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Beyond the Fringe was a British comedy stage revue written and performed by Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett, and Jonathan Miller. It played in London's West End and then on New York's Broadway in the early 1960s, and is widely regarded as seminal to the rise of satire in 1960s Britain.

The show

The show was conceived in 1960 by an Oxford man, Robert Ponsonby, artistic director for the Edinburgh International Festival, with the idea of bringing together the best of the Cambridge Footlights and The Oxford Revue that in previous years had transferred to Edinburgh for short runs. John Bassett, Wadham College, Oxford graduate and assistant to Ponsonby, recommended jazz band mate and rising cabaret talent Dudley Moore, who in turn recommended Alan Bennett, who had been a hit at Edinburgh a few years before. Bassett also identified Jonathan Miller, a Footlights star in 1957. Miller recommended Cook. While Bennett and Miller were already pursuing traditional careers, Cook had an agent due to his having written a West End revue for Kenneth Williams; as a result, Cook's agent negotiated a higher weekly fee for him to participate, although by the time the agent's fee was deducted, Cook actually earned less than the others from the initial run.

The show's runs in Edinburgh and the provinces had a lukewarm response; however, when the revue transferred to the Fortune Theatre in London, produced by Donald Albery and William Donaldson, it became a sensation, thanks in some part to a favorable review by Kenneth Tynan.^[1] The show crossed the Atlantic to New York with its original cast in 1962, with then-current U.S. President John F. Kennedy attending a performance.

The majority of sketches were by Cook, based on material written for other revues, including "One Leg Too Few." Amongst the entirely new material, the stand-outs were "The End of the World," "TVPM," and "The Great Train Robbery." Cook and Moore revived some of the sketches on their later television and stage shows, most famously the two hander "One Leg Too Few," in which Cook played a theatrical producer auditioning a one-legged Moore for the part of Tarzan.

It had a drastic effect on the careers of Bennett and Miller, who had been preparing for lives in academia and medicine respectively. The show continued in New York with most of the original cast until 1964, when Paxton Whitehead replaced Miller, while the London version continued with a different cast until 1966.

Controversy

The revue was widely considered to be ahead of its time, both in its unapologetic willingness to debunk figures of authority, and by virtue of its inherently surrealistic comedic vein. Humiliation of authority was something only previously delved into in The Goon Show and, arguably, Hancock's Half Hour, with such parliamentarians as Sir Winston Churchill and Harold Macmillan coming under special scrutiny — although the BBC were predisposed to frowning upon it. Mr Macmillan — according to Cook — was not particularly fond of the slurred caricature and charade of senile forgetfulness (marked by a failure to coherently pronounce 'Conservative Party') handed down on him in Cook's impersonation. Since Beyond the Fringe was not owned by the BBC, however, the quartet more or less enjoyed relative carte blanche. The only protocol they were obliged to adhere to, stipulated that their sketches be sent to the Lord Chamberlain (a role abolished in 1968) prior to performance.

Most specifically, its lampooning of the British war effort in a sketch titled "The Aftermyth of the War" was scorned by some war veterans for its supposed insensitivity. (One British visitor to the Broadway performance was said to have stood up and shouted 'rotters!' at a sketch he found distasteful, before apparently sitting down again and enjoying the remainder of the show, while another, at the first performance in Edinburgh allegedly stood up and declared that the 'young bounders don't know the first thing about it!' and promptly left the auditorium.) In response to these negative audience reactions, the Beyond the Fringe team insisted that they were not ridiculing the efforts of those involved in the war, but were challenging the subsequent media portrayal of them.

Influence

Many see Beyond the Fringe as the forerunner to British television programmes That Was the Week That Was, At Last the 1948 Show and Monty Python's Flying Circus.

As with the established comedy revue, it was a series of satirical sketches and musical pieces using a minimal set, looking at events of the day. It effectively represented the views and disappointments of the first generation of British people to grow up after World War II, and gave voice to a sense of the loss of national purpose with the end of the British Empire. Although all of the cast contributed material, the most often-quoted pieces were those by Cook, many of which had appeared before in his Cambridge Footlights revues. The show broke new ground with Peter Cook's impression of then Prime Minister Harold Macmillan; on one occasion, this was performed with Macmillan in the audience, and Cook added an ad lib ridiculing Macmillan for turning up to watch. In 2006, Jonathan Miller recounted that the breach of decorum this represented was a source of embarrassment to both audience and performers.

The show is credited with giving many other performers the courage to be satirical and more improvised in their manner, and broke the conventions of not lampooning the Royal Family or the government of the day. However, the show wasn't all that satirical, merely making fun of things — such as war films — though even this was a step forward in comedy. Shakespearean drama was another target of their comedy.

There were a number of songs in the show, mainly using Dudley Moore's music. Some have credited it with the rise of the Satire Boom of the 1960s. Without it, there may not have been either That Was the Week That Was or Private Eye magazine, which originated at the same time, and that partially survived due to financial support from Peter Cook, and served as the model for the later American Spy Magazine. Cook and Moore formed a comedy team and appeared in the popular television show Not Only... But Also, and the 1967 film Bedazzled. Cook also launched his club, The Establishment, around this time. Many of the members of Monty Python recall being inspired by Beyond the Fringe.

The retrospective show Before the Fringe, broadcast during the early years of BBC 2, took its title from this production. It consisted of performances of material that was popular in theatrical revue before the advent of Beyond the Fringe.^[2]

The show was revived in slightly altered form in Los Angeles in 2000 and 2001 by Joseph Dunn's ReEstablishment Theater to critical acclaim.

Quotations

• (Said by Squadron Leader to Flight Officer Perkins): "I want you to lay down your life, Perkins." "Right sir!" "We need a futile gesture at this stage. It will raise the whole tone of the war." "Yessir!" "Get up in a crate, Perkins." "Sah!" "Pop over to Bremen." "Yessir!" "Take a shufti." "Right sir!" "And don't come back." "Yessir" "Goodbye, Perkins. God, I wish I was going too." "Goodbye Sah! – Or is it au revoir?" "No, Perkins."
• Peter Cook as E.L. Wisty: "Yes, I could have been a judge, but I never had the Latin. I never had the Latin for the judgin'."
• Cook as Macmillan recounting a summit meeting with U.S. President John F. Kennedy: "We talked of many things, including Great Britain's position in the world as some kind of honest broker. I agreed with him when he said no nation could be more honest, and he agreed with me when I chaffed him and said no nation could be broker."
• Cook to Moore in "One Leg Too Few": "Your right leg I like. I like your right leg. That's what I said when I saw it come in Mr. Spiggot. 'Lovely leg. Lovely, lovely leg.' I've got nothing against your right leg, Mr. Spiggot. The trouble is, neither have you."
• Alan Bennett as falsetto-voiced vicar, in "Take a Pew": "But my brother Esau is an hairy man, and I am a smooth man." (Quoting Genesis 27:11)

Discography

• Beyond the Fringe, UK, Parlophone, audio lp, mono, 1961, PMC 1145
• Beyond the Fringe (Original Broadway Cast Recording), USA Capitol, audio lp, mono, 1962, W1792 - also stereo SW1792
• Alexander H Cohen Presents Beyond the Fringe '64, USA Capitol, audio lp, mono, 1964, W2072 - also stereo SW2072
• Complete Beyond the Fringe [Box set], EMI Audio CD, 21 October 1996, ASIN: B000006SW2
• Beyond the Fringe, Acorn Media DVD, October 5 2005, AMP 7990, ISBN 1-56938-799-0. "The complete 1964 gala farewell performance"

Bibliography

• Smiles, Roy (2008) Afternoon Play: Good Evening (BBC Radio 4)
• Cook, P. et al. (2003) Beyond the Fringe ISBN 0-413-77368-X
• Carpenter, Humphrey (2000) That Was Satire That Was ISBN 0-575-06588-5
• Cook, W (Ed) (2004) Goodbye Again ISBN 1-84413-400-8
• Bennett, Alan (1994) Writing Home ISBN 0-571-17388-8
• Paskin, Barbra (1997) Dudley Moore ISBN 0-330-35322-5
• Thompson, Harry (1997) Peter Cook ISBN 0-340-64969-0
• Bergan, Ronald, Beyond the Fringe … and Beyond. London, Virgin Books (1989) ISBN 1-85227-175-2
• Wilmut, Roger, From Fringe to Flying Circus. (Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy, 1960-1980), London, Methuen (1980) ISBN 413-50770-X

References

1. ^ See Humphrey Carpenter That Was Satire That Was, pp. 122-23; Tynan's review is extensively quoted.
2. ^ Before the Fringe at the Internet Movie Database

External links

• Some Fickle Circumstance - a comprehensive history and overview of the show.
• Sound Of Young America - podcast documentary about Beyond The Fringe

From Wikiquote

Beyond the Fringe was a theatrical revue written and performed by Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller and Dudley Moore. It opened in Edinburgh in 1960, later transferring to London and New York. Quotations are cited from The Complete Beyond the Fringe (1993) edited by Roger Wilmut.

Alan Bennett

• Now I can see one or two of you are thinking, now look here, what if one of our American friends makes a boo-boo, presses the wrong button, and sends up one of their missiles by mistake? It could not happen. You see, before they press that button they've got to get on the telephone to number 10 Downing Street, and say, "Now look, Mr. Macmillan, Sir, can I press this button?" And Mr. Macmillan will say "yes" — or "no" — as the mood takes him.
  • "Civil War"

• Life, you know, is rather like opening a tin of sardines. We are all of us looking for the key. And, I wonder, how many of you here tonight have wasted years of your lives looking behind the kitchen dressers of this life for that key.
  • "Take a Pew"

• Others think they've found the key, don't they? They roll back the lid of the sardine tin of life, they reveal the sardines, the riches of life, therein, and they get them out, they enjoy them. But, you know, there's always a little bit in the corner you can't get out. I wonder — I wonder, is there a little bit in the corner of your life? I know there is in mine.
  • "Take a Pew"

Peter Cook

• I went first to Germany, and there I spoke with the German Foreign Minister, Herr...Herr and there, and we exchanged many frank words in our respective languages; so precious little came of that in the way of understanding. I would, however, emphasise that the little that came of it was indeed, truly, precious.
  • "T.V.P.M."

• That is not to say that we do not have our own Nuclear Striking Force — we do, we have the Blue Steel; a very effective missile, as it has a range of one hundred and fifty miles, which means that we can just about get Paris — and, by God, we will.
  • "T.V.P.M."

• Now, we shall receive four minutes warning of any impending nuclear attack. Some people have said, "Oh my goodness me — four minutes? — that is not a very long time!" Well, I would remind those doubters that some people in this great country of ours can run a mile in four minutes.
  • "Civil War"

• Yes, I could have been a judge but I never had the Latin, never had the Latin for the judging, I just never had sufficient of it to get through the rigorous judging exams.
  • "Sitting on the Bench"

• I managed to get through the mining exams — they're not very rigorous, they only ask one question, they say, "Who are you", and I got 75 per cent on that.
  • "Sitting on the Bench"

• I am very interested in the Universe — I am specialising in the Universe and all that surrounds it.
  • "Sitting on the Bench"

• The young lady who modelled for Constable was Alice Lauderdale, who was the young lady who came in and did for Constable — practically any woman would do for Constable. She, in any case, used to come in and dust around in the nude, and Constable would get her down on the canvas and immortalise her. As you see, in most of his paintings of Alice he has been forced to disguise her as arable land.
  • "Under Canvas"

• The leg division, Mr. Spiggott. You are deficient in it — to the tune of one. Your right leg I like. I like your right leg. A lovely leg for the role. That's what I said when I saw you come in. I said, "A lovely leg for the role." I've got nothing against your right leg. The trouble is — neither have you.
  • "One Leg Too Few"

Jonathan Miller

• There's that marvellous unpunctuated motto over the lavatory saying, "Gentlemen lift the seat". What exactly does this mean? Is it a sociological description — a definition of a gentleman which I can either take or leave? Or perhaps it's a Loyal Toast? It could be a blunt military order, or an invitation to upper-class larceny.
  • "The Heat-Death of the Universe"

Dialogue

Peter Cook: I want you to lay down your life, Perkins. We need a futile gesture at this stage. It will raise the whole tone of the war. Get up in a crate, Perkins, pop over to Bremen, take a shufti, don't come back. Goodbye, Perkins. God, I wish I was going too.

Jonathan Miller: Goodbye, sir — or is it — au revoir?

Peter Cook: No, Perkins.

• "Aftermyth of War"

Alan Bennett: I think there is a danger though of seeing the colour problem simply in terms of black and white.

Peter Cook: It's a lot more complicated than that.

Dudley Moore: I gather the Negroes are sweeping the country.

Jonathan Miller: They are. It's one of the few jobs they can get.

• "Home Thoughts From Abroad"

Peter Cook: We are using the technology known as the "Identikit." Are you familiar with it?

Alan Bennett: Isn't that where you piece together the face of the criminal?

Peter Cook: Not entirely, no. We're only able to piece together the appearance of the face of the criminal. We can't quite piece together the actual face of the criminal, unfortunately. Once you've located the face of the criminal, the rest of him isn't hard to find.

• "The Great Train Robbery"

Peter Cook: Through this wonderful system of "Identikit", we have pieced together an extremely good likeness of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Alan Bennett: So His Grace is your number one suspect?

Peter Cook: Well, let me put it this way — His Grace is the man we are currently beating the living daylights out of down at the Yard.

• "The Great Train Robbery"

Peter Cook: Now, Mr. Spiggott, you, a one-legged man, are applying for the role of Tarzan — a role which traditionally involves the use of a two-legged actor.

Dudley Moore: Correct.

Peter Cook: And yet you, a unidexter, are applying for the role.

Dudley Moore: Right.

Peter Cook: A role for which two legs would seem to be the minimum requirement.

• "One Leg Too Few"

External links

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Beyond the Fringe