- Fry, Christopher
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orig. Christopher Harrisborn Dec. 18, 1907, Bristol, Gloucestershire, Eng.British playwright.He worked as an actor, director, and playwright before achieving success with The Lady's Not for Burning (1948), an ironic medieval comedy in verse. Noted for his wit and his religious preoccupations, he wrote other verse plays, including Venus Observed (1950), A Sleep of Prisoners (1951), The Dark Is Light Enough (1954), and A Yard of Sun (1970). He also wrote several television plays and collaborated on the screenplays of Ben Hur (1959) and Barabbas (1962).
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▪ 2006Christopher Fry HarrisBritish playwright and screenwriter (b. Dec. 18, 1907, Bristol, Gloucestershire, Eng.—d. June 30, 2005, Chichester, West Sussex, Eng.), wrote whimsical comedies, most notably The Lady's Not for Burning (1948), that were largely responsible for a verse-play revival on the post-World War II British stage. Fry, who used his maternal grandmother's maiden name, began his theatre career in the early 1930s and worked as an actor, director, and writer of plays and music before The Lady's Not for Burning brought him fame. A departure from the realistic theatrical style that was then prevalent, the ironic medieval comedy was written in blank verse and centred on a former soldier returned from the Hundred Years' War and a woman sentenced to be burned for witchcraft. Fry was greatly influenced by T.S. Eliot, and The Lady's Not for Burning was noted for its rich language and optimism, which became hallmarks of Fry's works. In 1949 John Gielgud directed and starred with a young Richard Burton in the West End production. Fry's other notable plays included Venus Observed (1950), which Laurence Olivier staged, A Sleep of Prisoners (1951), and The Dark Is Light Enough: A Winter Comedy (1954). By the late 1950s, verse dramas had fallen out of favour, and Fry wrote few original plays thereafter, with the notable exception of A Yard of Sun: A Summer Comedy (1970) focused on writing for television, radio, and film as well as adapting and translating plays, including Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt and works by Jean Anouilh and Jean Giraudoux. Fry contributed much of the screenplay for Ben-Hur (1959) but was not credited.* * *
▪ British authororiginal name Christopher Harrisborn December 18, 1907, Bristol, Gloucestershire, Englanddied June 30, 2005, Chichester, West SussexBritish writer of verse plays.Fry adopted his mother's surname after he became a schoolteacher at age 18, his father having died many years earlier. He was an actor, director, and writer of revues and plays before he gained fame as a playwright for The Lady's Not for Burning (1948), an ironic comedy set in medieval times whose heroine is charged with being a witch. A Phoenix Too Frequent (1946) retells a tale from Petronius Arbiter. The Boy with a Cart (1950), a story of St. Cuthman, is a legend of miracles and faith in the style of the mystery plays. A Sleep of Prisoners (1951) and The Dark Is Light Enough (1954) explore religious themes. After many years of translating and adapting plays—including Ring Round the Moon (produced 1950; adapted from Jean Anouilh's L'Invitation du château), Duel of Angels (produced 1963; adapted from Jean Giraudoux's Pour Lucrèce), and Peer Gynt (produced 1970; based on Johan Fillinger's translation of Henrik Ibsen's play)—Fry wrote A Yard of Sun, which was produced in 1970.Fry also collaborated on the screenplays of the epic films Ben Hur (1959) and Barabbas (1962), and he wrote plays for both radio and television. His Can You Find Me: A Family History was published in 1978.Additional ReadingEmil Roy, Christopher Fry (1968); Glenda Leeming, Christopher Fry (1990).* * *
Universalium. 2010.
