'Kenneth Williams and His Diaries' British Library June 2016
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- Опубликовано: 14 апр 2020
- AUDIO ONLY. Sorry there are no images from the evening.
In December 2015 the British Library acquired the complete Kenneth Williams diaries plus letters and other papers.
In this special event, actor David Benson, known for his solo play 'Think No Evil of Us: My Life With Kenneth Williams' reads extracts from unpublished sections of the diaries, selected by Kathryn Johnson, at that time the curator of the collection. Here she describes the task of reading the complete diaries and subjecting them to rigorous 'data protection' processing.
The legendary Nicholas Parson makes memorable contributions, remembering the recordings of Just A Minute; and Peter Cadley, a close friend of Kenneth in his later years, shares personal reminiscences.
Huge apologies of the lack of visuals - I hope that the verbal description of the images displayed will suffice until a fuller version of this video can be produced with the imagery included.
Guardian article on the BL's acquisition of the diaries:
www.theguardian.com/culture/2...
From the British Library website
www.bl.uk/events/kenneth-will...
Saw Kenneth Williams in a park when i was a child wandering around looking at a statue.He was in a play and incidentally the theatre was opposite the park.I will treasure that memory forever..😢❤
Decided a long time ago that Kenny’s diaries would be my chosen book for the desert island .
Don't feel like you need to apologise for a lack of any visuals old chap. I, for one, am simply grateful you've taken the trouble to upload the audio.
“Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going?”― Tennessee Williams.............
Thank-you, David. Wonderful and fascinating. I was lucky enough to see Kenneth when he came to my school in 1980. One of my treasured memories. Also the first time I remember hearing anyone use the word dogma. ☺
I saw David Benson do his one man show years ago in Manchester. Fantastic stuff. Currently re reading KW diaries.
Many thanks for putting this on RUclips - wonderful insights into a very complex character.
Love this. Would have loved it even more if it had been filmed. Thanks to all concerned.
R.I.P Mr Williams. 36 years over since you have been gone. How time flies. I wish i had of met you. ❤
David Benson stepped up so quick-wittedly during the audio SNAFU's of "Crepe Suzette" - I was most impressed!
I think the panel didnt get the question about compartmentalised friends. It's quite common to keep different friends separate, especially if they open up different parts of how you present yourself to them. They represent different manifestations of you if you are a chameleon/social shape-shifter and you may not want them to meet or interact.
I have read Kenneth Williams dairys three times they are so interesting he was very honest I also wrote journals until I decided to bin them all because when I went back to read some it was like going back to ones own vomit.
Thanks for uploading this David - really enjoyable. Saw your show 'Think No Evil of Us' a couple of times and it was great.
In 1978, I had to stop the car at the traffic lights in Euston Road at Great Portland Street. Walking across the road in front of me, was the great Kenneth Williams, a little dapper man in a grey suit and coat, with a scowling grimace. Perhaps his proctological problems were bad. He'd have been 52 then, but looked rather older. He lived near Regents Park, apparently.
I was in the audience at this event. A very interesting evening.
Thank you so much for this.
Great work David. We met many years ago when you auditioned for Henry Lewis. I was known as 'lloyd' then
Great reading; brings the entries to life.
One small correction would be that on 12th April 1969 (as mentioned at
'Suffering is one very long moment. We cannot divide it by seasons. We can only record its moods, and chronicle their return.'' --- Oscar Wilde.