C. P. Taylor – författare

'Germany in the Thirties. Nothing, I should have thought, was harder to dramatise. Witness all those turgid films and telly-plays full of stuffed SS uniforms. But C. P. Taylor's Good is an original and intelligent play, light in texture but serious in content, that tries to work out how decent, liberal, humane men came to be swept up by the Nazi juggernaut.' - Michael Billington, Guardian'Taylor's play is about moral compromise in a political fog, and like all good plays is as much abou tnow as then.' - Snoo Wilson, Time Out'A fine mature new play from one of our best (though underrated) dramatists.' John Elsom, ListenerThe first production of Good, with Alan Howard in the lead, was by the Royal Shakespeare Company at their London Warehouse in September 1981. The production was revived in January 1982.

Good is the story of how a 'good' man gets caught up in the nightmare of the Third Reich: "Germany in the thirties? Nothing, I should have thought was harder to dramatise. Witness all those turgid films and telly plays full of stuffed SS uniforms. Bu

Published to tie in with the legendary Live Theatre's thirtieth birthday celebrations Spanning three generations, Live Theatre is a celebration of the finest playwrights from the North East. In The Filleting Machine (Tom Hadaway), a fishing family's way of life faces extinction; in You Are My Heart's Delight (C.P. Taylor), the lights are switched out in the house of a gamekeeper and his sister who have resisted change for years; Shooting the Legend (Alan Plater) is a comedy of cultural errors in which two women prepare to make a documentary about the 'socially deprived' of Gateshead; in Wittgenstein on Tyne (Lee Hall), Wittgenstein is caught red-handed when working as a hospital porter on Tyneside; Laughter When We're Dead (Sean O'Brien) is a modern revenge tragedy set around the politics of old versus new labour while Cold Calling (Julia Darling) is a dark comedy about a door-to-door salesman.

Professor John Halder is a 'good' man. But 'good' men must adapt to survive.As the world faces its Second World War, Halder finds himself pulled into a movement with unthinkable consequences.Good is a story about a liberal-minded university professor who drifts well-meaningly into a position in the upper reaches of the Nazi administration. John Halder, a professor of literature, seems to be a good man; he diligently visits his blind and senile mother and looks after his vacant wife and three children. He is unremarkable, other than an unusual neurotic tic: the imaginary sound of band music plays in the background of his life, particularly at moments of high emotion. But by writing a book – the result of his own experience – discussing euthanasia for senile elderly people and by lecturing on the delicacy of German literary culture, John has unintentionally made himself a very desirable acquisition for the Nazi party.A profound and alarming examination of passivity and the rationalisation of evil.Originally published in 1982, this new edition was published to coincide with the West End revival in 2022 starring David Tennant.

Professor John Halder is a ''good'' man. But ''good'' men must adapt to survive.As the world faces its Second World War, Halder finds himself pulled into a movement with unthinkable consequences.Good is a story about a liberal-minded university professor who drifts well-meaningly into a position in the upper reaches of the Nazi administration. John Halder, a professor of literature, seems to be a good man; he diligently visits his blind and senile mother and looks after his vacant wife and three children. He is unremarkable, other than an unusual neurotic tic: the imaginary sound of band music plays in the background of his life, particularly at moments of high emotion. But by writing a book – the result of his own experience – discussing euthanasia for senile elderly people and by lecturing on the delicacy of German literary culture, John has unintentionally made himself a very desirable acquisition for the Nazi party.A profound and alarming examination of passivity and the rationalisation of evil.Originally published in 1982, this new edition was published to coincide with the West End revival in 2022 starring David Tennant.

Professor John Halder is a ''good'' man. But ''good'' men must adapt to survive.As the world faces its Second World War, Halder finds himself pulled into a movement with unthinkable consequences.Good is a story about a liberal-minded university professor who drifts well-meaningly into a position in the upper reaches of the Nazi administration. John Halder, a professor of literature, seems to be a good man; he diligently visits his blind and senile mother and looks after his vacant wife and three children. He is unremarkable, other than an unusual neurotic tic: the imaginary sound of band music plays in the background of his life, particularly at moments of high emotion. But by writing a book – the result of his own experience – discussing euthanasia for senile elderly people and by lecturing on the delicacy of German literary culture, John has unintentionally made himself a very desirable acquisition for the Nazi party.A profound and alarming examination of passivity and the rationalisation of evil.Originally published in 1982, this new edition was published to coincide with the West End revival in 2022 starring David Tennant.

"An original and intelligent play, light in texture but serious in content, that tries to work out how decent, liberal, humane men came to be swept up by the Nazi juggernaut." - Michael Billington, GuardianProfessor John Halder is a 'good' man. But 'good' men must adapt to survive. As the world faces its Second World War, Halder finds himself pulled into a position in the upper reaches of the Nazi administration.Underscored by the music of a band ensemble that has haunted Halder throughout his life, Good is a lyrical tragic masterpiece about the causes rather than the consequences of Nazism.Originally published in 1982, C. P. Taylor's profound and alarming examination of passivity and the rationalisation of evil is published in Methuen Drama's Modern Classics series, featuring a new introduction by Drew Milne.

Good is a story about a liberal-minded university professor who drifts well-meaningly into a position in the upper reaches of the Nazi administration. It is a profound and alarming examination of passivity and the rationalisation of evil.John Halder, a professor of literature, seems to be a good man; he diligently visits his blind and senile mother and looks after his vacant wife and three children. He is unremarkable, other than an unusual neurotic tic: the imaginary sound of band music plays in the background of his life, particularly at moments of high emotion. But by writing a book – the result of his own experience – discussing euthanasia for senile elderly people and by lecturing on the delicacy of German literary culture, John has unintentionally made himself a very desirable acquisition for the Nazi party.By rationalised and intellectually reasoned steps he is absorbed into the direction of the death camps, a transformation all the more chilling because it does not seem dramatic, until the last horrible resounding note of the play.Good is a structured stream of consciousness, punctured by the musical medley that plays inside Halder''s head. The first production was staged at the London Warehouse in 1982. And A Nightingale Sang . . . opens on a house in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne filled with well-meant and bustling domestic chaos. Set just before the beginning of the war, the scenes are partly related by Helen, who is stoical and self-deprecating and walks with a limp. Her grandfather Andie is recruiting mourners to attend the burial of his dog; her devout Catholic mother is fretting about the health of the local priest; her father is serenading an unwilling audience with the popular songs that light up the whole play. Joyce, Helen''s younger, prettier sister is dithering over whether to accept a marriage proposal from Eric, who is being deployed to France. Helen, depended on for guidance by the whole family, has never had any attention from men – until she meets Norman, who shows her that she can waltz and fall in love. But for all the family, nothing can be the same after the war.And A Nightingale Sang . . . was first staged in 1977 by Live Theatre in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, and was presented in this version at the Queen''s Theatre, London, in 1979.