John Chapman died on the 3rd of September 2001 at the age of 74. During his long career he not only wrote for stage and television on his own but he also collaborated with a variety of other well-know writers.
On his own John was responsible for:
The Brides of March (Published by Josef Weinberger Plays)
Oh, Clarence (Published by Josef Weinberger Plays)
Deadlier than the Male
Diplomatic Baggage (Published by Josef Weinberger Plays)
Dry Rot (Published by Josef Weinberger Plays)
Kindly Leave the Stage (Published by Samuel French)
The Liver Birds (the stage adaptation of the television series) (Published by Josef Weinberger Plays)
Simple Spymen
With Ray Cooney:
Not Now Darling (Published by Josef Weinberger Plays)
Move Over Mrs Markham (Published by Josef Weinberger Plays)
My Giddy Aunt (Published by Josef Weinberger Plays)
There Goes the Bride (Published by Josef Weinberger Plays)
With Dave Freeman
Key for Two (Published by Samuel French)
With Jeremy Lloyd
Business Affairs
Keeping Down with the Joneses (Published by Samuel French)
With Anthony Marriott
Shut Your Eyes and Think of England (Published by Samuel French)
With Michael Pertwee
Holiday Snap (Published by Samuel French)
Look, No Hans (Published by Samuel French)
He has also written several successful television series and plays including:
Fresh Fields
French Fields
Happy Ever After (co-written)
Hugh and I
What a Drag
Between the Balance Sheet
John was born in London on the 27th of May 1927 and trained at RADA. He started his career on the stage and almost immediately started writing. His first two plays were Dry Rot and Simple Spymen. Dry Rot was typical of the genre and in 2000 was voted one of the 100 best plays of the century. His last play, Deadlier Than the Male is due to be produced in 2002. John will be missed by all lovers of farce.
I give below a synopsis of some of John's plays. If you click on the title you will be taken to the Internet Theatre Bookshop where you can purchase the title.
Keeping Down with the Joneses (m5 f4)
Geoffrey Jones has built a shelter at the bottom of the garden convinced the Russians are about to launch a nuclear attack and so the family decide to try it out. Inadvertently they all manage to get locked in with the telephone engineer and an Asian milkman. As if this wasn't all bizarre enough, through a side-hatch their neighbours appear - striving to keep up with the Joneses by building their own shelter, they have ended up down with them!
Dry Rot (m7 f3)
A gang of bookies are staying at a country hotel run by a retired colonel and his wife and daughter in order to be near to the racecourse. They are trying to make their fortune by substituting a doped horse for the favourite. The farce contains secret rooms, sliding panels, mistaken identity, stereotypical characters, "horseplay" and general extravagant exaggeration!
Look, No Hans! (m2 f4)
A riotous farce concerning the hapless Fisher, manager of a Berlin office of a British Car Company. Problems arise for Fisher when his wife Monica returns from the airport because of a delayed flight, desperate to ensure that Monica doesn't suspect he is up to no good, Fisher must juggle mistress Heidi, voluptuous singing telegram, Mitzi, and an inspector from British Security of Industry!
Holiday Snap (m4 f3)
A tale of comic predicament and mistaken identity when two couples book the same time-share villa unbeknown to boozy rep 'Chitto' Chittenden. Mary and Henry arrive shortly after Eve and Leslie and the confusion is compounded when each couple mistakes the other for servants!
Not Now Darling (m5 f6)
Farce among the furs set in a posh West End furrier. Antics include the furrier's mistress, a cheap mink coat and several complicated situations.
Key for Two (m3 f4)
A wickedly amusing comedy in which Harriet decides to solve her financial problems by entertaining two married men on different nights. Problems only arise when her friend Anne arrives, hotly pursued by her husband, one of Harriet's lovers is confined to bed with a sprained ankle, and the second arrives unexpectedly followed by two irate wives in search of their husbands!
Shut Your Eyes and Think of England (m6 f3)
A maze of confused identities occur when Mr Pullen goes into the office on a Saturday to check the books and finds his employer, Sir Justin Holbrook, in the penthouse flat with a call-girl. Add Lady Holbrook, Mrs Pullen and an Arab Sheik and you have classic confusion and chaos!
Move Over Mrs Markham (m4 f5)
Publisher Philip Markham is asked by his business partner, Henry, if he can borrow the flat for the evening to entertain his latest girlfriend. As Philip and his wife will be out, he reluctantly agrees. But at the same time, Joanna Markham is being persuaded by Linda Lodge to let her borrow the empty flat in order to entertain her lover. And what nobody knows is that their interior designer has decided that this is the night that he and the au pair girl will try out the new oval bed ...
There Goes the Bride (m4 f4)
Harassed advertising executive Timothy Westerby hits his head on the morning of his daughter's society wedding and awakes to find himself in the company of Polly Perkins, a 1920's Flapper girl straight out of his current advertising campaign. It soon becomes all too clear that no-one else can see or hear her, and when another bump on the head transports Timothy back to 1926 and the Savoy hotel, the carefully planned wedding preparations disintegrate into chaos as friends and family attempt to lead Timothy back to reality.
My Giddy Aunt (m5 f3)
Comedy thriller set in India where eccentric Lady Eppingham lives in a world of fantasy and past glory of the Empire, whilst the running of her tea estate is left in the hands of her unscrupulous nephews. The action's triggered when Beatrice Horrocks, Lady Eppingham's half sister of decidedly lowly birth arrives to claim her right to manage the estate.
The Liver Birds (m5 f4)
Stage adaptation from the popular TV series showing Liver Birds Sandra and Beryl still looking for love while keeping their interfering mothers at bay.
Diplomatic Baggage (m5 f5)
Due to the indisposition of his senior, Barry Layton has to set off for Paris at a minute's notice and deal with the signing of an Anglo-French treaty. As well as having to cope with the French minister, there's also a bevy of beautiful secretaries and chambermaids to distract him. The arrival of his wife and uncle, an aged rogue, further accelerate this popular farce.
Oh Clarence (m8 f5)
This charming comedy is based on one of PG Wodehouse's most famous characters - Lord Emsworth, the dreamy peer of Blandings Castle. The delightful Earl, as vague as ever, wants nothing more than to tend his roses and prize pig, the Empress , but his sister, Lady Constance, has other ideas and arranges a house party inviting Dame Daphne Winkworth, whom she hopes the Earl will be persuaded to marry. The besieged Earl is further plagued by his vacuous son Freddie Threepwood, Rupert Bingham, a clumsy lovelorn curate, and his arch enemy Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe.
The Brides of March (m6 f8)
A young diplomat living in Finchley is bequeathed five beautiful women by a sheik whose life he once saved. They are 'delivered' when his wife happens to be away, but then she returns.