John Logan: Plays One

John Logan

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781783198528
• eBook ISBN: 9781783198535
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: American Drama

The first collection of plays from the multi-award-winning legendary screenwriter and playwright. Contains the plays RED, PETER AND ALICE and I'LL EAT YOU LAST.

Contents: Introduction by Michael Grandage

RED
Under the watchful gaze of his young assistant and the threatening presence of a new generation of artists, Mark Rothko takes on his greatest challenge yet: to create a definitive work for an extraordinary setting. A moving and compelling account of one of the greatest artists of the 20th century whose struggle to accept his growing riches and praise became his ultimate undoing. Nominated for 7 Olivier Awards (2009) and winner of 6 Tony Awards (2010) including Best New Play.

PETER AND ALICE
When Alice Liddell Hargreaves met Peter Llewelyn Davies at the opening of a Lewis Carroll exhibition in 1932, the original Alice in Wonderland came face to face with the original Peter Pan. In John Logan's remarkable play, enchantment and reality collide as this brief encounter lays bare the lives of these two extraordinary characters.

I'LL EAT YOU LAST: A CHAT WITH SUE MENGERS
1981. Hollywood. Sue Mengers, the first female 'superagent' at a time when women talent agents of any kind are almost unheard of, invites you into her Beverly Hills home for an evening of dish, secrets, and all the inside showbiz stories that only Sue could tell… Back in the 1970s, Sue Mengers represented almost every major star in Hollywood; her clients were the talk of the town and her glamorous dinner parties were legendary. But by 1981 the glory days were fading. Her time was passing as a sleek and corporate New Hollywood began to emerge. The phone's not ringing so much these days and Sue is forced to face the inevitable truth: the credits roll sooner than you think.

PETER AND ALICE

Peter and Alice by John Logan was first performed in London on 9 March 2013 at the Noël Coward Theatre as part of the Michael Grandage Company Season of five plays, with the following cast and creative team:

Cast (in order of speaking)
PETER LLEWELYN DAVIES	Ben Whishaw
ALICE LIDDELL HARGREAVES	Dame Judi Dench
LEWIS CARROLL (REV. CHARLES DODGSON)	Nicholas Farrell
JAMES BARRIE	Derek Riddell
PETER PAN	Olly Alexander
ALICE IN WONDERLAND	Ruby Bentall
ARTHUR DAVIES/REGINALD (REGGIE) HARGREAVES/ MICHAEL DAVIES	Stefano Braschi
Understudies
ALICE IN WONDERLAND	Georgina Beedle
LEWIS CARROLL/JIM BARRIE	Henry Everett
PETER LLEWLYN DAVIES/ PETER PAN/ARTHUR DAVIES/ REGGIE HARGREAVES/ MICHAEL DAVIES	Christopher Leveaux
ALICE LIDDELL HARGREAVES	Pamela Merrick
Creative Team
Director	Michael Grandage
Set and Costume Designer	Christopher Oram
Lighting Designer	Paule Constable
Composer and Sound Designer	Adam Cork

Note

Many years ago I came across the following in The Real Alice, Anne Clark’s biography of Alice Liddell Hargreaves, the model for Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland:

“On June 26 1932, Alice opened the Lewis Carroll exhibition at Bumpus, the London bookshop. Beside her was Peter Davies, the original Peter Pan.”

I wondered what they said to each other.

Characters

in order of appearance:

PETER LLEWELYN DAVIES

ALICE LIDDELL HARGREAVES

LEWIS CARROLL (REV. CHARLES DODGSON)

JAMES BARRIE

PETER PAN

ALICE IN WONDERLAND

ARTHUR DAVIES

REGINALD (REGGIE) HARGREAVES

MICHAEL DAVIES

(Arthur Davies, Reginald Hargreaves and Michael Davies
may be played by the same actor.)

Setting

The backroom of the Bumpus bookshop.

No. 350, Oxford Street. London.

June 26, 1932.

And corners of memory that include Oxford, a riverbank, a street with illuminations, a darkroom, a country estate, a London flat, Neverland and Wonderland, variously from 1862 to 1921.

Quotes from the novels Peter and Wendy by J.M. Barrie and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll are in italics… These novels are in the public domain.

Dedicated to Michael Grandage
for his faith in this play and its author.
And for giving an actor the single best piece
of direction I have ever heard.

The backroom of the Bumpus bookshop in London. June 26, 1932.

Imposing shelves of books, files, bibliographic supplies, etc. There is a door into the bookshop.

PETER waits. He’s in his 30s.

He hears voices off. He prepares himself, clears his throat, and straightens his conservative suit. He’s nervous.

ALICE enters.

She’s 80.

PETER: Mrs. Hargreaves… My name is Peter Davies. How do you do?

ALICE: How do you do?

PETER: We’re to wait here. I’m told.

Beat.

PETER: It’ll only be a few minutes, until everyone has gathered and then Charles will introduce me and I’ll introduce you. You’re to make some remarks and then–

ALICE: I understand.

Beat.

PETER: This is a – pleasure, ma’am.

ALICE: You were going to say “honor” but you thought it unduly reverential. It is challenging to know which note to strike with me. Do you honor him and the book through honoring me? But am I worthy of honor? Not her – me… Then how, indeed, do I feel about her? You’ve no way of knowing… Is it an “honor” or a “pleasure”…or something else altogether?

PETER: I think, now, the latter.

She smiles slightly.

He’s emboldened to continue.

PETER: In any event, Mrs. Hargreaves, I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.

ALICE: No, Mr. Davies, I daresay you’ve been looking forward to meeting her.

PETER: It is to you I wish to speak.

ALICE: Is this by way of an ambush?

PETER: I asked Charles if I might have a few words with you.

She nods. Proceed.

PETER: I have an imprint, not inconsiderable, called Peter Davies Limited. We have a proper list and my chief duty as publisher is to cast my eye about for worthwhile subjects.

ALICE: And your eye has fallen on me, as worthwhile. How very flattering.

PETER: That’s the curse of my trade. To a book man, every nook and cranny is a potential story.

ALICE: Am I a nook or a cranny?

PETER: I – Sorry?

ALICE: Come to the point, Mr. Davies.

PETER: When I got the invitation to come and meet you, I thought: there’s a story, and worth the telling… Have you considered your memoirs?

ALICE: Considered them as what?

PETER: Something you might wish to write.

ALICE: To be published and vended?

...

Table of contents

• Cover
• About the Author
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• Red
• Peter and Alice
• I’ll Eat you Last: A Chat with sue Mengers