England, it follows Maurice Hall from his schooldays through university and beyond. It was written in 1913–1914, and revised in 1932 and 1959–1960. Forster was an admirer of the poet, philosopher, socialist and early gay activist Edward Carpenter, and following a visit to Carpenter's home at Millthorpe, Derbyshire in 1913, was inspired to write Maurice. The cross-class relationship between Carpenter and his working-class partner, George Merrill, presented a real-life model for that of Maurice and Alec Scudder.
David Patrick Maxwell Fyfe, 1st Earl of Kilmuir,, known as Sir David Maxwell Fyfe from 1942 to 1954 and as Viscount Kilmuir from 1954 to 1962, was a British Conservative politician, lawyer and judge who combined an industrious and precocious legal career with political ambitions that took him to the offices of Solicitor General, Attorney General, Home Secretary and Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.
James Henry Mussen Campbell, 1st Baron Glenavy was an Irish lawyer, politician in the British Parliament and later in the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State. He was also Lord Chancellor of Ireland.
Patrick Gordon Campbell, 3rd Baron Glenavy was an Irish journalist, humorist and television personality.
Sir Robert Graham Stephens was a leading English actor in the early years of Britain's Royal National Theatre. He was one of the most respected actors of his generation and was at one time regarded as the natural successor to Laurence Olivier.
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The Sexual Offences Act 1967 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It legalised homosexual acts in England and Wales, on the condition that they were consensual, in private and between two men who had attained the age of 21. The law was extended to Scotland by the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980 and to Northern Ireland by the Homosexual Offences Order 1982.
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What's Wrong with Angry? is a stage play written in 1992 by Patrick Wilde about a gay love story between two British schoolboys. The play was the basis for the 1998 Paramount Classics feature film Get Real.
Glenn Chandler is a Scottish playwright, novelist, producer and theatre director. He has written plays for theatre and radio, original screenplays for television and films, television series, and also novels. His best known work is the Scottish television detective series Taggart, which was commissioned by Scottish Television for the ITV Network from 2 July 1985 until 7 November 2010, and which continues to be broadcast around the world. Since the completion of Taggart in 2010, Glenn Chandler has focused on writing for the theatre, with a consistent run of productions in both London and Edinburgh.
Section 28 or Clause 28 was a legislative designation for a series of laws across Britain that prohibited the "promotion of homosexuality" by local authorities. Introduced by Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government, it was in effect from 1988 to 2000 in Scotland and from 1988 to 2003 in England and Wales. It caused many organisations such as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender student support groups to close or limit their activities or self-censor.
HGO Trust (HGO) was founded in 1990 by Roy Budden as an evening class at the Hampstead Garden Institute, London. Its objectives are to advance public education in the art and science of music with emphasis on operatic music.
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Gareth Morrison is Scottish actor, screenwriter and film producer. Morrison appears primarily in horror, thriller and dramatic movies. He is known for his role as a student-demonstrator in TV series Taggart and for playing the sniper Potrovsky in a horror movie Outpost: Rise of the Spetsnaz.
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