FOR BETTER, FOR WORSE. 7m, 5f. Starred Leslie Phillips and Geraldine McEwan at the Comedy Theatre in 1953 for 607 shows. A great comedy about early married life. Anne and Tony want to get married but her Father says that first he must get a job and a flat for them to live in. Tony does find a job but accommodation is harder. Eventually he finds a tiny flat. He knows Anne’s parents will not approve of such a tiny shabby place – but he feels it is a start. It was turned into a film in 1954 starring Dirk Bogarde.
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NOT IN THE BOOK. 7m, 1f. Starred Wilfrid Hyde White and Avice Landon. Ran at the Criterion Theatre in London in 1958 for 488 shows. An enormously funny show introduces us to the respectable home of Andrew Bennett, and to his family and friends. Pedro arrives from South America with plans to blackmail Andrew Bennett about his murky past. Andrew has been given the script of a murder mystery and he sees a way out from his predicament. He puts poison in Pedro’s coffee and he dies. The police investigate and things look bad for Andrew. Then it turns out that Pedro was blackmailing someone else as well and this other person had poisoned him – Pedro had not drunk any of his coffee.
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THE GEESE ARE GETTING FAT 6m, 5f. Starred Michael Wilding and Avice Landon at the Phoenix Theatre in London in 1960. A great comedy. Much of the action takes place around Christmas time. Clive has decided that Christmas is all humbug these days. He is opting out and not taking part. His rich uncle from Australia is coming to stay for the festive season and when he arrives he demands a full Dickensian Christmas. Delia Moss is a much married lady who has her sights set on her next conquest!
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OUT OF BOUNDS. 11m, 1f. Starred Sir Michael Redgrave, Pauline Jameson and Anton Diffring. Ran at the Wyndham Theatre from November 1962 for 31 weeks. A great comedy in which a British spy has been killed in a plane crash. He was due to meet someone who was to hand over negatives of secret documents. British Intelligence has discovered that Lancelot Dodd, a meek and unassuming headmaster of a boys school, is the exact double of the dead spy, and he rather reluctantly agrees to impersonate him in a meeting with a dangerous criminal.
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AMBER FOR ANNA. 6m, 5f. A mystery/thriller. Andrew and Carol Marsh have been to the theatre with a group of friends. One of their number pours scorn on the format thriller they have been to see – as if there could be a murder where the suspect is amongst a small, diverse group of people like that. But upstairs the au pair lies with a dagger in her heart, which starts the mystery off leading to …
MUTED STRINGS. His first play performed in London in November 1936 at Daly’s Theatre. It starred Kenneth Kent and Isobel Elsom and was about Beethoven’s passion for Countess Guiletta Giucciardi, to whom he dedicated his “Moonlight Sonata”. See Classic FM story. Kenneth Kent played the part of Beethoven and Isobel Elsom played the part of Countess Lichnowsky, Countess of Thun, who was Beethoven’s “loyal friend and patron”.
Many of Arthur Watkyn’s plays have appeared in countries around the world and been translated into foreign languages for local use. Here are some of the countries and versions:
- FRANCE – BON-WEEKEND MR BENNETT – Théâtre de la Gaîté-Montparnasse October 1959
- GERMANY – VORSICHT MISTER DODD – 1964 comedy film translated from “Out of Bounds” directed by Günter Gräwert and starring Heinz Rühmann, Maria Sebaldt and Robert Graf. Also produced as a film.
- GERMANY – SCHÖNES WEEKEND, MR. BENNETT based on “Not in the Book”. 1963 TV Movie starred Günther Lüders, Heli Finkenzeller, Nicolaus Haenel
- CZECH REPUBLIC – PAN DODD MÁ SCHUZKU based on “Out of Bounds” – 1992 TV Movie starred Zdenek Zák, Eduard Cupák, Jaromír Meduna
- SOUTH AFRICA – NOT IN THE BOOK 1959 and 1974 in Johannesburg at Brooke Theatre and Civic Theatre with Wilfrid Hyde White and Avril Angers
- AUSTRALIA – THE GEESE ARE GETTING FAT Albert Hall Brisbane November 1963