Billy Liar

Presented by - Nonentities (A)

Location - Main House

Standard Ticket Prices

Curtain Up 7.30pm

Director’s Notes

"Lying in bed, I abandoned the facts and was back in Ambrosia." -opening paragraph of "Billy Liar"

Billy Liar is a very much an embodiment of a specific time (around 1960) and place (Northern England). Presenting it today one cannot help but feel privy to someone’s private memories about what it was like to be a young man in that heady era. British youth were on the verge of renouncing the repression that had enslaved them since the end of World War II and were about to embrace the cultural shifts that were to be a feature of the following decade. It was an era of optimism when at long last there was a sense of social mobility and there was the notion that hard work and imagination were enough to get you places.

Billy Liar was very much in keeping with the spirit of the times when it was first presented in 1960. It presents us with a flawed hero from a working class background who escapes his miserable daily life through his fantasies centred on his imaginary country of Ambrosia, not referred to by name in the stage adaptation. Billy, however, presents a more enigmatic figure than the hopelessly romantic dreaming of a Walter Mitty. His fantasies do not exist in isolation and their impact destroys his relationships with those close to him.

Ultimately, however, Billy is far too innocent for any real harm to come of his day dreaming. Part of his innocence is rooted in his powerlessness towards his parents, both of whom undermine his individuality in different ways. His father is a callous man who insults Billy’s lack of career motivation and his dependence on them. His mother is less critical, but her constant fussing has turned Billy into a mummy’s boy. Salvation is offered in the form of Liz but will Billy have the courage to leave behind his restricted but safe home life for the adventure that Liz would offer?

The challenge in bringing Billy to the stage is to make sure that we keep the focus on the human story at his heart. The play was conceived as a comedy and it would be easy to present caricatures rather than rounded people. Much of our rehearsal time has been spent in establishing emotions and relationships amongst this group of people. This, we hope, will lead to a performance of depth that will do justice to a major piece of twentieth century British literature.

Billy Fisher is an ambitious but ultimately lazy young Yorkshire slacker with a dreary occupation working as a clerk at Shadrach and Duxbury's funeral directors. He spends most of his time daydreaming of Ambrosia, a fantasyland where he is a hero but a number of minor indiscretions cause Billy to lie in order to avoid the penalties. As these events start catching up with him, his lies snowball with highly comedic results to cover his tracks. Finally, when his life is a total mess, and nobody believes a word he says, an opportunity to run away from everyone to London presents itself. Billy has a difficult decision to make.