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Every Good Boy Deserves Favour(play)

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This article is about the play. For the album, seeEvery Good Boy Deserves Favour (album).

Every Good Boy Deserves Favouris a stage play byTom Stoppardwith music byAndré Previn.It was first performed in 1977. The play criticises the Soviet practice oftreating political dissidence as a form of mental illness.[1]Its title derives from the popularmnemonicused by music students to remember the notes on the lines of thetreble clef.The cast comprises six actors, but also a full orchestra, which not only provides music throughout the play but also forms an essential part of the action. A chamber-orchestra version also exists.

The play is dedicated toViktor FainbergandVladimir Bukovsky,twoSoviet dissidentsexpelled to the West.[2]: 359 

Plot[edit]

The play concerns a dissident, Alexander Ivanov, who is imprisoned in aSovietmental hospital,from which he will not be released until he admits that his statements against the government were caused by a (non-existent) mental disorder.

In the hospital he shares a cell with a genuinely disturbedschizophrenic,also called Ivanov, who believes himself to have asymphony orchestraunder his command. Alexander receives visits from the Doctor and from a Colonel in theKGB.

Meanwhile, his son, Sacha, is seen in a school classroom with a teacher who attempts to convince him of the genuineness of his father's illness.

Production history[edit]

Because of the difficulties in staging a play that requires a full orchestra in addition to the cast of actors, the play is rarely performed.

Its 1977 premiere was staged at theRoyal Festival Hallin London as part ofQueen Elizabeth'sSilver Jubilee.That performance featuredIan McKellen(Alexander),John Wood(Ivanov) andPatrick Stewart(Doctor), as well as theLondon Symphony Orchestraconducted by Previn. The play was then commercially recorded for RCA Red Seal (RCA ABL1-2855), with Previn conducting theLondon Symphony Orchestra,and McKellen, Stewart,Ian Richardson,Elizabeth Spriggs, Andrew Sheldon, and Philip Locke as the featured actors.

In 1978, the play was produced for television by theBBC.The producer wasMark Shivasand direction was shared byTrevor Nunnand Roger Bamford. The filming was undertaken at a live performance atWembley Conference Centrein April 1978, conducted by Previn. The cast for this production was Ian McKellen (Alexander Ivanov),Ben Kingsley(Ivanov),Frank Windsor(Doctor),John Woodvine(Colonel),Barbara Leigh Hunt(Teacher), and James Harris (aka Jim Harris) and James Pickering as Sacha.

Following its BBC production, the play ran at theMermaid Theatrein London during the summer and autumn of 1978. Cast changes includedJohn Carlisletaking on the role of the Colonel from John Woodvine, who played Alexander Ivanov,Ian McDiarmid(Ivanov),Rowena Cooper(Teacher) and [Rhys McConochie (Doctor). The role of Sacha was played by a number of young actors including Harris again, and Anthony Robb.Every Good Boy Deserves Favourwas the last production at the old Mermaid before it was demolished and redeveloped.

In July and August 1979, the play was given a New York City run of eight performances at theMetropolitan OperaHouse, with a cast featuringRené Auberjonois(Ivanov),Eli Wallach(Alexander), Carol Teitel (Teacher), Remak Ramsay (Doctor), Bobby Scott (Sacha), and Carl Low (Colonel Rozinsky).[3]

In March 1980, E.G.B.D.F was performed with a full orchestra at Australia's Adelaide Festival, directed by the barrister and theatrical impresarioKen Horler,starring the film actor and writerGraeme Blundell(Ivanov), and the child actor and later writer and political activistGordon Weiss.

Patrick Stewart directed and appeared in a 1992 production (produced byCharles Johansonfor the Orange County Symphony) which toured to four US cities. The cast included hisStar Trek: The Next GenerationcolleaguesGates McFadden,Jonathan Frakes,Brent SpinerandColm Meaney.[4]

The play was presented at Town Hall, Seattle and Kirkland Performing Arts Center, WA, in September 2000, by Boomer Classics and their director Shelley Henze Schermer. The production team included Arne Zaslove (stage director) andAdam Stern (conductor).

The play was performed in 2002 inPhiladelphiaas a collaboration between theWilma Theaterand thePhiladelphia Orchestra,taking advantage of the fact that Previn had reorchestrated the score for chamber orchestra, making smaller productions possible.[5]

In 2008, it was performed atThe Town Hallin New York City by the Boston University College of Fine Arts, directed by Jim Petosa and conducted by Neal Hampton, as part of their Incite Festival.[6]This production was revived (director, Jim Petosa, conducted by William Lumpkin) and played the Boston University Theatre in October 2009 and then again for two performances at Maryland's Olney Theatre Center in metropolitan Washington, D.C.

In July 2008, the Chautauqua Theater Company at theChautauqua Institute,in western New York state, performed the play in conjunction with theChautauqua Symphony Orchestrafor the 25th Anniversary Gala of the theatre company.Ethan McSweenywas the director, with conductor Stefan Sanderling,Michael Emersonas Alexander andBrian Murrayas Ivanov.[7]

In January 2009, London'sNational Theatremounted a fully staged theatrical revival on the National's largest stage, theOlivier Theatre,starringToby Jones,Joseph MillsonandDan Stevens,with theSouthbank Sinfoniaas the featured orchestra, directed byTom Morrisand Felix Barrett. The production was critically acclaimed and was revived the following year for a second season.[8]

Every Good Boy Deserves Favourreceived its firstCarnegie Hallperformance by theToledo Symphony Orchestraon 7 May 2011 as part of the "Spring for Music" Festival.[9]Cornel Gabara was stage-director for this performance, whose cast consisted of Pete Cross (Alexander), David DeChristopher (Ivanov), Yazan "Zack" Safadi (Sasha), Kevin Hayes (Colonel), Benjamin Pryor (Doctor), and Pamela Tomassetti (Teacher).

In April and May 2019, it was performed for 18 days inTokyoandOsakaunder the title ofLương い tử はみんなご bao mỹ がもらえる.[10]

References[edit]

  1. ^Billington, Michael (19 January 2009)."Every Good Boy Deserves Favour".The Guardian.London.Retrieved19 January2011.
  2. ^Caute, David (2005).The dancer defects: the struggle for cultural supremacy during the Cold War.Oxford University Press. p. 359.ISBN0-19-927883-0.
  3. ^Mel Gussow (31 July 1979)."Theater: Stoppard's Every Good Boy".The New York Times.Retrieved29 May2017.
  4. ^Timothy Mangan (17 February 1992)."Music/Stage Review: A Starry Staging of 'Every Good Boy'".Los Angeles Times.Retrieved29 May2017.
  5. ^David Anthony Fox (27 November 2002)."Good Boy Network".Philadelphia City Paper.Retrieved29 May2017.
  6. ^Edward A Brown (7 March 2008)."BU Actors Take the Stage in New York".BU Today.Retrieved29 May2017.
  7. ^Jane Vranish (2 August 2008)."Stage review: Chautauqua takes some chill out of Stoppard Cold War piece".Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.Retrieved29 May2017.
  8. ^Michael Billington (19 January 2009)."Every Good Boy Deserves Favour".The Guardian.London.Retrieved29 May2017.
  9. ^James R Oestreich (8 May 2011)."Something Borrowed and Something New".The New York Times.Retrieved29 May2017.
  10. ^"Lương い tử はみんなご bao mỹ がもらえる｜PARCO STAGE".Retrieved10 May2019.

External links[edit]

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