There's A Girl In My Soup (comedy)

There's A Girl In My Soup is a stage comedy written by Terence Frisby.

It opened in 1966 at the Globe Theatre and ran for six and half years until 1973 - over a thousand performances - to become the longest-running comedy in the history of the West End. This record was later broken by "No Sex Please, We're British and then "Run For Your Wife". After three years and a half years at The Globe, now The Gielgud, the show transferred to the Comedy Theatre. It was unprecedented for a comedy to run for such a long time.

The show was directed by Bob Chetwyn and featured Donald Sinden, Barbara Ferris, Jon Pertwee and Clive Francis. The producer was Michael Codron. The record-breaking success of the show put Codron on the map as a producer.

Set in the glamorous world of the 60s, it tells the story of a smooth-talking TV chef, Robert Danvers (Sinden) who falls for a girl half his age. It was in this play that the catchphrase, 'My God, but you're lovely' was born.

The show transferred to Broadway with Gig Young in the main role, where it also enjoyed success, but not on the same level as in the West End.

It was later made into a film with Goldie Hawn and Peter Sellers, directed by Roy Boulting, for which Frisby won The Writers' Guild Of Great Britain Award for Best Screenplay in 1970. The film was also a financial success, but there are some who felt the magic of the play was lost by the director.

Frisby's other stage plays include: "The Subtopians" (Arts Theatre 1964), "The Bandwagon" (Mermaid Theatre 1969), "It's All Right If I Do It" (Mermaid 1977), "Seaside Postcard" (Young Vic 1978) "Rough Justice" (Apollo Theatre 1994) "Funny About Love" (two UK national tours 1999-2000). All his plays are published by Samuel French.

His latest is a musical based on his experiences as an evacuee in World War Two called. "Kisses On A Postcard".

ee also

* "There's a Girl in My Soup", the film adaptation of the story.

References