PACIFIC RESIDENT THEATRE Business Manager Artistic Director Managing Director JENNIFER LONSWAY MARILYN FOX BRUCE WHITNEY The Dock Brief by John Mortimer Executive Producer MARILYN FOX Producers VALERIE HAVEY LIA KOZATCH Associate Producer SARA NEWMAN-MARTINS Scenic Design & Light Design Sound Design NORMAN SCOTT CORWIN EVANS Costume Design Stage Manager AUDREY EISNER MORGAN WILDAY Directed by ROBERT BAILEY CAST Morgenhall . Frank Collison* Fowle . Wesley Mann* A prison cell, Spring 1958 The performance takes place without an intermission. *Members of the Actors Equity Association, the professional union for actors and stage managers in the United States. The Dock Brief is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc. The videotaping or making of electronic or other audio and/or visual recordings of this production or distributing recordings on any medium, including the internet, is strictly prohibited, a vio- lation of the author’s rights and actionable under United States copyright law. For more information, please visit www.samuelfrench.com/whitepaper About the Author Sir John Mortimer, CBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire), QC (Queen’s Counsel), (21 April 1923 – 16 January 2009), was an English barrister, playwright, and au- thor. Always a bit of a rebel, Mortimer start- ed writing scripts for documentaries after being deemed medically unfi t to for military service in World War II. Although he wanted to be an actor and a writer, Mortimer’s fa- ther, Clifford Mortimer, also a barrister, con- vinced John to enter law school. Mortimer attended Brasenose College, Oxford, and was invited to the bar in 1948. His legal career began with divorce work, but later, Mortimer began defending cases for ending censorship. John Mortimer always rooted for the underdog, always used his pen to give voice for causes he cared about, including the Howard League for Penal Reform, the Royal Court Theatre, and a holiday home for deprived chil- dren that he and his wife helped to establish in Turville. After retiring from the bar in the 1980’s, Mortimer spent his time writing and performing, and enjoying life to the fullest with his wife & family. He is most famously known for Rumpole of the Bailey, a series of plays written for the BBC. Director’s Note When Marilyn Fox fi rst approached me about directing The Dock Brief, I was unfamiliar with the play and aware of its author primarily as the creator of the popular series Rumpole of the Bailey. It has been delightful to encounter this small gem, an early success for barrister-turned-writer John Mortimer, and get to work on it with a pair of talented actors over a short, intensive rehearsal period. We have laughed frequently as we worked, and certainly hope that you will share in the mirth. But we have also discovered a poignant undercurrent in the play, and that its pair of apparently hapless characters are deserving of our empathy. “Comedy is the only thing worth writing in this despairing age, providing the comedy is on the side of the lonely, the neglected, the unsuccessful”, Mr. Mortim- er once wrote; and elsewhere, “farce is tragedy played at a thousand revolutions per minute”. We hope you will enjoy The Dock Brief. --Robert Bailey Glossary Dock Brief: a brief given directly to a barrister selected from a panel of those present by a prisoner in the dock, who is unable to provide his own legal counsel Barrister: a lawyer in Britain who has the right to argue in higher courts of law Epping Forest: London’s largest open space and one of three Special Areas of Conservation National Health: National Health Service, a publically funded, free to all healthcare system in the United Kingdom Mustard keen: as keen as mustard. Very eager, excited Subsidized biscuits, County Council tobacco: goods provided by the government, similar to welfare items Mods, Smalls, Greats, Tripos, Little Goes, Rowing Men: school cliques: Mods and Rock- ers were 50’s pre-punks; Rowing Men are the equivalent of football jocks, Tripos are the exams required of undergraduates before receiving their Bachelor of Arts Celluloid cuff: stiff, highly starched cuffs of a formal shirt, a place where students write cheat notes to use during exams Draughts: checkers Fur Hood: part of academic garb Limpet: a sea mollusk, in this case clinging tightly to something Wireless set: radio set Laughs on (Christmas) crackers: a cracker is the rolled up paper tube that explode when you pull the ends. Traditionally, a bad pun or riddle is included inside Pick up the phrases: to catch the latest jokes or catch phrases, in this case off of the radio shows Light Programme: Post-WWII radio program by the BBC; a variety show. Various entertainment, including music and stories Rugger Blue in ninety-eight: a Rugger Blue is the highest college level award in rugby. In American-English: “all-state” trophy winner in 1898, they retired his jersey Snooker: similar game to billiards, but involves much more strategy and slightly smaller balls, much more popular in the UK than in the US The Evidence Act: The Evidence Act is a series of rulings enacted by Parliament that govern admissibility of evidence A fl ash: short for “a fl ash of hope” Muck in: work together Mafeking: being disorderly, inspired by the riotous celebrations after the Siege of Mafek- ing was lifted in the Second Boer War in the late 1800s/early 1900s Solicitors: lawyers. Barristers are independent lawyers, Solicitors work for a company. The difference is only relevant in that solicitors from the same company cannot represent opposing sides in a two party dispute. A thousand guineas: would be about $50,000 in US dollars today Laying down the port: Buying port wine and putting it in the cellar to appreciate in value French cricket: the name is intended to mock both the game and the French. There is noto- rious animosity between the British and the French stemming back hundreds of years. Doctor’s surgery: doctor’s offi ce Governor: one who oversees, in this case, over the cases of law Home Offi ce: The Home Offi ce is the government branch that handles security, immigra- tion, law and order. It also used to handle the prison system. Dead as mutton: dead as a door nail ACTOR BIOGRAPHIES Frank Collison (Morgenhall) A founding member of PRT, Frank is “mustard keen” to return to this stage after a seven year hiatus. He’s been watching his three children grow. Frank makes his living in fi lms, television and voice over. Total strangers approach him on the street and say they have seen him “in something.” If you are curious as to what that might be, visit www.frankcollison.com Wesley Mann (Fowle) has worked in fi lm, television and theatre for the last twenty-fi ve years after com- pleting his actor training at PCPA Theatrefest in Santa Maria, California. He has acted all over the country including ten seasons at the Hudson Valley Shake- speare Festival in New York, Portland Center Stage in Oregon, and American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. He has taught Acting, Elements of Comedy, Impro- visation at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival and The Inner Circle Theatre in Los Angeles. His play The Good Life was produced by The Empty Space in Bakersfi eld Ca in 2009. He has appeared on over thirty television shows and nearly as many motion pictures. Wesleymannactor.com Interested in coming to all four shows in our 30th Anniversary season at a discounted price? Subscribe Now! Multiple subscription package options available Call (310) 822-8392 or visit www.Pacifi cResidentTheatre.com Thank You! PRODUCTION BIOGRAPHIES Robert Bailey (Director) Robert Bailey directed the PRT production The Turn Of The Screw, in Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation of the Henry James novella, and the Co-Op production of Joe Pintauro’s Karma Boomerang. He acted in many PRT productions, including A Question Of Mer- cy, Lulu, Big Love, Ivanov, and Shadow Of A Gunman. In New York he was associated with several leading the- atres, including Circle Repertory Company, Ensemble Studio Theatre, American Place Theatre, the Williamstown Theatre Festival and the Ac- tors Studio, winning praise for his productions of contemporary plays in the New York Times, New York Magazine and the Village Voice. His short dramatic fi lm Last Call was an offi cial selection at fi lm festivals from Avignon, France to Sedona, Arizona. He has directed in Los An- geles for the Court Theatre, the Skylight Theatre, Pacifi c Stages and the Young Audience Program at the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Robert teaches directing and acting at USC and has staged a dozen School of Dramatic Arts productions. He has also taught in the undergraduate and graduate programs at UC San Diego and Brown University. Valerie Havey (Producer) at PRT, Valerie was a part of the producing team on The Homecoming, The Cherry Orchard and Pure Imagination: The Musical World Of Anthony Newley And Leslie Bricusse, and she produced Kalamazoo and A View From The Bridge, which garnered recognition and acclaim, including a nomination from the LADCC for McCulloh Award for Revival, and 4 nominations from the LA Weekly Theatre Awards, in- cluding Best Production, and was an LA Times Critic’s Choice. Valerie is a proud Associate Member of Pacifi c Resident Theatre, and lives in Venice with her husband and daughter. Lia Kozatch (Producer) has been been producing plays throughout the greater Los Angeles area and events through the Center for Collabo- ration with the Arts at Whittier College for over seven years. Recent Los Angeles producing credits include Hamlet by William Shakespeare (Odyssey Theatre Ensemble and Los Angeles Women’s Shakespeare Company), Lorca in a Green Dress by Nilo Cruz (Casa 0101 Theater), and for Fresh Baked Theatre Company: An Evening in Limbo: Two One- Acts (Quick and In My Arms and The Endless Night) by Peter J.