WATCH IT COME DOWN, JOHN OSBORNE

1975, poster, The National Theatre at the Old Vic, cast includes Frank Finlay and Jill Bennett, directed by Bill Bryden; 78 x 53cm (framed), together with a National Theatre programme for the play; and a National Theatre programme for Blithe Spirit
(3)

Written in 1975, Watch it Come Down starring Jill Bennett premiered on 18th February 1976 at the National Theatre at the Old Vic before moving to the newly constructed Lyttleton Theatre on the South Bank. Whitebrook describes it as 'A play about emotional and social bankruptcy, Watch it Come Down is set in an abandoned country railway station, its buildings converted into a large house inhabited by Ben Prosser... a film director, and Sally his vulgar, brittle wife and the daughter of a colonial family. Middle-aged, bored, drinking a great deal and locked in a battle of mutual attrition, the Prossers are clearly portraits of the Osbornes' (Whitebrook, p. 302). The reviews were hostile, and the new director of the National Theatre, Peter Hall, who had so encouraged Osborne was obliged to close the production early, citing falling box office receipts.