Mrs Partington's Mop - a stage play about Tony Hancock.

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 I will shortly be posting the opening pages  of the stage play I wrote about the final interview Tony Hancock ( 1924-1968)  gave before his untimely death at the age of 44 years in Sydney during the making of his final television series: "Hancock Down Under." Famed in Britain for his television, radio, and stage appearances, Hancock was unsurpassed at the time and people understood his screen persona as they had never done before with a preformer. Hancock's insecurities increased as he became mercurial, abandoning all he achieved and he paid a dreadful price by forsaking his friends from the early days of his successes. Even today, all of his shows, films, are unrivalled. Due to his alcoholism, he was unemployable in Great Britain and made the fateful decision to leave for Australia. The play explores many facets of his neurotic character as he reminiscences about  the past and the present in his tortured mind. The play takes place during an imaginary break when Hancock was being interviewed by Gareth Powell of "Chance" magazine who was accompanied by his photographer, Graham McCarter. The title is something "The Lad" himself would have laughed at. It is a Victorian metaphor for a futile effort to resist change.

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