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Keith Waterhouse

KEITH WATERHOUSE

  (1929 - 2009)
Nationality:    British
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    The Agency (London) Ltd  

British journalist, playwright and novelist, frequent collaborator with Willis Hall; died 4 Sep 2009
- British Theatre Guide

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

         All Things Bright and Beautiful         Billy Liar         Bing Bong         Bookends         Budgie         Card, The         Celebration: the Wedding and the Funeral         Children's Day         Come Laughing Home         England, Our England         Filumena         Final At Furnell         Good Grief         Help Stamp Out Marriage!         Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell         Joey, Joey         Last Page, The         Lost Empires         Mr and Mrs Nobody         Our Song         Saturday, Sunday, Monday         Say Who You Are         Sponge Room, The         Squat Betty         Steafel Variations         they Called the Bastard Stephen         Whoops-a-Daisy         Who's Who         Worzel Gummidge
All Things Bright and Beautiful

All Things Bright and Beautiful
An exuberant and racy comedy which is yet a sad commentary on twentieth-century bureaucracy. the Hesseltines are living in property well overdue for demolition and are looking forward to being rehoused in more beautiful and salubrious surroundings. the crisis comes when they find that, far from a house with a little bit of garden, they are to live in a warrenous block of flats. . .

Notes:
written with Willis Hall

1st Produced:
Bristol     1962

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Michael Joseph, 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:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Billy Liar

Billy Liar
Less than dedicated to his job as undertaker's clerk bored with his North Country family background, Billy Fisher takes refuge in his own invented world. For Billy, an energetic imagination makes life tolerable but well-nigh intolerable for all around him. He lies his way into and out of every situation producing any explanation and making any promise that will extricate him from his present predicament, and thereby creating ever more tortuous entanglements for the immediate future.

Notes:
written with Willis Hall, from novel by Waterhouse. Amateur Rights with Samuel French Ltd

1st Produced:
Cambridge Theatre, London     13 Sep 1960

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:  3            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Bing Bong

Synopsis:
Television sitcom writers Carl Banks and Gary Bell are finding it harder and harder to produce a new hit comedy series

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
U K Tour     1999

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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Bookends

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
from "the Marsh Marlowe Letters" by Craig Brown

1st Produced:
Apollo, London     1990

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:
Adaptation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Budgie

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
written with Willis Hall, music by Mort Shu,am, lyrics by Don Black

1st Produced:
London     1988

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:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Card, The

Card, The
-

Notes:
Written by Keith Waterhouse And Willis Hall; music by Tony Hatch; lyrics by Jackie Trent. Based on the novel "the Card" by Arnold Bennett

1st Produced:
Bristol     1973

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
Original cast recording: First Night (OCR5) 1973

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:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  7            Other:  -

Further Reference:

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Celebration: the Wedding and the Funeral

Synopsis:
a family make preparation for wedding then six months later a funeral of their uncle who provides the link

Notes:
written with Willis Hall

1st Produced:
Nottingham     1961

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Joseph, London, 1961   

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:  7            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Children's Day

Synopsis:
This play concerns a party which is heard but not seen, and the effect those jollifications have on the lives of two couples; Robin and Emma, and Peter and Polly

Notes:
written with Willis Hall

1st Produced:
Edinburgh     1969

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Samuel French, London, 1975   

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:  3            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Come Laughing Home

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Evans Bros, London, 1966   

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:  5            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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England, Our England

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
written with Willis Hall, music by Dudley Moore

1st Produced:
London     1962

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Evans Bros, 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:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Filumena

Synopsis:
after 25 years marriage Filumena is to be thrown over for a younger woman, pretence of death cures all

Notes:
Original Playwright - Eduardo de Filippo; Written in collaboration with Willis Hall

1st Produced:
London     02 Nov 1977

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in "Plays and Players", December, London, , Nov 1977
Heinemann, London, 1978   

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:
Adaptation

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  5            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Final At Furnell

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
written with Willis Hall

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
One Act Play,    

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:
One Act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Good Grief

Good Grief
A sensitive, wryly humorous study of a middle-aged widow, coming to terms with bereavement, who finds the courage to break with the past.

Notes:
from own novel. Amateur Rights with Samuel French Ltd

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Pericles Productions

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:
Adaptation

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Help Stamp Out Marriage!

Synopsis:
Two couples one happily married one having a secret affair

Notes:
Play written by Keith Waterhouse And Willis Hall. Original Broadway

1st Produced:
Booth Theatre, New York     29 Mar 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:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell

Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell
Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell Gambler, journalist, fervent alcoholic, four-times married Jeffrey Bernard writes theLow Life' column for the Spectator magazine. Locked in the Coach and Horses in Soho overnight, he has time to reflect on a dissolute life.

Notes:
Amateur Rights with Samuel French Ltd

1st Produced:
Brighton     1989

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:
Black Comedy Comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
Theatre Record Volume XXXI (2011) Issue 06 Page 322

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Joey, Joey

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
written with Willis Hall, music Ron Moody

1st Produced:
Manchester     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:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Last Page, The

Synopsis:
final unproduced play celebrating the craft of journalism

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Unproduced    

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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Lost Empires

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
written with Willis Hall, music Denis King, novel J.B. Priestley

1st Produced:
Darlington, County Durham     1985

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:
Adaptation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Mr and Mrs Nobody

Mr and Mrs Nobody
Mr and Mrs Nobody is an adaptation of George and Weedon Grossmith's comic novel the Diary Of A Nobody and Mrs Pooter's Diary. A respectable Victorian clerk has lofty social aspirations.

Notes:
from the Diary Of A Nobody by George And Weedon Grossmith

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:
Adaptation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Our Song

Our Song
Our Song is a warm, tender, romantic Drama, infused with moments of great humour. Pulling himself out of the rut of his middle-aged executive lifestyle, Roger Piper stumbles into a sixteen-month tempestuous affair.

Notes:
from own novel, with Willis Hall. Amateur Rights with Samuel French Ltd

1st Produced:
Apollo, London     03 Nov 1992

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:
Adaptation

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Saturday, Sunday, Monday

Synopsis:
a monumental Italian family row breaks out on Saturday night, to be finally and touchingly resolved on the Monday

Notes:
Original Playwright - Eduardo de Filippo; Written in collaboration with Willis Hall

1st Produced:
London     1973

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Heinemann, London, 1974   

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:
Adaptation

Parts:
Male:  11            Female:  6            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Say Who You Are

Synopsis:
unmarried lover at friends flat, a telephone booth, yet another foreign film all conspire in resultant embroilments

Notes:
written with Willis Hall, Aka Help Stamp Out Marriage

1st Produced:
Guildford, Surrey     1965

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Evans, London, 1966   

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:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Sponge Room, The

Synopsis:
about three dreamers who will never have the courage to carry out their dream - for the dreams themselves are a substitute for courage

Notes:
written with Willis Hall

1st Produced:
Nottingham     1962

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Evans, 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:
One Act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Squat Betty

Synopsis:
parody of the theatre of the Absurd, who should leave whom and who should commit suicide - nobody their lives are inextricably entangled

Notes:
written with Willis Hall

1st Produced:
London     1962

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Evans, 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:
One Act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Steafel Variations

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
written with Peter Tinniswood And Dick Vosburgh

1st Produced:
London     1982

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:
Songs and sketches

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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they Called the Bastard Stephen

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
written with Willis Hall, Aka Come Laughing Home

1st Produced:
Bristol     1964

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Evans, London, 1965   

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:  4            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Whoops-a-Daisy

Synopsis:
new neighbours turn out to be brash and aggressive intruders who radically disturb placid families life

Notes:
written with Willis Hall

1st Produced:
Nottingham     1968

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Samuel French, London, 1978   

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:
Domestic Drama Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Who's Who

Synopsis:
first confusion as couple try to cover up clandestine weekend, second complete role reversal

Notes:
written with Willis Hall

1st Produced:
Coventry     1971

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Samuel French, London, 1974   

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:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Worzel Gummidge

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
written with Willis Hall, music Denis King, stories Barbara Euphan Todd

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Samuel French, London, 1984   

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:
Childrens Youth Audience

Parts:
Male:  12            Female:  4            Other:  1b 1g

Further Reference:
-

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