The Killing of Sister George

by Frank Marcus

A scathing examination of the public and private lives of so-called "cultural icons". "Sister George" is a beloved character on a popular BBC soap opera, a cheerful nurse who bicycles about the countryside singing hymns and doing good. In private life, June Buckridge the actress, is a swaggering, foul-mouthed, alcoholic lesbian in a long-term relationship with waifish Alice "Childie" McNaught. Due to low ratings, cut-backs and June's own bad behavior, the BBC decides to "kill Sister George" on the series. A visit from Miss Mercy Croft, a no-nonsense network executive bearing the bad news sends George into meltdown, which results in "Childie's" retreat to the arms of Mercy.

Genres: Plays, Drama, LGBT, Fiction, Theatre

Paperback

First published March 1, 1966

Reviews

[Petra - is winning against kitchen-invading fowl]

I listened to it when I was recovering from the eye thing. It's very odd and forward for it's time. Loosely, a drunken old tv soap opera actress is living with a much younger, pretty girl in a somewhat bdsm relationship they both enjoy. The actress loses both her job and her girlfriend to the person instrumental in both. It's both tragic and very funny in parts and has plenty to say of the social lives of gay women in the sixties.

I got the play because I watched a tv documentary on the The Gateways, the London lesbian club that played such a large part in all the media. It was interesting hearing people who used to go to the club talk about it and the characters there, and then listening to the play and seeing the same characters very slightly fictionalised. I enjoyed it that.

Today I downloaded the film of the play. The acting was very good and it kind of seemed a blend of the documentary and the play. It was funny, tragic, erotic and quite wicked really. The acting was very good, not in the style of Hollywood, not flashy and about looks but about the story and characters. Recommended.

[Laura]

From BBC Radio 4 - Saturday Drama:
John Tydeman's adaptation of the stage play by Frank Marcus. The audience ratings for the popular daily serial Applehurst are on the slide. Will the leading character have to be sacrificed to save the show?

[Bettie]

Bettie's Books

[Joe]

An actor is fired from her cushy 6-year gig on a folksy British radio show, but won’t go down without a fight. Perhaps this is one of those scripts that plays better than it reads, but other than the female protagonist being in a relationship with a woman – still a big deal in 1965 – and a pseudo-sadomasochistic relationship at that! – the story and characters don’t quite leap off the page.

[Jordan Phizacklea-Cullen]

No doubt this seemed theatrically stimulating in 1964, but its presentation of the 'stone butch' stereotype of a lesbian does not sit easily in 2018. But the women's characters are surprisingly well-rounded for the period, and there's some superbly barbed dialogue to enjoy.

[Bobby Sullivan]

A "comedy" that's not funny. There's nothing funny about a boorish, self-centered radio actress who drinks too much, bullies her lover/assistant into submission, then loses her job. Why, Frank Marcus?

[Aaron Thomas]

This felt to me like a lesbian Look Back in Anger. In other words, no thank you.

[Alice Urchin]

It's sort of strange that this play is described as a comedy. I can see how some parts might be funny...in a morbid, cynical, sometimes ironic way, but generally, I think it's more of a drama. The main character is an abusive alcoholic and her "flatmate" (girlfriend) is a thirty-four-year-old child who willingly takes this abuse, for the most part. I guess it's a comedy in the way that Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf might be considered a comedy. Really, if you think about the implications of the play, though, it's sad and fucked up, not funny. Luckily, I like sad fucked up things, so I really enjoyed this play.

[Mary]

As usual, I read this with a view to performance, i.e. my local amateur group is holding auditions for it. However, I'm not sure I'd want to be in this. It's a rather odd little play and left me with a slightly sour taste in my mouth. I also don't think it really knows what it is - it claims to be a comedy, but I found it more tragic.

[Leonard]

The title tells us it's a comedy -- a very, very dark comedy. Some parts made me laugh, most made me cringe as the relationships inside are incredibly uncomfortable. I'll be thinking about this one for a while.

[John]

Remarkably coy for a play that was, in its day, deemed shocking. The ending would be heart rending if played right

[Ivan]

Great script. I wish my community theatre would take this on.