YOU MIGHT AS WELL LIVE: An Evening with Dorothy Parker
A show featuring the words, wisdom and wisecracks of one of America's foremost jazz age writers. Dorothy Parker's short stories and journalism are characterised by rapier wit and her poems by melancholy and aching vulnerability. Her pen frequently upset the literary establishment and provided an acerbic commentary on life in inter-war America. She was a very rude and very funny lady.
She was active in cultural politics on the west coast, setting up the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League and (with Lillian Hellmann and Dashiel Hammett) the Screenwriters' Guild. She also visited and wrote about Spain during the Civil War, supporting the efforts of the Republican Government to provide basic education for their people. Inevitably, she ended up on Senator McCarthy's Hollywood blacklist which, she said, severely curtailed her earning power. But it didn't stop her telling it like she thought it was.
Dorothy Parker will be accompanied on stage by the Steve Salfield Trio playing the music of the twenties and thirties. She will fill you in on her life, her loves and her views on the writers and cultural icons of her day.
Here's what our audience have said:
"Sue Daniel's timing is perfect for the epigrams and one-liners. She gives a real sense of someone for whom life is a bit of a struggle and humour a defence; someone who provides sparkling wit and pleasure for others but who is not herself laughing behind her eyes".
"The wit of Dorothy Parker punctuated by beautifully arranged and beautifully played jazz standards
- what's not to like?"
"I went to see 'You might as well live' on a Friday evening, straight from work at the end of a busy week. I soon began to unwind as I listened and laughed at the Dorothy Parker stories and was reminded of what a witty woman she was. The show rolls along in a relaxed and easy way, lulling you into a light mood, making you wonder why you ever took life so seriously? And the jazz was just wonderful. I could have listened for hours and hours to that saxophone."
"Susan Daniel, as Dorothy Parker had the audience entranced and richly entertained. Such a demanding solo role, so well interpreted....truly engaging.....a triumph!"
The Company: Susan Daniel (Dorothy Parker) Steve Salfield (Saxophone) Matthew Ratcliffe (Piano)
Graham Jones (Double Bass)
Written and directed by David Frederickson
Photographer: www.billallerton.co.uk
Dorothy with Steve Salfield
