The Ruling Class (play)
| The Ruling Class | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Peter Barnes |
| Characters | Jack Arnold Alexander Tancred Daniel Tucker Sir Charles Gurney Lady Claire Gurney Grace Shelley Dr. Paul Herder McKyle Kelso Truscott, Q. C. Detective Inspector Brockett Detective Sergeant Fraser |
| Date premiered | 6 November 1968[1] |
| Place premiered | Nottingham Playhouse, Nottingham |
| Original language | English |
| Subject | insanity, social class in the United Kingdom |
| Setting | An English country house, the 1960s |
The Ruling Class is a 1968 British play by Peter Barnes.[2] The black comedy centres on Jack Arnold Alexander Tancred Gurney, the 14th Earl of Gurney and the attempts to cure him of insanity.
Peter O'Toole acquired the film rights and starred in the 1972 film adaptation.
Plot
After a speech at a dinner proposing a toast to England, the 13th Earl of Gurney is got ready for bed by his butler Tucker. This includes setting up a silken noose above his four-poster, which the Earl uses for a bizarre
His half-brother Sir Charles, Charles' wife Lady Claire and their son Dinsdale gather to hear the reading of the 13th Earl's will. Three of the Earl's sons have already died overseas in the
The reading goes ahead - besides £30,000 left to Tucker and other bequests to eccentric charities, the relations are shocked to hear that the 13th Earl has left his title and estates not to Charles but to Jack, making him the 14th Earl. Jack arrives and asks for a moment of prayer, which actually turns into a conversation with himself, still thinking he is Jesus and God. Charles finds a loophole, that Jack can be sent back to the insane asylum so soon as he has married and begotten a sane heir to succeed him. However, Jack states he is already married, to
Charles has his long-time mistress Grace Shelly arrive in disguise as 'La Dame' and Jack agrees to her request for a 'second' wedding. This goes ahead, but Grace falls in love with Jack and becomes his ally. She also conceives a child by him, despite him spending their wedding night on a unicycle. Lady Claire also proves obstructive and begins an affair with Jack's psychiatrist Herder to try to persuade him to cure Gurney more quickly. Herder attempts to achieve this through intensive psychotherapy then - when this fails - resorts to shock therapy on the night that Grace goes into labour. This consists of bringing in another patient who also believed himself to be Christ, or, as the patient put it, "the God of electricity". Rather than drawing Jack to the conclusion that they cannot both be Christ, it causes him an apparent breakdown and he seemingly returns to his true identity as Jack Gurney.
Sir Charles, still intent on stealing the lordship, sends for a court psychiatrist to evaluate Gurney, confident that his nephew would be sent to an asylum for life. However, Jack puts up a front and plays on the psychiatrist being a fellow
Production history
The play premiered at the
References
- ISBN 9781410357083 – via Google Books.)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Lawson, Mark (27 January 2015). "Reviving The Ruling Class, Peter Barnes's 'drama of extremes'" – via www.theguardian.com.
- ^ "Production of the Ruling Class | Theatricalia".
- ^ "Leeds Play Bills". www.leodis.net.
- ^ Lowe, Kinsey (22 November 2015). "Nicole Kidman, James McAvoy Take Top Acting Prizes At London Evening Standard Awards". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
