Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell
From Monday 17 September 2001
To Saturday 22 September 2001
Keith Waterhouse
Director's Notes
Waterhouse has adapted Bernard's life of mournful self-destruction into a brilliant, observant and funny piece of theatre. The stage"Jeffrey" was originally created in 1989, by Peter O'Toole, at that time himself not stranger to the "delights of alcohol"! After Tom Conti, James Bolan and Dennis Waterman had given their individual interpretations of the part, O'Toole became "Jeffrey" again for a short season 1991. A decade after his performance, he was persuaded, 1999, triumphantly to return yet again in what turned out to be another "sold out" run.
Jeffrey Bernard died at the age of 65 in 1997. A message was planned for his funeral service; "I'm sorry I cannot be with you today due to foreseen circumstance". He had written his own obituary much of which is, verbatim, included in the play.
His column in "the Spectator" could be funny, mordant, observant and evocative, that is when it appeared (which despite any impression to the contrary it did more often than not.) He did however, resent the assumption that his being "Unwell" meant he was "inebriated" yet again.
Keith Waterhouse suggests that "to keep a weekly column going for more than 14 years as well as a stream of articles for other publications requires more journalistic stamina than could be got out of a bottle". The popularity of his writing in the "Sporting Life" was due to the fact that he was probably the only racing correspondent to write from the point of view of the loser!
A sad character, who was mostly very ill in his last years, and who in real life was perhaps not even as pleasant as Waterhouse sympathetically describes him yet at his best could be the most amusing writer and raconteur.