Light of Desire, 1982

Light of Desire was commissioned by the Playwrights Company in Bristol and premiered at the King Street Gallery, Bristol, 24th–28th November 1982, in a double bill with Flower of Darkness by Sheila Yeager. Both monologues were performed by local actor Jon Glentoran, who is probably best known for his athletic turn as the German guard-cum-goalkeeper in the famous Carling Black Label Dambusters commercial (YouTube it, it’s a hoot).

I was delighted to have another play of mine put on – the last had been my very first effort, A Change of Air, which had won a local competition in 1976 – even though, in order to fulfil the brief, this one turned out to be little more than another variation on my standard man-meets-machine trope. Still, Jon gave a committed and energetic performance, and it was the usual thrill to stand at the back and see what people made of it. The most the local paper had to say about my previous effort had been that the writing “showed promise”. On this occasion the review read, in part, “An excellent piece of acting from Mr Glentoran, together with a witty and perceptive script and some effective lighting and sound effects, resulted in an interesting production.” I’ll take that.

[More details about this production can be found in the Performances section, here.] 

Jon Glentoran, in full flow as Ralph. The bulk of the production budget went on his dry cleaning bills.

Photograph by Simon Archer