N. F. Simpson
N. F. Simpson, born Norman Frederick Simpson, is recognized as a prominent figure in British absurdist writing. His works are often characterized by their intellectual wit and logical structure, drawing comparisons to literary figures like Lewis Carroll and Oscar Wilde. Simpson's journey began in London, where he was raised in a glassblowing family and educated at Emanuel School. After a stint as a bank clerk and service in World War II, he pursued literature at Birkbeck College, culminating in a teaching career before committing to full-time writing in the 1960s.
Simpson's notable plays, such as "A Resounding Tinkle" and "One Way Pendulum," exemplify his unique style, which blends whimsical names and absurd scenarios with deeper philosophical inquiries. His humor, often marked by non sequiturs and bizarre situations, reflects a distinct approach to storytelling that may bewilder some audiences. While his early works garnered attention, including accolades from drama contests, his style fell out of favor during the late 1960s and early 1970s, prompting a shift towards television and film. Despite mixed critical reception, Simpson's contributions to absurdist theatre remain significant, illustrating the complexities and contradictions inherent in human experience.
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N. F. Simpson
Playwright
- Born: January 29, 1919
- Birthplace: London, England
- Died: August 27, 2011
Biography
Opinions about N. F. Simpson’s writing are sharply divided. Some critics, most of them British, consider him the leading exemplar of British absurdist writing, comparing his work to that of Lewis Carroll: witty, intellectual, and unfailingly logical. Few, regardless of how they view him, fault his intellect and logic, with which he often bewilders rather than elucidates.
Norman Frederick Simpson’s father, George Frederick Simpson, was a glassblower in a lamp factory outside London. The young Simpson attended Emanuel School in London from 1930 until 1937, then became a bank clerk, a position he held until 1941 when he was drawn into World War II. He served first in the Royal Artillary and, after 1943, for over two years in Army Intelligence, first in Italy, then in the Middle East. In 1944, he married Joyce Bartlett.
From 1950 until 1954, Simpson attended Birkbeck College, University of London, where he studied literature, taking an honors degree in 1954. He then taught English in adult education classes until 1963, when he became a full-time writer. He had already written several plays, one of which, A Resounding Tinkle (pr. 1957), in 1956 shared third prize in the Observer drama contest with Richard Beynon and Ann Jellicoe.
Simpson’s play, the funniest of the entries, was remarkable for its witty non sequiturs, reminiscent of some of Oscar Wilde’s best dialogue. In this play, as in many of his other productions, his use of names, including Ben and Midde Paradock, is whimsical. Among the play’s absurdities is the arrival of a mail-order elephant that the recipients put in the front garden but are forced, because of it size, to trade for a neighbor’s boa constrictor.
A Resounding Tinkle was usually staged with a companion piece, The Hole (pr. 1958), essentially an allegory on the origins of meaning. The characters in this play are queued up beside an excavation waiting for some sort of unveiling. They do not really know why they are there, but they speculate on what is in the hole. Eventually an electrician emerges and tells them that the hole contains an electric junction box. The male characters use this information as confirmation of their belief in the “everlasting electricity” behind all things.
Simpson’s first full-length play, One Way Pendulum (pr. 1959) depends as much on motion as on words. Its demented characters each apply an inexplicable logic to absurd and fanciful situations. One character, Kirby Groomkirby, spends his time sequestered in his bedroom teaching five hundred speak-your- weight machines to sing the hallelujah chorus from George Frederick Handel’s Messiah.
In Was He Anyone? (pr. 1973), Simpson has a character floating and awaiting rescue in the Mediterranean Sea for twenty- seven months, in the course of which he learns to play the piano. Simpson’s sort of humor was not in vogue during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Most of his later writing has been for television and films.