One Way Pendulum

One Way Pendulum, described on the title page as "A Farce in a New Dimension", is a play by N. F. Simpson. It was first performed at the Theatre Royal, Brighton on 14 December 1959, before playing at London's Royal Court Theatre from 22 December, later transferring to the Criterion Theatre where it ran until 11 June 1960. The play was adapted for the cinema in 1965. History N. F. Simpson had come late to writing plays. In 1957, when in his late thirties, his play A Resounding Tinkle had won third prize in a playwriting competition organised by Kenneth Tynan of The Observer. One Way Pendulum was Simpson's second full length play. Original cast Kirby Groomkirby – Roddy Maude-Roxby Robert Barnes – John Horsley Mabel Groomkirby – Alison Leggatt Sylvia Groomkirby – Patsy Rowlands Aunt Mildred – Patsy Byrne Myra Gantry – Gwen Nelson Arthur Groomkirby – George Benson Stan Honeyblock – Douglas Livingstone Judge – Douglas Wilmer Prosecuting Counsel – Graham Crowden Defence Counsel – Graham Armitage Policeman - Alan Gibson Usher - Jeremy Longhurst Clerk of the Court - Robert Levis Source: N. F. Simpson, The Collected Plays, Faber & Faber 2013. Plot Subtitled on the Royal Court's posters as "an evening of high drung and slarrit", the play is in the absurdist tradition. It contains numerous diversions and non-sequiturs, such as people riding to hounds on camels, and a game of three-handed whist played by two participants, without cards, in the dark, but the core consists of the efforts of the son of the house, Kirby, to teach a collection of talking weight machines, which he has stolen, to sing the Hallelujah chorus from Messiah, and his father's decision to build a replica of the Old Bailey in the sitting room. Elsewhere in the household Mrs Groomkirby is so obsessed with cooking that she employs a neighbour to come in twice a week to help eat the food, and the daughter, Sylvia is dissatisfied with the length of her arms. In Mr Groomkirby's home-made Old Bailey a judge and counsel appear; Kirby is put on trial for mass murder (he kills people so as to indulge his passion for wearing black mourning) and his father is discredited as a witness under cross-examination, for failing to prove that he isn't in Chester-le-Street.