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Hall, Willis
Hall, Willis (1929–2005), English playwright, most of whose later plays have been written in collaboration with Keith Waterhouse (1929– ). The first of Hall's own plays to be staged, The Royal Astrologers (1958), was written for children, his first play for adults being the highly successful The Long and the Short and the Tall (1959; NY, 1962), a study of the diverse members of a patrol lost in 1942 in the Malayan jungle. After a double bill, Last Day in Dreamland and A Glimpse of the Sea (also 1959), both plays set in a seaside resort at the end of the season, Hall began his collaboration with Waterhouse, their first joint work—one of their most successful—being Billy Liar (1960; NY, 1963), based on Waterhouse's novel about a fantasizing North Country boy. It was followed by Chin-Chin (also 1960), based on a play by Billetdoux, and England, Our England (1962), a revue. More typical of their collaboration, however, were the comedy All Things Bright and Beautiful (1962) and the farce Say Who You Are (1965), seen in America in 1966 as Help Stamp Out Marriage. They then wrote the book for the musical The Card (1973), based on Arnold Bennett's novel, and had a big success at the National Theatre with Saturday, Sunday, Monday (also 1973), based on a play by Eduardo De Filippo, which in 1974 was transferred to the West End and seen in New York. In 1977 he again collaborated with Waterhouse in Filumena (NY, 1980), based on another play by De Filippo. His later stage work has been for children. Waterhouse also wrote the highly successful Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell (1989).
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Cite this article
PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Hall, Willis." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Hall, Willis." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-HallWillis.html PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Hall, Willis." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-HallWillis.html |
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Hall, Willis
Hall, Willis (1929–2005), playwright, born in Leeds, whose successful play The Long and the Short and the Tall (1958, pub. 1959), set in 1942 in the Malayan jungle during the Japanese advance on Singapore, was followed by many other works for stage, screen, and television, many written in collaboration with K. Waterhouse.
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Cite this article
MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Hall, Willis." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Hall, Willis." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-HallWillis.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Hall, Willis." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-HallWillis.html |
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