Guest Blog: Hugh Ross On Finding JB Priestley's THE ROUNDABOUT

My father, Gordon Ross, was a polymath: a doctor who, unconventionally in the 1930s, after he had qualified, also practised homeopathy. In his free time, he loved to paint, read, and write rather good poetry and some very bad plays. He had a vast collection of books that I inherited, including a collection, Four in Hand, by JB Priestley, whom he much admired, published in 1954.

Tucked away within this volume, browsing one day, I stumbled on The Roundabout. I read it with great curiosity, and was struck at once by its high comedy, overlaid subtly with Priestley's passionate socialist ideals. I was puzzled why I had never heard of it, and why it had so rarely been performed.

Online, I found a review from The Specator (1935), which praised the play for its being "remarkably good entertainment" and "extremely witty." Apart from its initial try-out in Liverpool, no other productions are recorded.

However, a little further research revealed that Priestley had written the play for Peggy Ashcroft, with whom he was having an affair. She never performed it. Perhaps the relationship had ended, and The Roundabout had become a reminder of an awkward interlude in Priestley's domestic life? Who knows?

I told my friend Jez Bond, of London's exciting Park Theatre, about it, and he suggested we arrange a reading as soon as we could. So some 18 months ago, I assembled a very smart and enthusiastic cast, who read it brilliantly for some friends and interested parties, and to our great delight, it simply flew off the page.

Jez then challenged me to get the rights and find a producer, after which he would programme The Roundabout for me to direct. The Priestley estate responded positively, and the indefatigable Denise Silvey of Cahoots Theatre Company came on board. With my own company, The Other Cheek Limited, set up, we were ready to go.

I've directed sporadically over the years, but this would be a really major challenge. In a long and varied career as an actor, I have worked with some very fine directors, and some not so fine ones too, so I had a very clear vision of how I would approach the work. I am a great believer in the writer's paramount importance.

Denise and I set to work. Finding investors is not an easy task, but we were helped by a very generous donation from an old school friend of mine to get us off the ground. Then we began the casting. This was a lengthy business, fascinating and occasionally frustrating, but in the end we've assembled a terrific company, a brilliant production team, and a very harmonious working environment.

Putting the play together on Monday, very roughly, with a week's rehearsal still to go, I was astonished all over again at the brilliance of Priestley's writing, and its still extraordinary topicality. Hopefully our audiences will be too.

The Roundabout is at Park Theatre 24 August-24 September

Rehearsal photograph by Robert Workman

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