- Paperback: 56 pages
- Publisher: Samuel French Ltd (Jan 1985)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0573113645
- ISBN-13: 978-0573113642
- Product Dimensions: 21 x 13.2 x 0.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 680,343 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A funny play set in the staff room of a school for teaching English to foreigners in Cambridge. All the staff have concerns and problems, except it seems for veteran teacher, Quartermaine. He is a lonely man and ineffective teacher, whose progress through the play is poignant in the extreme.
Format:Paperback
I was fortunate enough to see the original stage production in 1981 with Edward Fox as the eponymous "hero" of the play, St.John Quartermaine. I can still hear his voice in every line. The play is very funny to read and many lines and situations made me laugh out loud.
If anyone wanted to capture the essential "Englishness" of the English (at least prior 1980!), then this play would be a a good example. All the characters are suffering from personal dilemmas or disasters but try with varying success to put on a brave face. The author's great skill is producing humour out of the character's vain attempts to make their hopelessness bearable.
I do not think this play has been revived on the West End stage since 1981. I suppose society and the theatrical conventions move on but I suspect that for many this play will hold a special place in their hearts.
If anyone wanted to capture the essential "Englishness" of the English (at least prior 1980!), then this play would be a a good example. All the characters are suffering from personal dilemmas or disasters but try with varying success to put on a brave face. The author's great skill is producing humour out of the character's vain attempts to make their hopelessness bearable.
I do not think this play has been revived on the West End stage since 1981. I suppose society and the theatrical conventions move on but I suspect that for many this play will hold a special place in their hearts.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Locked within ourselves
22 Sep 2009
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I was a former English Professor before my retirement, and so I could empathize with the characters in Quartermain's Term. My colleagues and I used to sit around the faculty room and talk, but after reading this play, I really wonder how much of our lives we did share.
We talked about all kinds of superficial things: our classes, the students, the budget, the administration. We never shared what went on in our lives when we left the college. What were our lives really like?
The play made me question how many lost opportunities I may have had to help or support my friends, all because we were too proud to share our problems.
It taught me that everyone on earth has problems and we should be there for each other.
Quartermain, himself, saddened me deeply. He had no life whatsoever beyond the school, and at the end, when he was let go, and had nowhere to go, it broke my heart that none of his friends had even realized he lived in the faculty office.
This play was a great learning experience for me. It was well written and I think it taught me some well needed lessons.
Diane G. Koenig
Professor Emeritus
We talked about all kinds of superficial things: our classes, the students, the budget, the administration. We never shared what went on in our lives when we left the college. What were our lives really like?
The play made me question how many lost opportunities I may have had to help or support my friends, all because we were too proud to share our problems.
It taught me that everyone on earth has problems and we should be there for each other.
Quartermain, himself, saddened me deeply. He had no life whatsoever beyond the school, and at the end, when he was let go, and had nowhere to go, it broke my heart that none of his friends had even realized he lived in the faculty office.
This play was a great learning experience for me. It was well written and I think it taught me some well needed lessons.
Diane G. Koenig
Professor Emeritus
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