R2E Excerpt #50: Perfectly Miserable, and Miserably Perfect, in a London Theatre

Another life lesson from a very smart (fictional) guy. WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY PETER MOORE

I RANG UP A TWO-FER of British stage greats by waiting in line practically forever to watch Nicol Williamson reprise his lauded role as Bill Maitland, in Inadmissible Evidence. It was just my cup of bitter tea, as John Osborne’s signature malcontent spews venom about his horrible law career separating warring couples while cheating his own wife with women who mean nothing to him. 

He was perfectly miserable!

Osborne inoculated his play against criticism, when he penned this key bit of dialogue in Evidence: “Asking a working writer what he feels about critics is like asking a lamppost what it feels about dogs.” 

And the critics laughed off the dog gibe: Inadmissible Evidence was a revival and a rave, which is why I plunked down a full £2.50 for seat D7. 

Osborne and I had another thing in common, aside from our shared ill-temper among Londoners: He was a prolific private scribbler. And even after Look Back in Anger confirmed his position as Lamppost #1…