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Bill Naughton

BILL NAUGHTON

  (1910 - 1992)
Nationality:    British
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Casarotto Ramsay and Associates Ltd  estate represented by Tom Erhardt

the Irish-born but British-bred Naughton (1910-1992) was a key figure in postwar English literature, one of the earliest of the kitchen sink school of writers, and he was an incredibly prolific producer of everything from short stories to screenplays to diaries. Bill Naughton was born June 12th, 1910 in Ballyhaunis, County Mayo. While he was still a small child his family moved to Lancashire where his father worked down the pit. He was educated at St Peter and St Paul School, Bolton. During the war, he was a Civil Defence driver in London. He worked as a lorry driver, weaver and coal bagger and began his writing career by noting down everything he heard in his everyday life in these jobs. He died in 1992. His best-known play ALFIE was filmed twice, first with Michael Caine and subsequently with Jude Law.

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below is a list of Bill Naughton's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         Alfie         All In Good Time         Annie And Fanny         Derby Day         Family Way, The         He Was Gone When We Got there         June Evening         Keep It In the Family         Lighthearted Intercourse         My Flesh, My Blood         Spring And Port Wine
Alfie

Alfie
With sublime amorality Alfie swaggers and philosophises his way through the play, chattily allowing the audience to eavesdrop as he goes from one 'bird' to another, trying hard to communicate his own brand of determined hedonism and carefully rejecting anyone or anything that might touch him too deeply. Premiered at London's Duchess theatre, the stage play was later successfully filmed with Michael Caine in the role of the ebullient Cockney Alfie

Notes:
broadcast As Alfie Elkins And His Little Life 1962

1st Produced:
Duchess Theatre, London     1963

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Samuel French, London, 1963   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  9            Female:  9            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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All In Good Time

All In Good Time
This robustly humorous play centres on the sensitive Arthur and his new bride forced by economic circumstances to live with his good-hearted but rough-tongued father. the lack of privacy is so inhibiting that Arthur is unable to consummate the marriage, and gradually word gets around. But fortunately Arthur becomes so humiliated and enraged - he loses his inhibitions . . .! Filmed as the Family Way with Hywel Bennett and Hayley Mills

Notes:
filmed As the Family Way' televised As Honeymoon Postponed 1961

1st Produced:
London     1963

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Samuel French, London, 1964   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  7            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Annie And Fanny

Synopsis:
Touching comedy about a holiday coach tour from Lancashire to the continent.

Notes:
by Bill Naughton And Lawrence Till

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  10            Other:  extras

Further Reference:
-

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Derby Day

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Adapted By Lawrence Till

1st Produced:
Octagon, Bolton     1994

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Family Way, The

Synopsis:
Optimistic newlyweds Arthur and Jenny Fitton are young, in love, and excited to embark on the rest of their lives together. But the wedding night hasn't gone well and their married life is already getting off to a false start. Still living in the Fitton family home, with Mr and Mrs Fitton on one side of the bedroom, and interfering brother Geoff on the other, the happy couple's expectations are slowly becoming as hopeless as their love life. Bill Naughton's The Family Way is a funny and intimate portrayal of life, family, and love in 1960s Bolton. This social comedy illuminates the complex relationships within families, and the tender and precious ties that exist between parents and their children.

Notes:
aka All In Good Time

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
comedy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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He Was Gone When We Got there

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
music by Leonard Salzedo

1st Produced:
London     1966

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  19            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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June Evening

June Evening
The lives and loves of people living in a street in Bolton in the 1960s

Notes:
broadcast 1958

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Samuel French, London, 1972   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  8            Other:  children

Further Reference:
-

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Keep It In the Family

Synopsis:
His wife and children finally revolt against the domineering father

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
New York     1967

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Samuel French, London, 1967   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Lighthearted Intercourse

Lighthearted Intercourse
Lighthearted Intercourse is a tender, funny and intimate portrayal of a young couple living in 1920s Bolton adjusting to married life and discussing their fears, anxieties and conflicting needs with a true Northern humour. Just a year into their marriage and with a young baby to care for, Joe is one of three million unemployed looking for work every day - when he'd much rather be making love with his young wife, Madge. Both have secrets from their pasts that they are reluctant to share with each other, until an unexpected visitor appears who seems to know exactly what the future holds. . .

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Liverpool     1971

Organisations:
-

1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Full Length Play, Dramatic Comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  voices

Further Reference:
-

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My Flesh, My Blood

Synopsis:
Rafe rules the family with a rod of iron. Two of his children have left home to get away from him. His wife Daisy pawns his best coat to get money to give to one of the children who is leaving. When he finds out Daisy is so afraid of him that she tries to kill herself

Notes:
aka Spring And Port Wine And Keep It In the Family

1st Produced:
Broadcast     1957

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Samuel French, London, 1958   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Spring And Port Wine

Spring And Port Wine
man's unswerving integrity is such that his family is forced to hide slight peccadilloes from him, atmosphere slowly lightens

Notes:
broadcast As My Flesh, My Blood 1957, Aka Keep It In the Family

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Samuel French, London, 1958   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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