Single Spies
Encyclopedia
Single Spies is a 1988 stage play written by English playwright Alan Bennett
. It consists of two acts, An Englishman Abroad
and A Question of Attribution
.
, with Guy Burgess
, a member of the Cambridge spy ring
who worked for the Soviet Union whilst with MI6.
A Question of Attribution is based on Anthony Blunt
's role in the Cambridge Spy Ring and, as Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures
, personal art advisor to Queen Elizabeth II. It portrays his interrogation by MI5
officers, his work researching and restoring art, and his relationship with the Queen.
written by Alan Bennett and directed by John Schlesinger
; Alan Bates
starred as Guy Burgess whilst Browne starred as herself.
A Question of Attribution is a 1991 television play written by Alan Bennett and commissioned by the BBC. Directed by John Schlesinger, it starred James Fox
as Anthony Blunt and Prunella Scales
as Queen Elizabeth II.
in 1990, shortly before her death, Coral Browne
humorously described her reaction to seeing the stage version of An Englishman Abroad, particularly expressing her irritation at the costumes. She recalled that when she made the film version, the costume designer went to great lengths to find out what she wore at the time the story is set, but when she saw the stage costumes she exclaimed: "I nearly died. Fake fur and hats that wouldn't have come out of a grab bag at the Sally Army on Boxing Day. I was mortified. If the play ever comes to Broadway, I shall go armed with three lawyers and sue. I consider it a defamation".
Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett is a British playwright, screenwriter, actor and author. Born in Leeds, he attended Oxford University where he studied history and performed with The Oxford Revue. He stayed to teach and research mediaeval history at the university for several years...
. It consists of two acts, An Englishman Abroad
An Englishman Abroad
An Englishman Abroad is a 1983 BBC television drama, based on the true story of a chance meeting of an actress, Coral Browne, with Guy Burgess , a member of the Cambridge spy ring who worked for the Soviet Union whilst with MI6...
and A Question of Attribution
A Question of Attribution
A Question of Attribution is a 1988 one-act stage play, written by Alan Bennett. It was premièred at the National Theatre, London in December 1988, along with An Englishman Abroad. The two plays are collectively called Single Spies....
.
Stage play
An Englishman Abroad is based on the true story of a chance meeting of an actress, Coral BrowneCoral Browne
Coral Browne was an Australian-American stage and screen actress.-Career:Coral Edith Brown was the only daughter of a restaurant-owner. She and her two brothers were raised in Footscray, a suburb of Melbourne, where she studied at the National Gallery Art School...
, with Guy Burgess
Guy Burgess
Guy Francis De Moncy Burgess was a British-born intelligence officer and double agent, who worked for the Soviet Union. He was part of the Cambridge Five spy ring that betrayed Western secrets to the Soviets before and during the Cold War...
, a member of the Cambridge spy ring
Cambridge Five
The Cambridge Five was a ring of spies, recruited in part by Russian talent spotter Arnold Deutsch in the United Kingdom, who passed information to the Soviet Union during World War II and at least into the early 1950s...
who worked for the Soviet Union whilst with MI6.
A Question of Attribution is based on Anthony Blunt
Anthony Blunt
Anthony Frederick Blunt , was a British art historian who was exposed as a Soviet spy late in his life.Blunt was Professor of the History of Art at the University of London, director of the Courtauld Institute of Art, Surveyor of the King's Pictures and London...
's role in the Cambridge Spy Ring and, as Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures
Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures
The office of the Surveyor of the King's/Queen's Pictures, in the Royal Collection Department of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, is responsible for the care and maintenance of the royal collection of pictures owned by the Sovereign in an official capacity – as...
, personal art advisor to Queen Elizabeth II. It portrays his interrogation by MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
officers, his work researching and restoring art, and his relationship with the Queen.
TV plays
An Englishman Abroad is a 1983 BBC television dramaBBC television drama
BBC television dramas have been produced and broadcast since even before the public service company had an officially established television broadcasting network in the United Kingdom...
written by Alan Bennett and directed by John Schlesinger
John Schlesinger
John Richard Schlesinger, CBE was an English film and stage director and actor.-Early life:Schlesinger was born in London into a middle-class Jewish family, the son of Winifred Henrietta and Bernard Edward Schlesinger, a physician...
; Alan Bates
Alan Bates
Sir Alan Arthur Bates CBE was an English actor, who came to prominence in the 1960s, a time of high creativity in British cinema, when he demonstrated his versatility in films ranging from the popular children’s story Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving...
starred as Guy Burgess whilst Browne starred as herself.
A Question of Attribution is a 1991 television play written by Alan Bennett and commissioned by the BBC. Directed by John Schlesinger, it starred James Fox
James Fox
James Fox, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:James Fox was born in London, England to theatrical agent Robin Fox and actress Angela Worthington. He is the brother of actor Edward Fox and film producer Robert Fox. The actress Emilia Fox is his niece and the actor Laurence Fox is his son. His...
as Anthony Blunt and Prunella Scales
Prunella Scales
Prunella Scales CBE is an English actress, known for her role as Basil Fawlty's long-suffering wife in the British comedy Fawlty Towers and her award-nominated role as Queen Elizabeth II in the British film A Question of Attribution.-Career:Throughout her long career, Scales has usually been cast...
as Queen Elizabeth II.
Reception
In a televised documentary Caviar to the General broadcast on UK Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in 1990, shortly before her death, Coral Browne
Coral Browne
Coral Browne was an Australian-American stage and screen actress.-Career:Coral Edith Brown was the only daughter of a restaurant-owner. She and her two brothers were raised in Footscray, a suburb of Melbourne, where she studied at the National Gallery Art School...
humorously described her reaction to seeing the stage version of An Englishman Abroad, particularly expressing her irritation at the costumes. She recalled that when she made the film version, the costume designer went to great lengths to find out what she wore at the time the story is set, but when she saw the stage costumes she exclaimed: "I nearly died. Fake fur and hats that wouldn't have come out of a grab bag at the Sally Army on Boxing Day. I was mortified. If the play ever comes to Broadway, I shall go armed with three lawyers and sue. I consider it a defamation".
See also
- Cambridge SpiesCambridge SpiesCambridge Spies is a 2003 four-part BBC television drama concerning the lives of the best-known quartet of the Cambridge Five Soviet spies from 1934 to the 1951 defection of Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean to the Soviet Union...
, a 2003 BBC TV play about the Cambridge Ring, and how Blunt came to be a Soviet agent.