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As part of the Brighton Fringe, Fellow Traveller presented a Literary Salon at the Sussex County cricket ground on Friday 30 May 2014 that explored the classic Brighton crime novel 鈥�The West Pier鈥� by Patrick Hamilton.

The evening kicked off with a discussion chaired by crime writer Laura Wilson with Nigel Jones - Patrick Hamilton's biographer, and Fred Gray about the novel "The West Pier", Patrick Hamilton, and the history and lure of the pier.

The discussion covered very similar territory to the 2012 discussion that was part of Cinecity's Hangover Square event at the University of Brighton. That said it was still very interesting and enjoyable, and focussing on the West Pier made it slightly different.



After an interval, we saw the opening 40 minutes or so of the new stage version of "The West Pier" by Matt Thompson which was very good. Matt and his small team of talented actors have done a brilliant job of bringing the novel to life. Callum Cameron was suitably sinister and machiavellian as Gorse, and Abbiegale Duncan was a credibly guileless Esther Downes. I look forward to seeing the whole thing which, based on what I saw, should be well worth watching.

^ There's a review of this event in the Brighton Argus.



Although it was interesting to see the writer鈥檚 characters come to life on stage in Fellow Traveller Theatre Company鈥檚 adaptation of Patrick Hamilton鈥檚 The West Pier, it was the introductory debate which stayed in the mind.

Chair Laura Wilson drew on Hamilton鈥檚 biographer Nigel Jones and city historian Fred Gray to create a fascinating picture of both the author and Brighton in the inter-war period. Perhaps most interesting was Jones鈥檚 assertion that Hamilton himself provided 60% of his great anti-hero Ernest Ralph Gorse.

On stage, Callum Cameron perfectly inhabited Gorse, providing both his outward slickness and expressing his ugly intentions with just a single lip curl. Similarly, Abbiegale Duncan was an assured Esther Downes, looking for excitement and escape from her upbringing. Ruth McMeel almost outshone them both, drawing comedy out of every word and move-ment of Esther鈥檚 plain friend Gertrude Perks.

Director Lisa Peck used the windows looking out over the cricket pitch to create brilliant tableaux but sadly, with the piece being staged in the round, half the audience were unable to see them.

Matt Thompson鈥檚 script stuck closely to the novel, underlining Hamilton鈥檚 skill in dialogue. But extensive use of narration slowed down the action, when it might have been better to slip Esther鈥檚 lowly origins into her awkward discussions with Gorse.

By Duncan Hall

Review here:

^ And here's another article by Duncan Hall written before the production.



DESCRIBED by Graham Greene as 鈥渢he best book written about Brighton鈥�, The West Pier isn鈥檛 just a splendid evocation of the city between the wars.

It also provides the introduction to Patrick Hamilton鈥檚 last great character 鈥� the psychopathic swindler Ralph Ernest Gorse 鈥� as he embarks on a criminal lifestyle by swindling the unsuspecting beauty Esther Downes.

Now playwright, actor and producer Matt Thompson from Brighton-based Fellow Traveller Theatre Company is organising an evening dedicated to the novel, combining a literary discussion with an extended extract from his forthcoming stage version.

鈥淲hile I was doing a very long tour I took The Gorse Trilogy with me as a reminder of home,鈥� says Thompson. 鈥淚 was living a very Hamilton existence in anonymous hotel rooms reading his books.鈥�

Gorse is schooled in Hove, and carries out an assault on a young girl underneath the stands at Sussex County Cricket Club 鈥� the venue where the schoolboys later drill during the First World War.

The club also had a significance for the ten-year-old Hamilton, who was watching a cricket match on the day the First World War was declared, a moment recreated in the book.

鈥淎 marching band walked on to the ground and interrupted the match,鈥� says Thompson. 鈥淗amilton regarded it as a metaphor for lost innocence in childhood. It鈥檚 really special that we are there.鈥�

The majority of the action in the novel comes from a holiday the grown-up Gorse takes in Brighton with two former schoolfriends. The trio pick up Downes and her plain friend Gertrude Perks on the titular pier in the hope of 鈥済etting off鈥� with the girls.

Although the attractive Downes seems more interested in his good-lucking chum Peter Ryan, Gorse decides he wants her as a whim. He launches a plot to steal her and her money away from Ryan, using poison pen letters, a borrowed car and the glamorous cocktail bar of the Brighton Metropole.

鈥淔or Gorse it鈥檚 about finding out the extent of his own power,鈥� says Thompson. 鈥淗e鈥檚 not really interested in Esther at all, and her money is insignificant to him.

鈥淚t鈥檚 about whether he can do it or not 鈥� it鈥檚 a testing ground and a key moment to his becoming a psychopath.鈥�

Future books in the trilogy see Gorse move outside of Sussex to exercise his skills on an unsuspecting widow in Mr Stimpson And Mr Gorse and a ditzy barmaid in Unknown Assailant.

Thompson believes ill-health prevented Hamilton from taking the character as far as he had initially envisaged 鈥� with all three novels hinting at murders and depravation to come in Gorse鈥檚 life.

鈥淗amilton was very interested in the case of Neville Heath who was hanged for murdering and raping a couple of women in 1947,鈥� says Thompson.

鈥淗e had masqueraded as an RAF veteran and charmed people out of their money. He progressed in the way Gorse progresses in the books [Gorse pretends to have fought in the First World War despite his young age].

鈥淭he original intention was that it would end up in murder, but Hamilton鈥檚 health failed him.鈥�

The evening is set to be divided between a literary discussion between crime writer Laura Wilson, Hamilton鈥檚 biographer Nigel Jones and historian Fred Gray, a jazz performance by Edana Minghella, and a performance of the first five scenes from Thompson鈥檚 adaptation of the story.

鈥淔or us it is a showcase to start building an audience for the play,鈥� says Thompson.

鈥淭he story was the basis for The Charmer starring Nigel Havers in the 1980s, and there was a version staged as part of the Brighton Festival, although I couldn鈥檛 find a written copy of it anywhere.鈥�

Fellow Traveller has launched a crowd-funding campaign on zequs.com to help stage the finished play.

鈥淲e want to do something for Brighton, but also create a touring version,鈥� says Thompson, who has set all the action in a bar.

鈥淲e want to make it an immersive experience. It鈥檚 about finding the right space and the right time to do it.

鈥淧eople are fascinated by villains. Gorse finds Esther鈥檚 weaknesses slowly, carefully and subtly 鈥� which really lends itself to an intimate staging.鈥�

By Duncan Hall

And this is the Facebook page for The West Pier....