doollee banner
The Playwrights Database
contact doollee


Ronald Harwood

RONALD HARWOOD  (1934 - )

 Nationality:    British
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Judy Daish Associates Ltd  


Ronald Harwood came to England from South Africa in 1951 and studied at the Royal academy of Dramatic art. He was an actor for seven years, and began writing in 1960. Since then he has written numerous plays for the stage, including 'after the Lions', 'Tramway Road', 'Interpreters', 'another Time', 'Quartet', 'Equally Divided' and 'mahler's Conversion', and an adaptation of Chekhov's 'Ivanov'. He also wrote the screenplay for the film of his West End and Broadway hit, The Dresser, which received five academy award nominations, including one for Best Screenplay, and the screenplay for The Pianist, the Palme d'Or-winning movie directed by Roman Polanski.

Buy Plays with Doollee

Each page of doollee.com has links to play/book outlets, either directly to the Publisher, through Stageplays.com and Amazon to the second hand and 1st editions of AbeBooks. These links will automatically take you to the relevant area obviating the need for further search.
AbeBooks.co.uk   AbeBooks.com   Stageplays.com   amazon.com   amazon.co.uk   amazon.ca
whether you are a Playwright who wishes to make their entry definitive, an unlisted Playwright or a User with a tale to tell - we want to hear from you.
download WORD submission template

below is a list of Ronald Harwood's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

 After The Lions         Another Time         Collaboration         Country Matters         Deliberate Death Of A Polish Priest, The         Dresser, The         English Tragedy, An         Equally Divided         Family, A         Good Companions, The         Goodbye Kiss         Guests, The         Handyman, The         Heavenly Ivy         Interpreters         Ivanov         J J Farr         Mahler's Conversion         March Hares         Night Of The Day Of The Imprisoned Writer, A         Ordeal Of Gilbert Pinfold, The         Poison Pen         Quartet         Reflected Glory         See You Next Tuesday         Taking Sides         Tramway Road

After The Lions

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Company:
-

1st Published:
Amber Lane Press, Oxford, 1983   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Historical Play

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Another Time

Synopsis:
In early 1950s Sea Point Town, Ike and Belle live with their son, Leonard, already a brilliantly gifted pianist who needs to study in Europe. When Ike dies, Belle is determined to further Leonard's studies whatever the cost. In act II it is thirty-five years later in London where Leonard is a famous concert pianist. Belle and her brother and sister have travelled to London to see him, but Leonard has some shattering news for Belle.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Bath    1989

Company:
-

1st Published:
Amber Lane Press, Oxford, 1989   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

Top of Page Top of Page

Collaboration

Synopsis:
about the moral entrpment of a famous musician in Nazi Germany. Richard Strauss was a jewel in the Nazis' cultural crown - until he chose the Jewish writer Stefan Zweig as his librettist. Their relationship is lovingly and brillianly sketched.
John Peter, Sunday Times.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Company:
-

1st Published:
Faber and Faber, London   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

Top of Page Top of Page

Country Matters

Synopsis:
a committee of do-gooders view a country house in the hope of turning it into an institution for refugees. a refugee girl accompanies them and personal conflicts corrupt all charitable ideals

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Manchester    1969

Company:
69 Theatre Co

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Deliberate Death Of A Polish Priest, The

Synopsis:
based on the transcripts of a trial and other material arising out of the murder of Father Jerzy Popieluszko

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Company:
-

1st Published:
Amber Lane Press, Oxford, 1985   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

Top of Page Top of Page

Dresser, The

Ronald Harwood
Period 1942, Sir, the last of the great, but dying breed of English actor managers struggles through Lear with the aid of his dresser

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Company:
-

1st Published:
Amber Lane Press, ambergate, Derbyshire, 1980   978--0906399217

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:

Top of Page Top of Page

English Tragedy, An

Ronald Harwood
a gripping tale of conflicting loyalties and wartime treason, based on the true story of British anti-Semite John amery. amery was arrested in 1945 and charged with high treason after making propaganda broadcasts for Nazi Germany.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Company:
-

1st Published:
Faber and Faber 2008    978--0571233281

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

Top of Page Top of Page

Equally Divided

Synopsis:
Equally Divided begins shortly after the funeral of Edith and Renata's mother. Edith, severe, embattled, unmarried, has sacrificed her life to nurse the bedridden old woman. Renata, glamorous and married several times, has spent her life doing what she pleases. When the contents of the will are made known, childhood rivalries re-emerge and the result is a moral tale both powerful and comic.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    -

Company:
-

1st Published:
Faber and Faber, London, 1999   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Family, A

Synopsis:
Individual freedom, apparently much prized, threatens to destroy the power of a family.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Manchester    1978

Company:
-

1st Published:
Heinemann, London, 1978   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Good Companions, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
Reworked As A musical in 2 Acts based on the novel by J.B. Priestley. Book by Ronald Harwood. Lyrics by Johnny Mercer, Music by Andre Previn Her Majesty's Theatre, London -November 7, 1974

1st Produced:
Her Majesty's, London    07 Nov 1974

Company:
-

1st Published:
Chappell, London, 1974   -

Music:
Original cast recording: DRG (15020)

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Musical

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Goodbye Kiss

Synopsis:
Set in Cape Town, Harwood's birth place, an evidently autobiographical account of a famous artist's return after 30 years overseas to track down the Cape Coloured nanny who brought him up.
Jeremy Kingston, The Times

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Company:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Short Play One act

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:

Top of Page Top of Page

Guests, The

Synopsis:
The dinner table is laid for five but significantly only one of the places is provided with a wine glass, and only one character is named in the cast list, insofar as Woman can be considered a name, we are in some realm of fantasy, though the precise nature of Woman's fantasy takes some time to emerge. She knows she is to be the only diner. She scampers up the stairs to let the first two in, and chatters to them in a bright hostessy manner, sipping from an invisible glass (not the one on the table). But then the hand forgets it is meant to be holding a glass and clutches her arm, and it becomes certain that the guests, like the glass, are figments of her imagination. She is alone, and the interest of the play becomes one of deciding what sort of loneliness she is in.
Jeremy Kingston, The Times

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Company:
-

1st Published:
in "Plays 2" Faber, London, 1995   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Short Monologue One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:

Top of Page Top of Page

Handyman, The

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Company:
-

1st Published:
Faber and Faber, London, 1996   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:

Top of Page Top of Page

Heavenly Ivy

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Ivy, London    08 Nov 2010

Company:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Interpreters

Synopsis:
moving and comic complications in a tale of love across the Iron Curtain

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Queen's, London    1985

Company:
-

1st Published:
Amber Lane Press, Oxford, 1985   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

Top of Page Top of Page

Ivanov

Synopsis:
disillusioned Russian estate owner has fallen out of love with his wife, his land and his friends

Notes:
Original Playwright - Anton Chekhov

1st Produced:
Strand Theatre, London    1989

Company:
-

1st Published:
Amber Lane Press, Oxford, 1989   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  12            Female:  5            Other:  extras

Further Reference:

Top of Page Top of Page

J J Farr

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Bath    1987

Company:
-

1st Published:
in "The Collected Plays" Faber, London, 1983   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

Top of Page Top of Page

Mahler's Conversion

Synopsis:
I belong nowhere.' Obsessed with power and fame, Gustav Mahler rejects his Jewish background and his friends with devastating consequences. Gustav Mahler (1860-1911), a composer and conductor of passion and genius, was born in Bohemia and faced a lifetime of prejudice - 'I'm homeless. Not once but three times. First, a native of Bohemia in austria. Second, an austrian among Germans. and third, a Jew in the rest of the world'. But in 1897, in order to be granted the prestigious position of Director of the Vienna Court Opera, Mahler decided to convert to Catholicism. In time, however, as his world collapsed, he came to believe he was being made to pay a dreadful price for his ruthless ambition.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Company:
Yvonne arnaud, Guildford

1st Published:
Faber and Faber, London, 2001   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:

Top of Page Top of Page

March Hares

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Liverpool    1964

Company:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  9            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Night Of The Day Of The Imprisoned Writer, A

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
written with Hampton

1st Produced:
London    1981

Company:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
-

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Ordeal Of Gilbert Pinfold, The

Ronald Harwood
Middle aged write embarks on sea voyage and is victim to hallucinations which he believes to be real.

Notes:
novel by Evelyn Waugh

1st Produced:
Manchester    1977

Company:
-

1st Published:
Amber Lane Press, Oxford, 1983   978-0906399422

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  17            Female:  8            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Poison Pen

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Company:
-

1st Published:
in "Plays 2" Faber, London, 1995   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

Top of Page Top of Page

Quartet

Synopsis:
Cecily, Reggie and Wilfred are in a home for retired opera singers. Each year, on 10 October, there is a concert to celebrate Verdi's birthday. Jean, who used to be married to Reggie, arrives at the home and disrupts their equilibrium. She still acts like a diva and refuses to sing. But the show must go on .

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Albery, London    1999

Company:
-

1st Published:
Faber and Faber, London, 1999   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:

Top of Page Top of Page

Reflected Glory

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Darlington, Durham    1992

Company:
-

1st Published:
Faber and Faber, London, 1992   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

Top of Page Top of Page

See You Next Tuesday

Synopsis:
Wealthy Parisian publisher Pierre has the career, the wife, the friends and the mistress - and an unusual pastime. Once a week, his friends meet for dinner and invite the most idiotic person they can find. By chance, Pierre comes across the finest nincompoop ever. When the paths of these two unlikely dinner companions cross, it results in choas.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Francis Veber. 'Le Diner de Cons'.

1st Produced:
Gate Theatre, Dublin >>>    01 Oct 2002

Company:
Gate theatre

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
http://www.irishplayography.com/play.aspx?playid=1287; Theatre Record Vol XXIII (2003) Page 1334

Top of Page Top of Page

Taking Sides

Synopsis:
story of Wilhelm Furtwangler, one of the great conductors of the twentieth century, who was at the height of his career when the National Socialists came to power in Germany. He remained there and was accused of being a Nazi collaborator.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Minerva, Chichester    1995

Company:
-

1st Published:
in "Plays 2" Faber, London, 1995   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:

Top of Page Top of Page

Tramway Road

Ronald Harwood
South Africa 1951. Ex-pat couple arthur and Dora Langley live in a white suburb of Cape Town. a young man Emil wants to go to London and become an actor. Jacob a Cape Coloured house servant is in charge of the local Coon Carnival Troupe

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Company:
-

1st Published:
Amber Lane Press, Oxford, 1984   978-0906399583

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:

Top of Page Top of Page









Apart from very popular and world touring productions, many performing arts events are largely forgotten about in a matter of months. Traces may remain in various collections, but few collecting agencies, such as libraries, catalogue each flyer or program individually. Hence, unless one knows that an event took place at a certain time in a certain place, tracking down such an event as part of a research project is often a matter of chance. Where research needs to be carried out on high profile and well-documented productions only, this is not a problem. However, both the historian and the analyst will attest that the cultural, political, or sociological context in which a performing arts event takes place is also of major importance, as are the other events that took place in close proximity, either in place or time. A good overview of such productions provides us with a 'social document' that can greatly enhance cultural studies in ways that extend far beyond the narrow confines of theatre history. For instance, data such as this can be used to monitor the health of communities, particularly when used in association with data obtained from other social science disciplines. When one researches a particular playwright one might want to know about all the productions of plays by that author; if one wants to investigate what choices a particular audience had over a period of history and compare this to, say, an ethnic breakdown of the population, one would need to know broadly all the events that took place during that time. If one wanted to do a statistical analysis on the shift in popularity of a genre over one or more generations, it is important to have knowledge of most of the relevant major and minor performance events that took place. In this context, issues of aesthetic quality and the professionalism of a production - which will of course have an impact on such studies - are not the determining factors when deciding to include or exclude events, since all events are the raw material for such research.