David Storey (1933-2017) wrote
The Contractorin “five days” (
Stinging, 245). It was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre in London on 20 October 1969, directed by Lindsay Anderson (1923-94). Bill Owen and Constance Chapman, who had played Mr and Mrs Shaw in
In Celebration, took the roles of Mr and Mrs Ewbank and other notable actors included Philip Stone (1924-2003) as Kay, T.P. McKenna (1929-2011) as Fitzpatrick and John Antrobus (b. 1933) as Glendenning.
Though The Contractor was the third of Storey’s plays to be staged, it was the second he had written after seeing a 1967 production, in the same theatre, of his first play, The Restoration of Arnold Middleton (“Introduction”, Plays: Two, x), an experience that had released a fluent dramatic talent that he had not
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Citation: Tredell, Nicolas. "The Contractor". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 January 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1187, accessed 08 September 2024.]