Peter (Henry) Barnes - Early years, Mature works, Later life, Reference

Playwright and writer of screenplays, born in London, UK. His only major commercial success was The Ruling Class (1968). Later plays, which include The Bewitched (1974), Laughter (1978), Red Noses (1985), and Sunset and Glories (1990), show him to be a master of non-naturalistic techniques drawn from Elizabethan theatre, mediaeval and 19th-c farce, German Expressionist drama, and the commedia dell'arte. Other work includes the plays Lunar Park Eclipsis (1995) and Corpsing (1996), and the screenplay Babies (2003).

Peter Barnes, (January 10, 1931–July 1, 2004), was an English Olivier Award-winning playwright and screenwriter. His most famous work is the play The Ruling Class, which was made into a 1972 film for which Peter O'Toole received an Oscar nomination.

Early years

Barnes was born in Bow, London but was raised on the east coast, where his parents worked in an amusement arcade and later owned a couple of cafes. Barnes was educated at Marling School in Stroud, Gloucestershire and performed his national service with the Royal Air Force.

Bored with his job, Barnes took a correspondence course in theology. The play was notorious for its anti-naturalistic approach, unusual in theatre at the time. Critic Harry Hobson deemed it to be one of the best first plays of its generation. Following a successful three-month run in the West End, Barnes adapted the play for the 1972 film of the same name, which featured a highly acclaimed performance by Peter O'Toole.

Mature works

Following his initial success Barnes wrote a series of plays offering apocalyptic visions of some of the most important moments of history:

Leonardo's Last Supper (1969) portrayed Leonardo da Vinci being prematurely declared dead, and his subsequent "resurrection" in a filthy charnel-house. The Bewitched (1974), which he produced with the RSC, showed the Spanish state attempting to produce an heir for Philip IV, who Barnes portrayed as being impotent and an imbecile. It was for this play that Barnes won his Olivier award.

Later life

In his later years Barnes turned his attention more in the direction of films, radio, and television.

Barnes did carry on writing his historical comedies throughout the 1990s.

Barnes's second wife, Christie, gave birth to his first daughter in 2000 when he was 69. Barnes, who never received much mainstream media attention for his plays, briefly became a tabloid obsession in 2002 when his wife gave birth again, this time to triplets.

The last play that Barnes completed was Babies, which is based on his experiences as an elderly father.

Barnes died in July 2004 of a stroke.

Reference

Woolland, Brian (2004).