NF Simpson

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Norman Frederick "NF" Simpson (born January 29, 1919 in London , † August 27, 2011 in Cornwall ) was a British playwright . With his humorous works bursting with puns, he is considered a leading representative of British theater of the absurd .

life and work

NF Simpson attended the Emanuel School in London and the University of London . During World War II he served in the Intelligence Corps , the espionage corps of the British armed forces. Until 1962 he worked as an English teacher in adult education.

His best-known work is the play One Way Pendulum (German Die Welt der Groomkirbys ) from 1959, which was filmed in 1964 by Peter Yates with the actors Eric Sykes and George Cole . The plot revolves around a Groomkirby family and their absurd hobbies, including the family man who recreates the Old Bailey Criminal Court in his living room and goes mad over it.

In 1970 he had a small guest role in Aram Avakian's film drama The Path into the Abyss as Dr. Bulkhead. After that it became quieter for Simpson, who no longer had stage success.

classification

The similarity of Simpson's work with the work of Eugène Ionesco was established early on, which should be based primarily on an affinity for the absurd.

In 2003, however, the literary scholar Stephan Rupp came to the conclusion that Simpson's work, in contrast to Ionesco's, was hardly characterized by the absurd and that he only used a comparable dramatic technique. Numerous similarities between A Resounding Tinkle and One Way Pendulum and older works by Eugène Ionesco amount to plagiarism for him . Simpson has reinforced this impression by disguising statements in interviews. In a legal sense, however, Rupp does not want to speak of plagiarism.

Works

  • A Resounding Tinkle , drama (first performed at the Royal Court Theater , London, 1957)
  • The Hole , Drama (World premiere: Royal Court Theater, London, 1958)
  • One to Another , Sketche (with John Mortimer and Harold Pinter; world premiere: Apollo Theater, London, 1959)
  • One Way Pendulum , Drama (World premiere: Royal Court Theater, London, December 22, 1959; German-language premiere as Die Welt der Groomkirbys : Städtische Bühnen, Frankfurt am Main, June 21, 1961)
  • Can You Hear Me? , Sketch, 1960
  • Sketches From One To Another , Revue (with John Mortimer and Harold Pinter), 1960
  • You, Me and the Gatepost , Sketch (World premiere: Nottingham, 1960)
  • The Form , Drama (World premiere: Arts Theater, London, January 18, 1961; German-language premiere as The Form : Die Arche, Vienna, March 18, 1965)
  • On the Avenue , Sketch (World premiere: Arts Theater, London, 1961)
  • One Blast and Have Done , Sketch, 1964
  • One Over the Fight , Sketch (World premiere: Criterion Theater, London 1964)
  • The Cresta Run , drama (premiered at Royal Court Theater, London, 1965)
  • Some Tall Tinkles , Sketche, 1968, includes the sketches We're Due In Eastbourne In Ten Minutes (TV Version: 1967, World premiere: London 1971), The Best I Can Do By Way Of Gate-Leg Table, Is A Hundredweight Of Coal and At Least It's A Precaution Against Fire
  • Playback 625 (together with Leopoldo Maler; world premiere: London, 1970)
  • How are your handles? (World premiere: Ambiance Theater Club, London, 1970), contains the sketches Gladly Otherwise , Oh and The Other Side Of London
  • What He Anyone? (World premiere: Royal Court Theater, London, 1972)
  • Anyone's Gums Can Listen to Reason , short play, 1977
  • In Reasonable Shape , short play (World premiere: London, 1977)
  • If So, Then Yes , Drama (World premiere: 2010)

Translations

  • Eduardo De Filippo : Inner Voices (Original: Le voci di dentro ; world premiere: Lytlelton Theater, National Theater, London, 1983)
  • Eduardo De Filippo: Napoli Milionaria , 1991

literature

  • Rüdiger Ahrens: Norman Frederick Simpson: One Way Pendulum . In: Horst Oppel (Ed.): The English Drama of the Present. Interpretations. Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin 1976, ISBN 3-503-01233-8 , pp. 49-63
  • Gordon Collier: Norman Frederick Simpson - A Resounding Tinkle . In: Klaus Fehse, Norbert H. Platz (ed.): The contemporary English drama. Introduction, interpretation, documentation. Athenäum-Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1975, ISBN 3-8072-2096-8 , pp. 25-42
  • Alfred John Peter Froehlich: NF Simpson and the Aesthetics of Nonsense . Dissertation, University of Toronto, 1976
  • Frank S. Galassi: The Absurd Theater of Joe Orton and NF Simpson . Dissertation, New York University, 1971 (microfilm version: University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor 1982)
  • Stephan Rupp: "The English Ionesco". A comparative study of the NF Simpsons and Ionesco theater of the absurd . Dissertation, University of Freiburg im Breisgau 2003 ( full text )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/theatre-obituaries/8731685/NF-Simpson.html
personal data
SURNAME Simpson, NF
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Simpson, Norman Frederick; Simpson, Norman F.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English playwright
DATE OF BIRTH January 29, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH August 27, 2011
Place of death Cornwall