The Complete Plays: Alas, Poor Fred (1959)

Production Details
Title:
Author:
New Play:

Venue:
Location:
Staging:
Alas, Poor Fred
James Saunders
Yes

The Library Theatre, Scarborough
Concert Room
Round
First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:
25 June 1959
25 June 1959
12 September 1959
Company Details
Director:

Stage Manager:
Assistant Stage Manager:
Assistant Stage Manager:
Rodney Wood

Ann Hughesdon
Rosemary Green
Don Brown
Character
Mr Pringle
Mrs Pringle
Actor
William Elmhirst
Dona Martyn
Why is this play significant?
Both the play Alas, Poor Fred and the playwright James Saunders are one of the earliest genuine successes to come from Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre. Alas, Poor Fred is recognised as Saunders' first performed work as a professional playwright and the play - an early example of the theatre of the absurd tradition - went onto to become a firm favourite with both professional and amateur companies and has been revived consistently to the present day. It was also the first play to be published by Studio Theatre Ltd.
Notes
○ James Saunders (1925-2004) was a teacher who wrote plays in his spare time when he came into contact with Stephen Joseph. He encouraged him to write and staged the world premieres of his first two professional works at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre (Alas, Poor Fred in 1959 and The Ark in 1960). He became a full-time playwright in 1964 and won the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright in 1963. He would work on stage in television and on radio but it his early work - with pieces such as Alas, Poor Fred - which is considered significant, placing Saunders as a notable exponent of Theatre of the Absurd in the UK.
○ This production marked the professional debut of James Saunders as a playwright and there is no record of any professional performance of his work earlier than Alas, Poor Fred at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre.
○ For its original production, Stephen Joseph heavily cut the original script (see The 'Uncut' Version below).
○ Alas, Poor Fred is one of the earliest examples of a Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre world premiere making the leap into other media. On 7 September 1960, BBC Radio (Third Programme) broadcast a radio adaptation of the play produced by Alfred Bradley and Michael Bakewell and starring Maurice Denham and Rosamund Greenwood.
○ Alas, Poor Fred was the first title to be published by Stephen Joseph's company Studio Theatre Ltd - albeit in its cut, produced form. It was published in 1960 and printed by the Scarborough printers Marshall & Son. It retailed for five shillings and was sold both at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre and by the company whilst on tour. The only other play known to have been published by the company was David Campton's The Lunatic View.
○ There appears to be some early confusion as to whether the title of the play was Alas Poor Fred or Alas, Poor Fred. It is advertised as the former on at least one occasion and the cover of the Studio Theatre Ltd published play text does not feature the comma. However, the programme, most advertising and - confusingly - the interior copy of the published play text include the comma. The correct title is Alas, Poor Fred.
○ Alas, Poor Fred was presented in a double bill with Halfway To Heaven.
○ Alas, Poor Fred was presented without an interval.

The 'Uncut' Version
Research by Dr Paul Elsam - a biographer of Stephen Joseph - led to the discovery of the original manuscript of Alas, Poor Fred whilst researching his book Stephen Joseph: Theatre Pioneer and Provocateur. It appears this was the original version of the play submitted to Stephen Joseph from which 16 of its 57 pages of dialogue were cut to create the version which has been produced and published since 1959.
This 'cut' version was premiered at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre on 25 June 1959, directed by Rodney Wood, before being published by Stephen Joseph via his company, Studio Theatre Ltd. This version would become the established text and the basis of all future performances as well as the published play text by Samuel French Ltd.
The 'uncut' version of the script finally received its professional premiere on 3 October 2025, when it was presented at the Stephen Joseph Theatre by The Lost and Found Collective, directed by Paul Elsam. It starred Dan Henley and Georgie Samuels.
This production notably took place during the 70th anniversary of the Stephen Joseph Theatre; fittingly since it was written for the original company in 1959.
As to why it was cut, Paul Elsam has his own theories: "Of course it's possible the director Rodney Wood made the cuts, although Stephen Joseph was famous for wielding the knife! As to why - he / they seem mainly to have cut bits that were confusing on first reading - ideas that repeat themselves, dates that don't add up, that sort of thing. As a result the cut version of the play is straightforwardly funnier, and more absurdist in style. But it's not what James Saunders wrote! We made a decision in rehearsals to keep in not just all the words, but all the pacing - every pause, every dash and so on. Doing this really helped to unlock what we now think are Saunders' original intentions."
All research for this page by Simon Murgatroyd. Image copyright: Scarborough Theatre Trust