Peter Barnes (playwright) facts for kids

Photo of Barnes by Denis Thorpe

Peter Barnes (born January 10, 1931 – died July 1, 2004) was a famous English playwright and screenwriter. He won an Olivier Award for his work. His most well-known play is The Ruling Class. This play was later made into a film in 1972, and the actor Peter O'Toole was even nominated for an Oscar for his role in it.

About Peter Barnes

His Early Life and Work

Peter Barnes went to Marling School in Stroud, Gloucestershire. After school, he served in the Royal Air Force. He then worked for a short time at the London County Council.

Barnes found his job boring. So, he started taking a course about theology (the study of religion). He also spent a lot of time at the British Museum Reading Room, using it like his own office. During this time, he worked as a film critic, helped develop stories for movies, and wrote screenplays.

He became very successful with his play The Ruling Class (1968). It was a funny play with a unique, grand style. It first opened at the Nottingham Playhouse. The play was special because it didn't try to be super realistic, which was unusual for plays back then. A famous critic named Harold Hobson said it was one of the best first plays of its time. After a successful run in London's West End, Barnes turned it into the 1972 film, which starred Peter O'Toole.

His Later Plays

After his first big success, Barnes wrote many other plays. These plays often looked at different times in history in a dramatic way:

• Leonardo's Last Supper (1969) imagined that Leonardo da Vinci was thought to be dead too soon. Then, he "came back to life" in a very messy place.
• The Bewitched (1974) was about the Spanish government trying to find an heir for King Carlos II.
• Red Noses (1985) told the story of a cheerful priest. This priest, played by Antony Sher, traveled around France during the 14th-century plague. He was with a group of funny people called God's Zanies, offering help and hope. Peter Barnes won his Olivier Award for this play.

Later Years and Other Works

In his later years, Peter Barnes started focusing more on films, radio, and television. He wrote the screenplay for The Enchanted April, which earned him a nomination for an Oscar in 1992.

He also wrote several very popular mini-series for U.S. television. These included Arabian Nights, Merlin, and Noah's Ark. For BBC Radio 3, he wrote a series of monologues called Barnes's People. Many famous actors, like Laurence Olivier and Judi Dench, performed in these radio shows. His TV mini-series were very popular and watched by many people.

Barnes kept writing historical comedies in the 1990s. Some of these were Sunsets and Glories (1990) and Dreaming (1999). At one point, he was the Royal Shakespeare Company's most produced living playwright.

His last completed play was Babies. This play was based on his own experiences of becoming a father later in life. His second wife had a daughter when he was 69, and then triplets a year later!

Personal Life

Peter Barnes was married twice and had two sons and two daughters. He married Charlotte Beck in 1958 and Christie Horn in 1995. He passed away from a stroke on July 1, 2004.

His Works

Plays for the Stage

• The Time of the Barracudas, 1963
• Sclerosis, 1965
• The Ruling Class, 1968
• Leonardo’s Last Supper, 1969
• Noonday Demons, 1969
• The Bewitched, 1974
• Laughter!, 1978
• Somersaults (a type of show with short acts), 1981
• Red Noses, 1985
• Sunsets And Glories, 1990
• Luna Park Eclipses, 1995
• Corpsing (a type of show with short acts), 1996
• Clap Hands Here Comes Charlie, 1996
• Heaven’s Blessings, 1997
• Dreaming, 1999
• Jubilee, 2001

Original Works for Radio

• My Ben Johnson, 1973
• Barnes' People : Seven Monologues, 1981
• Barnes' People II: Seven Duologues, 1984
• Barnes People III: Eight Trialogues, 1986
• No End to Dreaming, 1987
• More Barnes' People, 1990

Original Screenplays (Movies)

• Violent Moment, 1959
• Breakout, 1959
• The White Trap, 1959
• The Professionals, 1960
• The Devil Inside (also called Off-Beat), 1961
• Ring of Spies (also called Ring of Treason), 1964
• Not with My Wife, You Don't!, 1966
• The Ruling Class, 1972

Original Teleplays (TV Shows)

• Checkmate (for No Hiding Place TV series), 1959
• Who Is Gustav Varnia? (for No Hiding Place TV series), 1959
• The Man with a Feather in His Hat (for Armchair Mystery Theatre TV Series), 1960
• Breakout (for Kraft Mystery Theater TV Series), 1961
• Nobody Here but Us Chickens: Nobody Here but Us Chickens, More than a Touch of Zen, Not as Bad as They Seem (Channel 4), 1989
• Revolutionary Witness: The Patriot, The Preacher, The Butcher, The Amazon, 1989
• The Spirit of Man (BBC Two), 1990
• Bye Bye Columbus (BBC Two), 1992
• Merlin (Hallmark), 1998 (two episodes)

Adaptations for Stage, Screen, and Radio

Peter Barnes also adapted many other stories and plays for different media:

• The Alchemist (from a play by Ben Jonson), 1970
• For All Those Who Get Despondent (based on works by Bertolt Brecht and Frank Wedekind), 1976
• The Frontiers of Farce (from plays by Georges Feydeau and Frank Wedekind), 1976
• Bartholomew Fair (from a play by Ben Jonson), 1978
• Antonio (from plays by John Marston), 1979
• Chaste Maid in Cheapside (radio, from a play by Thomas Middleton), 1979
• The Two Hangmen (radio, from Barnes's own play), 1979
• Eulogy on Baldness (radio, from a work by Synesius of Cyrene), 1980
• The Devil Himself (from works by Frank Wedekind), 1980
• The Atheist (radio, from a play by Thomas Otway), 1981
• The Singer (radio, from work by Frank Wedekind), 1981
• The Soldier's Fortune (radio, from a play by Thomas Otway), 1981
• The Magician (radio, from work by Maxim Gorky), 1982
• A Mad World, My Masters (radio, from a play by Thomas Middleton), 1983
• The Primrose Path (radio, from a play by Georges Feydeau), 1984
• A Trick to Catch the Old One (radio, from a play by Thomas Middleton), 1985
• Scenes from a Marriage (from a play by Georges Feydeau), 1986
• The Old Law (radio, from a play by Thomas Middleton, William Rowley and Philip Massinger), 1986
• Woman of Paris (radio, from work by Henri Becque), 1986
• Don Juan and Faust (radio, from by C. D. Grabbe), 1987
• The Magnetic Lady (radio, from a play by Ben Jonson), 1987
• Tango at the End of Winter (from a play by Kunio Shimizu), 1991
• Hard Times (TV, from the novel by Charles Dickens), 1994
• Enchanted April (movie, from the novel by Elizabeth Von Arnim), 1992
• Voices (also called Voices from a Locked Room, movie, from the book Double Jeopardy by Mark A. Stuart), 1995
• Noah's Ark (TV), 1999
• A Christmas Carol (TV), 1999
• Alice in Wonderland (TV), 1999
• Arabian Nights (TV), 2000

Selected Filmography

• Violent Moment (1959)

See also

In Spanish: Peter Barnes para niños