Directed by Alan Hooper
February 6, 7 & 8, 2003

Programme Notes        [ Photographs ]

Happy Families is a play which I have wanted to direct for several years because I like it, because it has a good story and because I think it will appeal to a wide range of people.

I believe one of the reasons for this appeal is that many of us can identify with at least some (if not all) of the situations which arise during the play. Some of us may recognise the complex family relationship which lays dormant for a long time until it is stirred up by someone or something. Liz playing upon her daughter Doris's vulnerability about her marital relationship or the rivalry which simmers between Jack and his son-in-law Vic are examples of this.

Another situation which may be familiar is the gap between the three generations of the family. John's relationship with his parents changes as he becomes more remote from their environment both physically and mentally. A similar, but less obvious change takes place between John's cousin Rebecca and her mother Edna.

The play was originally commissioned for production by amateur drama groups and was subsequently presented by professional theatre companies. At first read through the play looked (deceptively) straightforward to produce; no complicated setting and a story to which it is relatively easy to relate. As work on the play progressed the cast and the production team realised that it presented a greater challenge than we had originally anticipated. Everyone has put a lot of effort into meeting that challenge and we hope the resulting production meets or exceeds your expectations.

Alan Hooper

John Godber
John Godber was born in Upton, near Pontefract in West Yorkshire in 1956. The son of a miner, he began writing short stories for Radio Sheffield when he was sixteen. He trained as a teacher at Bretton Hall College, Wakefield and gained an MA in drama. He taught at Minsthorpe High School (the school he attended as a student) for 5 years becoming Head of Drama. At the same time he did part time MPhil/PhD research at Leeds University. During this time he also began writing for television and for the theatre and in 1984 he won the Laurence Olivier Comedy of the Year award for Up 'n' Under a play about rugby league.

The same year he joined Hull Truck Theatre Company as artistic director, a post which he still holds. He continued to write and his many plays include Bouncers (1985) and Putting On The Ritz (1987) both of which are set in discos, Teechers (1987) based on his teaching experiences, On The Piste (1990) about skiing holidays, and Happy Families (1992) based on his family experiences. The first productions of his plays are usually performed by Hull Truck and directed by him. They are toured around the country but do not often play in London's West End. On The Piste was an exception to this and had a considerable run at the Garrick Theatre in the early 1990's.

His plays are performed across the world and have won numerous foreign awards. In 1993 John Godber was named by Plays and Players Yearbook as the most often produced playwright in this country after Shakespeare and Alan Ayckbourn.

Happy Families was commissioned by British Telecom for the Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain for simultaneous performance by 48 amateur companies across the country at the same time as Hull Truck performed it at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds. John Godber believes that it is the best play he has written. It is the most autobiographical of his plays. He has said that his family had an inability to express love. There was very little physical contact in the family, but when it happened he knew it was 100% genuine. He said that it made him weep then and that it still does. The whole family was devastated when he failed his 11-plus and he was sent to bed early because his mother believed that would make him intelligent.

He has said that his mother loves her appearance in the play. He has related how he paid for her to go to Los Angeles to see Bouncers which contained some nudity. She came out of the theatre saying "Disgusting! Just wait till I see our John." He has said that his Dad thinks anything he writes is wonderful - even if it's only a cheque.