- Wise Child
.
The plot concerns
orphan ed Jerry Artminster, whoblackmail s acriminal named Jock Masters by promising he won't reveal his identity if Jock agrees to impersonate the boy's mother in theReading, Berkshire , (England )hotel where the boy lives. The other characters are Mr. Booker, thegay hotel manager who fancies the boy, and Janice, a black woman who works in the hotel.The play was first staged in 1967 at
Wyndham's Theatre inLondon withAlec Guinness as Jock. After 12 previews, the Broadway production at theHelen Hayes Theatre opened onJanuary 27 ,1972 . It closed after four performances following critical thrashings byClive Barnes [http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Set/1817/theatre/wchild/wchild-1.html] andWalter Kerr [http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Set/1817/theatre/wchild/wchild-2.html] in the "New York Times " andRichard Watts, Jr. [http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Set/1817/theatre/wchild/wchild-3.html] in the "New York Post ".The
New York City production was directed byJames Hammerstein and starredDonald Pleasence as Jock,Bud Cort as Jerry, George Rose as Mr. Booker, and Lauren Jones as Janice.Donald Pleasance was nominated for the
Tony Award for Best Actor in Play.External links
* [http://ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=3639 IBDb entry]
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