Author(s): John Mortimer

General

In John Mortimer's most famous and highly autobiographical play, a young man looks back on an unconventional childhood and youth overshadowed by his irascible and eccentric father. Sent away to boarding school to be 'prepared for life', he finds teachers deranged by shell shock after the First World War and boys who try to coat their ordinary home lives with romance. As the Second World War begins, the mild-mannered protagonist tries to become a writer, but is compelled to become a barrister like his father - a towering character depicted with affection and exasperation. Hugely popular since it was first performed, "A Voyage Round My Father" is a sublimely comic drama of warmth, nostalgia and wisdom.