Optional Supplemental/Background Information
The following information gives some contextual information about the play including details about the playwright and the history of the story and the original production. It is intended for you to use as much or as little as interests you and is in no way required for you to be familiar with it in regards to our discussions.
SCOTT’S TAKE
The Riot Club in POSH is loosely based (though I suspect not THAT loosely) on the infamous Bullingdon Club at Oxford University. The club was established in 1780 and members have included royalty, nobility, and politicians (including numerous familiar Prime Ministers). Evelyn Waugh’s first novel, DECLINE AND FALL, thinly disguises the Bullingdon Club as the Bollinger Club and places much of the action of the book amongst its members. Waugh also references the club in BRIDESHEAD REVISITED, which includes the infamous chant: “Buller, buller, buller!” (See Boris Johnson video below.).
There are two considerable challenges when reading POSH versus seeing a production of it. First, in reading it, there’s very little information to distinguish one character from the other and you really have to pay attention to the text to suss out character traits. Also, there is very little action that helps discern the differences between the boys for a reader. All the voices can sound the same which can make it hard to track and hard toIt’s one of those plays that really springs off the page when it is put into motion on stage. The characters become clearly defined, as do relationships.
Second, because of the first challenge, it can be very hard to open up to the humor in the show because they all speak from places of immene privilege. While I don’t know if you’re ever supposed to care about the members of the club, I do think you’re supposed to be able to identify the human struggles in most of them, which you need to make them at all relatable. There is humor in the play, abundant humor, but it can be very tricky to spot just from the written word. Please give the play the benefit of the doubt that there is comedy in it when reading it. That being said, it may be one of the most scathing critiques of the class system ever put on the British stage, and that’s saying something.
To help with the first challenge, I’ve worked up a small crib sheet that may help you track the characters a little easier than just reading from the script. I’ve listed the characters by order of appearance, which tends to help me when remembering who me whom and when. Second, I’ve included their nicknames as that’s how the characters often refer to themselves. Third, I’ve tried to provide at least one simple, broad, distinguishing trait for each character that may help you track them better through the play.
GUY BELLINGFIELD - “Bell-end”: Ambitions to be the next President of the Riot Club and probably not up to the task. A bit overly sensitive.
GEORGE BALFOUR - “Balf”: Self-described tool. Simple of mind and base of heart.
TOBY MAITLAND - “Tubes” or “Tubester”: Ed’s reluctant sponsor. Out of favor for being caught on Youtube bragging about the club still being active after it had been suspended. Morally scrawny and juvenile.
ED MONTGOMERY – One of 2 new recruits to the club, with Miles. Brother was a member. Owns a big teddy bear. Bit of a Chihuahua. And a bore.
HARRY VILLIERS – Fences. Pseudo-charmer in all the shallowest of ways. Known womanizer.
ALISTAIR RYLE – A True Believer: the class system is in place because it works. Feels his rightful greatness is being supressed by the ignorant masses.
HUGO FRASER-TYRWHITT - “Huge”: Gay. Recruited Miles. Possibly attracted to him. A bit of the club historian. Tries to be above it all, but needs the network.
MILES RICHARDS - “Milo” – New recruit to the club. Not convinced this is for him.
DIMITRI MITROPOULOS - “Dims”: Greek. This is a mark against him. Also has Presidential ambitions.
JAMES LEIGHTON-MASTERS – President. In the unenviable position of trying to please the boys,while also “keeping it contained”. A better sense of how the world works in a modern climate than the others and willing to play by the rules in order to advance.
Finally, there is a film version of POSH called THE RIOT CLUB. While it is certainly a kindred spirit to the play, there is such significant restructuring and rearranging of characters and actions that something has shifted tonally that I don’t think quite represents the play accurately.
MEDIA (Video): “When Boris Met Dave” - Docudrama on Boris Johnson, David Cameron, and the Bullingdon Club
When Boris Met Dave from Lazar Marković on Vimeo.
MEDIA (Video): Brief Interview with Boris Johnson regarding past and the Bullingdon Club
GLOSSARY
Gentlemen’s Club - Private social club originally set up by men from Britain's upper classes in the 18th and succeeding centuries. A gentleman's club typically contains a formal dining room, a bar, a library, a billiards room and one or more parlours for reading, gaming or socializing. Many clubs also contain guest rooms and fitness amenities. The Garrick Club would be an example.
Backbencher - A member of parliament or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the "rank and file".
Day School - Educational institution where children and adolescents are given instruction during the day, after which the students return to their homes.
Comprehensive - The name for a school which anyone can go to - regardless of how well they do in exams - and where everybody is taught together. They are usually run by the local education authority - a part of the local council in that area.
Clappers - Very fast or very hard.
Cafe Rouge - Chain of Parisian-inspired restaurants found all over England.
Lords - House of Lords, 2nd chamber of Parliament.
Trailer - Preview of things to come.
Japes - Practical jokes.
Dado rail - Chair rail.
Val d’Isere - Ski resort town in SE France.
Sauternes - French sweet wine.
Division Bell - Bell rung in or around parliament to signal a division (a vote) to members of the relevant chamber so that they may participate. A division bell may also be used to signal the start or end of parliamentary proceedings.
Snug - Small, comfortable public room in a pub or inn.
Fens - Wetlands.
Harrow - Boys boarding school dating to 1572
Stockport - Borough outside Manchester.
Libertine - A person devoid of most moral principles, a sense of responsibility, or sexual restraints, which are seen as unnecessary or undesirable, especially someone who ignores or even spurns accepted morals and forms of behaviour sanctified by the larger society.
Pâté Maison - Simply pâté.
Dauphinoise potatoes - A type of potatoes au gratin.
KMFAO: “Party Rock Anthem”
Assiette - Plate
OUCA - Oxford University Conservative Association
Eton Mess - Traditional English dessert consisting of a mixture of strawberries, meringue, and whipped cream. First mentioned in print in 1893, it is commonly believed to originate from Eton College and is served at the annual cricket match against the pupils of Harrow School.
Bristol - University of Bristol - ranked #62 in the world. Oxford is ranked #2.
Mr. Toad -
One of the main characters in THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS, who has an obsession with driving motorcars.
Biggles -
James Bigglesworth, nicknamed "Biggles", is a fictional pilot and adventurer, the title character and hero of the Biggles series of adventure books, written for young readers.
1962 Triumph Thunderbird - 650cc is the cubic capacity of the bike, a fairly small engine just capable of keeping up on highways.
Space Cruiser
Port Meadow - Large park besides the Thames in Oxford.
Cowes - English seaport town on the Isle of Wight.
Mahiki - London nightclub and bar in Dover Street, just off Piccadilly, near the Ritz Hotel, well known for its celebrity clientele. It is named after the Polynesian path to the underworld.
Edinburgh - Capital of Scotland. 360 miles from Oxford.
Marrakech - City in Morocco.
Burma (Myanmar) - Country in Asia.
Numerical reasoning - Falls under the umbrella of cognitive skills. It is the ability to interpret numeric data. If someone is good at numerical reasoning, you can give them a set of data, and they will be able to accurately analyze it and draw conclusions from this.
Oxfam - Confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty.
Alan Sugar - British business magnate, media personality, author, politician and political adviser. Chairman and part-owner of Tottenham Hotspur from 1991 to 2001, selling his remaining stake in the club in 2007 for £25m. He is also known for being the host and "Boss" for the BBC reality competition series The Apprentice. He also assumed the role for The Celebrity Apprentice Australia.
The Wurzels - An English Scrumpy and Western band from Somerset, England, best known for their number one hit "The Combine Harvester" and number three hit "I Am a Cider Drinker" in 1976.
Sabrage - Opening a champagne bottle with a saber.
Frottage - The practice of touching or rubbing against the clothed body of another person in a crowd as a means of obtaining sexual gratification.
Chateaued - To be extremely drunk whilst retaining a classy demeanor: especially when drinking expensive wine.
Cenaturi Te Salutant - Those who are hungry, salute you.
Gavage - The administration of food or drugs by force, especially to an animal, typically through a tube leading down the throat to the stomach.
Tool - Someone whose ego far exceeds his talent, intelligence, and likeability.
Taramasalata - Greek dip made of fish roe.
Euros - Gyros.
Newcastle College - Equivalent of a community college.
LMH - Lady Margaret Hall, one of 39 colleges at the University of Oxford.
Geordie - refers both to a native of Newcastle upon Tyne and to the speech of the inhabitants of that city.
Newky Brown - Newcastle Brown Ale.
Banbury Toasts - Oxford branch of Toastmasters International, educational organization that teaches public speaking.
Sharking - Circling your prey.
Poussin - Young chicken.
Woodcock - Small shorebird.
Spatchcock - To remove the backbone from tail to neck so that the bird can be opened out flat.
Stoics - Ancient Greek and Roman philosophers.
Blackbird Leys - Parish in Oxford.
Beagling - The hunting mainly of hares and also rabbits by beagles by scent.
Plus fours
Trousers that extend four inches below the knee.
Ketamine - Used by medical practitioners and veterinarians as an anaesthetic. It's sometimes used illegally by people to get high.
Patent - Privilege or license.
Warwickshire - County in the West Midlands, home of Stratford-Upon-Avon.
Zeugma - The use of a word to modify or govern two or more words usually in such a manner that it applies to each in a different sense or makes sense with only one (as in "opened the door and her heart to the homeless boy").
AGM - Annual General Meeting.
Quiet Carriage - The front and rear cars of eight car trains and at the rear of four car trains. Customers using a quiet carriage need to turn mobile phones to silent, move carriages to make a call or have a conversation, and keep the volume of headphones to a level where it can't be heard by others.
Farrow and Ball - British manufacturer of paints and wallpapers largely based upon historic colour palettes and archives. The company is particularly well known for the unusual names of its products.
William of Orange - William III ruled Britain alongside his wife and cousin Queen Mary II, and popular histories usually refer to their reign as that of "William and Mary".
The National Trust - Charity for heritage conservation. The Trust set up the Country Houses Committee to look into ways of preserving country houses and gardens at a time when their owners could no longer afford to maintain them. A country house scheme was set up and the National Trust facilitated the transfer of estates from private owners to the Trust. The scheme allowed owners to escape estate duty on their country house and on the endowment which was necessary for the upkeep of the house, while they and their heirs could continue to live in the property, providing the public were allowed some access.
“Because you’re worth it” - Tagline for L’Oreal. “Since its inception, “Because You’re Worth It” has been translated into 40 languages and has become the militant tagline uniting women around the world, encouraging them to fearlessly embrace their ambitions and believe in their self-worth every day.”
Pooled - Program at Oxford where Colleges within the University system can recruit you even if you didn’t apply to them.
Christ Church - Constituency College in Oxford that has produced 13 Prime Ministers.
Chav quota - Young person characterized by brash and loutish behavior.
Bedfordshire - Play on “bed”.
Malawi - Landlocked country in southeastern Africa.
Brixton - Residential area of south London.
Wykehamists - Current students of Winchester College.
Eitt Pusund Kronur
Syllabub - A sweet dish from Cornish cuisine, made by curdling sweet cream or milk with an acid like wine or cider. It was popular from the 16th to 19th centuries.
“Ninety years since…” - General Strike of 1921. More than 1.5 million transportation and heavy industry workers went on strike in support of coal workers, whose bosses wanted to reduce wages and conditions. In solidarity, people of other industries stayed off work. The Trade Unions Congress called off the strike nine days later. In 1927 the Trades Disputes Act banned sympathy strikes.
Howay the lads - Chant at Newcastle United football matches meaning “come on boys”.
Banbury Rules - Author of The Shepherd of Banbury's Rules to judge of the Weather, John Pointer, graduated Oxford in 1694 where he was champlin until he was removed for sodomy.
Bicester Village - Outlet mall in Oxford.
Slapper - A sexually promiscuous woman who enjoys vigorous copulation.
FSA - Financial Services Authority, lead regulator for banks and insurers run by financiers, not government employees. It failed to keep banks afloat during the 2008 financial crisis and was dissolved in 2012.
Beasting - Hazing.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2005: COLDER THAN HERE, Soho Theatre
2005: BREATHING CORPSES, Royal Court Theatre
2006: OTHER HANDS, Soho Theatre
2005: CATCH, Royal Court Theatre
2010: ALICE, Sheffield Crucible
2010: POSH, Royal Court Theatre
2010: KREUTZER VS KREUTZER, Australian Chamber Orchestra
2015: TIPPING THE VELVET, Lyric Hammersmith
2018: HOME, I’M DARLING, Theatr Clywd
2018: THE WATSONS, Chichester Festival Theatre