Turning Point: Behind Beyond the Fringe

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Behind Beyond the Fringe

BBC Radio 4 - Turning Point, Behind Beyond the Fringe

How Beyond The Fringe changed the face of British comedy

Four young men are brought together to stage a late night revue for the Edinburgh Festival; Beyond The Fringe is  born &  comedy will never be the same again.
by Jeremy Front.

May 14th 1961 - Reviewing the hottest ticket in town, Observer theatre critic Ken Tynan effused: "Future historians may well thank me for providing them with a full account of the moment when English comedy took its first decisive step into the second half of the twentieth century." 

Like the 'angry young' novels and 'kitchen sink' dramas of a few years earlier, 'Beyond the Fringe' was a cultural and political turning point, introducing new voices and fresh attitudes to a generation hungry for change.   'Beyond the Fringe' not only transformed the style of British comedy, lighting the fuse of the satire boom, it also fired a broadside at The Establishment and sent a blast of fresh air through the fusty corridors of power.  Before the Beatles made the 60s swing the Fab Four of comedy, Bennett, Cook, Miller and Moore opened the door to 'the permissive society', auguring the death of deference which still clung to paternalistic, post-colonial Britain.
Jeremy Front's drama takes a look at how four young men were brought together to stage a comedy show and ended up staging a revolution.
With thanks to John and Josh Bassett for their help in researching the play.

Johnny Bassett ..... Patrick Walshe McBride
Dudley Moore ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr
Alan Bennett ..... Matthew Durkan
Jonathan Miller ..... Tom Durant-Pritchard
Peter Cook ..... David Reed
Robert Ponsonby ..... Hasan Dixon
Donald Langdon ..... Samuel James
Stella/Waitress/ASM/
Mrs Grossett/Eleanor Fazan ..... Rhiannon Neads

Writer ..... Jeremy Front
Technical Producer ..... Peter Ringrose
Director ..... Sally Avens

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