29th August 2024
In 1968 Dennis Potter was already a controversial figure in his native Forest of Dean when for his next play he took as inspiration a notorious local event: 'the killing of the bears'. In 1889 four Frenchmen touring the district with their two dancing bears were attacked by a mob prompted by a false rumour that a local child had been killed by one of their bears. The men were badly beaten and both bears were killed - a source of disgrace for the Forest, and controversy to this day as to which community was responsible. Such was the potency of this dark moment in Forest history that reaction against Potter’s choice of subject prompted a slew of letters to the local newspapers even before filming had started. This correspondence provides a fascinating insight into the Forest community’s relationship with the events of (then) eighty years before, but even more so with Potter himself. Delving into the production and local reception of Dennis Potter’s television play A Beast with Two Backs (1968) as played out through the pages of the local Forest newspapers, this talk by Dr Jason Griffiths will address the relationship at the time between Potter and this particular audience, how he engaged with it through his own correspondence, and will question what impact this had on him and his writing.
News of June 2024 event in the Forest of Dean coming soon...Am I right?
A Beast With Two Backs...is back - part two!
In the summer of 2015 the village of Lydbrook, in the Forest of Dean, remembered its role in Dennis Potter’s landmark play, A Beast with Two Backs, in an exhibition, talks, discussions, and screening of the play.
As well as celebrating the community’s role in this important piece of television history, it was also an opportunity to find new information about the production, reaction to its 1968 broadcast, and how people feel seeing the play today.
Starting on Friday 16th December 2016 (running until 12th March 2017) at the Dean Heritage Centre is another opportunity to see the exhibition - updated to include what was discovered during the 2015 show. Located in the Centre's Gallery 41 this new pop up exhibition is next to the Potter Room permanent exhibition where visitors can find out more about his life and work in the setting of a recreated 1950's Forest of Dean sitting room. The Centre is also the home of a vast collection of his scripts and papers housed in the Dennis Potter Archive. Visitors can also enjoy the Potter audio trail on site, and, in a film with local historian John Belcher, discover the important Forest locations in Potter's life.
This latest exhibition continues the long-standing relationship between the Dean Heritage Centre and the University of Gloucestershire's School of Media.
As well as celebrating the community’s role in this important piece of television history, it was also an opportunity to find new information about the production, reaction to its 1968 broadcast, and how people feel seeing the play today.
Starting on Friday 16th December 2016 (running until 12th March 2017) at the Dean Heritage Centre is another opportunity to see the exhibition - updated to include what was discovered during the 2015 show. Located in the Centre's Gallery 41 this new pop up exhibition is next to the Potter Room permanent exhibition where visitors can find out more about his life and work in the setting of a recreated 1950's Forest of Dean sitting room. The Centre is also the home of a vast collection of his scripts and papers housed in the Dennis Potter Archive. Visitors can also enjoy the Potter audio trail on site, and, in a film with local historian John Belcher, discover the important Forest locations in Potter's life.
This latest exhibition continues the long-standing relationship between the Dean Heritage Centre and the University of Gloucestershire's School of Media.