By Vanessa Hunt
Award-winning contemporary English playwright Richard Bean was born in 1956 in East Hull. His father was a policeman, and his mother was a hairdresser. He attended Hull Grammar School and then took a different path from where audiences find him now, known for his comedic prowess. Bean worked at a bread plant before he furthered his education by studying Social Psychology at Loughborough University. From there, he worked as an occupational psychologist for fifteen years. At thirty-five years old, the future playwright of One Man, Two Guvnors decided to become a stand-up comedian.
For six years, Bean worked at his craft of comedy. He was a writer and performer on the sketch comedy show Control Group Six. While he worked hard at stand-up comedy, he didn’t have the required “thickness of skin.” He has stated that you need two things in order to be a stand-up comedian, funny bones and steel (https://www.cityam.com/work-and-plays/). Wanting to stay within the comedy realm but move away from the stand-up component, Bean turned his attention to theatre. He found major success as a comedic playwright and has been writing since 1995. His first full-length play was Of Rats and Men. It premiered at the Canal Cafe Theatre in 1996. He later adapted this play for BBC Radio, and it won a Tony Award. He followed that up with his actual stage-writing debut, a play entitled Toast that premiered at the Royal Court Theatre.
When asked about his writing process, Bean explains that he writes in a wooden hut in his garden and if he comes up with a plot or idea that he really likes, he rewards himself with going back to his house and making a cup of tea (https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/oct/01/playwright-richard-bean-you-can-make-jokes-about-anything). This process seems to serve him well because he has added a long list of plays to his writing credits over the last two decades. However, his writing hasn’t come without its share of roadblocks. The original title of Toast was Wonderloaf. It was a brand-name bread that Bean was very familiar with, having worked with it during his time at the bread plant. The brand didn’t approve of their name being used for the play and had their lawyers contact Bean. The day before the play opened, it was renamed Toast to avoid further legal battle (https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/oct/01/playwright-richard-bean-you-can-make-jokes-about-anything). Next came the legal implications with Great Britain. As it explores the world of press, politics, and the state of the union wrapped up in satire, Bean was unsure how it would be received as the Old Bailey trial relating to phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch’s International News group was ongoing. As such, the play was rehearsed and previewed in secret. There were no public previews allowed. The fear was that the play could potentially be considered contempt of court (https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/oct/01/playwright-richard-bean-you-can-make-jokes-about-anything).
If the legal roadblocks weren’t enough, some of Bean’s other plays have been followed by pushback from some audiences and even actors for pushing political boundaries and/or representing people and cultures in an unfavorable light. He has written about immigration and scientists falsifying climate change information. This was part of his stand-up comedy routine as well, leading to him being booed one night for an allegedly sexist joke. It isn’t lost on Bean that these are sensitive subjects he’s writing about, but his desire to write this way stems in part from his background in stand-up. He has been quoted as saying, “I do accept that these are sensitive areas. But don’t forget that my background is as a standup, where the first thing you learn is that you can make jokes about anything, and the audience kind of want[s] you to” (https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/oct/01/playwright-richard-bean-you-can-make-jokes-about-anything). He describes himself as a “liberal hawk,” and he urges other playwrights to push boundaries by writing about unpalatable subjects (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/4933157/Profile-Richard-Bean.html). Still, his ability to push boundaries while adding his comedic flare has resonated with audiences as he continues to write and present critically acclaimed works.
Bean’s playwriting credits include Mr England (2000), The God Botherers (2003), Honeymoon Suite (2004), Harvest (2005), The Hypochondriac (2005), English People Very Nice (2009), The Heretic (2011), One Man, Two Guvnors (2011), The Nap (2016), The Hypocrite (2017), Young Marx (2017), among multiple others.
One Man, Two Guvnors is his most celebrated play to date. In 2011, it won the Best New Play award from the Evening Standard Awards. This award was actually a joint winner with his play The Heretic. With these wins, Bean became the first playwright to win the Evening Standard Award for Best Play for two plays. Also in 2011, One Man, Two Guvnors won the Best New Play award from the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards. In addition, the play garnered the following awards and nominations in 2012: Whatsonstage.com Award for Best New Comedy (won), Outer Critics’ Circle Award for Outstanding New Broadway Play (won), Olivier Award for Best New Play (nominated), and Drama League Award for Distinguished Production of a Play (nominated). Best New Play has been awarded to Bean for some of his other plays, including Honeymoon Suite, Under the Whaleback, and Harvest. In 2002, Honeymoon Suite won the Pearson Award from Best New Play. Under the Whaleback won the George Devine Award for Best New Play in 2002, and Harvest won Best New Play from the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards in 2005. It is safe to say from his list of accolades that Bean is an award-winning playwright we can continue to expect great comedic, thought-provoking pieces from.
Bean continues to write, and his next play in development is Jack Absolute Flies Again. He is co-writing it with Oliver Chris, and it is set for production in 2020. Also in 2020, One Man, Two Guvnors is set to play at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. With Bean’s prowess for comedic writing and the accolades the play has garnered, it’s a sure hit that audiences will not want to miss.
