Bøker av Sir John Mortimer

Sir Fennimore Truscott, a retired Judge, sits under his mulberry tree and 'tries' his next-door-neighbour Tom Marjoriebanks for - allegedly - seducing Truscott's wife Margaret many years earlier.1 woman, 2 men

In a hospital housed in an old palazzo, two Englishmen recovering consciousness both see the ward ceiling, covered by a huge painting of Heaven, and imagine they have 'passed on'. In conversation it transpires that Fletcher, a rather rough type, has led the sort of Byronic life that scholarly Luby has only written about.|2 women, 5 men

A young man and woman meet in a wayside hotel during lunch hour to express their love. In order to be discreet, he has fabricated a story of marriage, children, distant home, to satisfy the concierge.The woman is confused when confronted with this fabrication, and as she unravels the matter in her mind the enchantment of love begins to fade. In brilliant dialogue by one of England's best writers.2 women, 1 man

There were days when the Father could see and days when the Father could not see in this tale seen through the eyes of the perennial Son as viewed from the trellis surrounded, as if for protection, by an enormous garden. The tale grows in turns and twists upon allusion and reversals, all crisply dramatic and really not so comical as at first glance.|7 women, 12 men

Francesca brings her lover, Henry, to her mother''s flat to announce their intention to get married. While waiting for Mrs Stokes, Francesca answers a mysterious phone call. From what he overhears, Henry concludes that Mrs Stokes is a member of the oldest profession. It is later revealed that Mrs Stokes deals in nothing more erotic than antique furniture.|2 women, 2 men

The characters in all four plays are in their twenties to forties and can either be played by the same four artists or by separate casts. The first, Mill Hill, calls for 2 men and 1 woman, the remainder, Bermondsey, Gloucester Road and Marble Arch, call for 2 men and 2 women each. These four plays are linked by their themes of sexual entanglements and by their central or suburban London settings.-Large flexible cast

Collaborators is a comedy about marriage set in a dingy, infested flat in Belsize Park in the late 1950s. Henry Winter, a struggling young barrister, is also struggling to cultivate his writing career. At the invitation of Sam Brown, an American film producer of somewhat hazy credentials, he starts work on a film strip about marriage.2 women, 2 men

A seedy lawyer has been waiting for years to make a grandstand defense. He is assigned to defend an innocuous little man accused of murdering his wife. The man cheerfully admits his guilt; he simply couldn''t stand his wife''s constant joking and laughing. The trial ends and the verdict is a foregone conclusion. The lawyer begs his client to let him appeal. Ironically the man is reprieved because of the ineptitude of his defense.|2 men

Growing up in the shadow of the brilliant barrister, who adored his garden and hated visitors, and whose blindness was never mentioned, the son continually yearns for his father's love and respect. This autobiographical play is the portrait of a son's relationship with his father.

Henry, now in the autumn of his years, is transported back to the key episodes of his life. At once ironic and affectionate, he speaks with his younger self both man and boy, offering warnings of a life to come and advice on how he might live it without the small self-delusions and regrets that leave him ultimately unfulfilled.Warm, funny and entertaining Hock and Soda Water is a nostalgic lament for a life never lived.

Charles Dickens' tale of Ebenezer Scrooge's transformation from embittered skinflint to generous benefactor has been dramatized by Mortimer. It retains Dickens' own ironic point of view through the use of the a chorus to propel the drama.