London: National Theatre, 1966

47 mimeographed pp., bound in cream stiff paper wrappers secured with two split pins, window to front wrapper displaying title page beneath. 2pp, typed rewrites laid in to Act Two.

GRAHAM CROWDEN'S REHEARSAL SCRIPT FOR THE FIRST PRODUCTION OF JOHN OSBORNE'S A BOND HONOURED, WITH HIS PENCILLED OWNERSHIP SIGNATURE TO TITLE PAGE.

Adapted from Lope de Vega's Golden Age play La Fianza Satisfecha, A Bond Honoured opened at the National Theatre at the Old Vic, London, in June 1966. Directed by John Dexter, the production starred Robert Stephens and Maggie Smith (who were to marry the following year), with Graham Crowden in the role of Berlebeyo (referred to as 'KING' in this rehearsal script). The play was produced three years after the National Theatre was founded by Laurence Olivier, who would remain its Director until 1976.

John Osborne adapted Lope de Vega's play at the request of Kenneth Tynan, then the National Theatre's Literary Manager. In an author's note to the play Osborne wrote: 'It was in three acts, had an absurd plot, some ridiculous characters and some very heavy humour. What did interest me was the Christian framework of the play and the potentially fascinating dialectic with the principal characters.' Critical reception was mostly hostile, and Osborne's reaction to the critics was (as was often the case) public and furious.

Graham Crowden [1922-2010] was part of the Royal Court's repertory company under George Devine, a leading member of the legendary Old Vic/National Theatre company of the 1960s (this show being one of its productions), and a scene-stealing presence on screen with nearly two hundred credits to his name.

Crowden's marking up of his rehearsal copy of the play is characteristically idiosyncratic: as with some other Crowden scripts we have handled, he underlines not his speeches, but his cues.

Pages 15-17 of the script are still present in this script but were superseded in rehearsal by two pages of original typed rewrites here laid in (and quite possibly typed by Osborne).