The Best of Friends (play)
Encyclopedia
The Best of Friends is an epistolary play by Hugh Whitemore
about the friendship of George Bernard Shaw
, Sydney Cockerell
, and Dame Laurentia McLachlan
, based in the lengthy correspondence that passed between them for over 25 years. It was inspired by The Nun, the Infidel, and the Superman by Dame Felicitas Corrigan
, a Benedictine
nun at Stanbrook Abbey
in the U.K.
George Bernard Shaw is considered one of the brightest playwrights of the 20th century. Sydney Cockerell was the curator of the Fitzwilliam Museum
and was well-connected to many intellectuals of his time. Dame Laurentia was a Benedictine
nun and Abbess
of Stanbrook from 1931-1953.
Originally produced as a stage play it first ran at the Hampstead Theatre
in 1987, with
Ray McAnally
as Shaw, Sir John Gielgud
as Cockerell, and Rosemary Harris
as McLachlan.
In 1991 it was filmed for television, under the direction by Alvin Rakoff, with Patrick McGoohan
as Shaw, Sir John Gielgud
, and Dame Wendy Hiller
.
The play was performed in New York in 1993 with Roy Dotrice
as Shaw, Michael Allinson
and Diana Douglas, and was revived in 2006 at the Hampstead Theatre, London, with Roy Dotrice
, Michael Pennington
and Patricia Routledge
.
Hugh Whitemore
Hugh Whitemore is an English playwright and screenwriter.Whitemore studied for the stage at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he is now a Member of the Council. He began his writing career in British television with both original teleplays and adaptations of classic works by Charles...
about the friendship of George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
, Sydney Cockerell
Sydney Cockerell
Sir Sydney Carlyle Cockerell was an English museum curator and collector.-Life:Sydney Cockerell made his way initially as clerk in the family coal business, George J. Cockerell & Co, until he met John Ruskin. According to John Ruskin by Tim Hilton , around 1887 Cockerell sent Ruskin some sea...
, and Dame Laurentia McLachlan
Laurentia McLachlan
Dame Laurentia McLachlan, OSB was born in 1866 in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, Scotland. In 1884 she joined the Benedictine Abbey at Stanbrook Abbey. In 1931 she was elected Abbess of Stanbrook...
, based in the lengthy correspondence that passed between them for over 25 years. It was inspired by The Nun, the Infidel, and the Superman by Dame Felicitas Corrigan
Felicitas Corrigan
Dame Felicitas Corrigan OSB was an English Benedictine nun, author and humanitarian.She was born Kathleen Corrigan into a large Liverpool family, and developed a talent as an organist. In 1933, she entered Stanbrook Abbey in Worcestershire as a nun, and eventually became director of its choir...
, a Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
nun at Stanbrook Abbey
Stanbrook Abbey
Stanbrook Abbey is an abbey built as a contemplative house for Benedictine nuns. It was founded in 1625 in Cambrai, Flanders, then part of the Spanish Netherlands, under the auspices of the English Benedictine Congregation.-History:...
in the U.K.
George Bernard Shaw is considered one of the brightest playwrights of the 20th century. Sydney Cockerell was the curator of the Fitzwilliam Museum
Fitzwilliam Museum
The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge, located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge, England. It receives around 300,000 visitors annually. Admission is free....
and was well-connected to many intellectuals of his time. Dame Laurentia was a Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
nun and Abbess
Abbess
An abbess is the female superior, or mother superior, of a community of nuns, often an abbey....
of Stanbrook from 1931-1953.
Originally produced as a stage play it first ran at the Hampstead Theatre
Hampstead Theatre
Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in the vicinity of Swiss Cottage and Belsize Park, in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. In 2009 it celebrates its 50 year anniversary.The original theatre was...
in 1987, with
Ray McAnally
Ray McAnally
Ray McAnally was an Irish actor famous for his performances in films such as The Mission, My Left Foot, and A Very British Coup.-Background:...
as Shaw, Sir John Gielgud
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
as Cockerell, and Rosemary Harris
Rosemary Harris
Rosemary Ann Harris is an English actress and a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame. Throughout her career she has been nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and has won a Golden Globe, an Emmy, a Tony Award, an Obie, and five Drama Desk Awards.-Early life:Harris was born in...
as McLachlan.
In 1991 it was filmed for television, under the direction by Alvin Rakoff, with Patrick McGoohan
Patrick McGoohan
Patrick Joseph McGoohan was an American-born actor, raised in Ireland and England, with an extensive stage and film career, most notably in the 1960s television series Danger Man , and The Prisoner, which he co-created...
as Shaw, Sir John Gielgud
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
, and Dame Wendy Hiller
Wendy Hiller
Dame Wendy Margaret Hiller DBE was an Academy Award-winning English film and stage actress, who enjoyed a varied acting career that spanned nearly sixty years. The writer Joel Hirschorn, in his 1984 compilation Rating the Movie Stars, described her as "a no-nonsense actress who literally took...
.
The play was performed in New York in 1993 with Roy Dotrice
Roy Dotrice
Roy Dotrice, OBE is a British actor known for his Tony Award-winning Broadway performance in the revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten.-Life and career:...
as Shaw, Michael Allinson
Michael Allinson
Michael Allinson was an English stage and film actor.-Biography:...
and Diana Douglas, and was revived in 2006 at the Hampstead Theatre, London, with Roy Dotrice
Roy Dotrice
Roy Dotrice, OBE is a British actor known for his Tony Award-winning Broadway performance in the revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten.-Life and career:...
, Michael Pennington
Michael Pennington
Michael Vivian Fyfe Pennington is a British director and actor who, together with director Michael Bogdanov, founded the English Shakespeare Company...
and Patricia Routledge
Patricia Routledge
Katherine Patricia Routledge, CBE is an English character comedy actress and singer. She is best known for her role as character Hyacinth Bucket in the British television series Keeping Up Appearances and Hetty Wainthropp in the British television series Hetty Wainthropp Investigates...
.