Teeth 'n' Smiles
Play written by David Hare
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Teeth 'n' Smiles is a musical play written by David Hare. It debuted at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1975 and had four further runs between 1975 and 1979. It was revived in 2002, and then again in 2025 for its 50th anniversary, running from March to June 2026.
| Teeth 'n' Smiles | |
|---|---|
| Written by | David Hare |
| Premiere | |
| Date | 2 September 1975 |
| Place | Royal Court Theatre, London |
Plot
The play is set around the performances of a failing rock band fronted by lead singer Maggie Frisby at the May Ball on the night of 9 June 1969 at Jesus College, Cambridge.[1][2]
Music
The songs in the play were written by Nick Bicât (music) and Tony Bicât (lyrics) and were:[3]
- "Close to Me"
- "Passing Through"
- "Yeah Yeah Yeah"
- "Bastards"
- "Let's Have a Party"
- "Arthur's Song"
- "Last Orders"
Additionally, Rebecca Lucy Taylor wrote a new song for the West End revival (2026) entitled "Maggie's Song"
Productions
Directed by the author, the play was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre on 2 September 1975.[3]
It was subsequently revived in the West End at Wyndhams Theatre in May 1976, then at Oxford Playhouse in October 1977, Nottingham Playhouse in August 1979 and Sheffield's Crucible Theatre in November 2002.
The play was revived at the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End in 2026, with Rebecca Lucy Taylor in the role of Maggie.[4]
Cast lists
| Character | Off-West End[5] | West End[6] | Oxford[7] | Nottingham[8] | Sheffield | West End |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1979 | 2002 | 2026 | |
| Arthur (Songwriter) | Jack Shepherd | Martin Shaw | Frank Grimes | Robert Lloyd | Scott Handy | Michael Fox |
| Inch (Roadie) | Karl Howman | Peter Attard | Tom Bowles | Nicolas Tennant | Noah Weatherby | |
| Laura (Publicist) | Cherie Lunghi | Gay Hamilton | Belinda Lang | Gillian Cally | Lucy Briers | Aysha Kala |
| Nash (Drums) | Rene Augustus | Charlie Grima | Stephen Price | Don Hawkins | Justin Pickett | Bill Caple |
| Wilson (Keyboards) | Mick Ford | Kevin Elyot | Ron Emslie | Zubin Varla | Michael Abubakar | |
| Snead (Porter) | Roger Hume | Roland MacLeod | Noel Collins | Keith Taylor | Robert Calvert | Christopher Patrick Nolan / Matt Ray Brown |
| Peyote (Bass) | Hugh Fraser | David Cardy | Chris Jagger | Keith-Lee Castle | Jojo Macari | |
| Smegs (Guitar) | Andrew Dickson | Larry Whitehurst | Mervyn Stutter | Lance Burman | Samuel Jordan | |
| Anson (Student) | Antony Sher | Peter Whitman | David Bamber | Dominic Charles-Rouse | Roman Asde | |
| Maggie (Singer) | Helen Mirren | Cheryl Kennedy | Linda Marlowe | Amanda Donohoe | Rebecca Lucy Taylor | |
| Saraffian (Manager) | Dave King | Patrick O'Connell | Maurice Kaufmann | Ivan Kaye | Phil Daniels | |
| Randolph (Star) | Heinz | Tom Wilkinson | Anthony Head | William Maidwell | Joseph Evans | |
In a 1979 production in the USA, Maggie was played by Ellen Greene.
Trivia
During the initial run at the Royal Court, Keith Moon turned up drunk at the stage door, joined Helen Mirren in her dressing room and told her how great the show was, and then tried to join the cast on stage before being stopped by the management.[9]
Helen Mirren's interpretation of Maggie was based on Janis Joplin. She said of the role at the time: "I’m very like Maggie in many ways, only she’s much more ballsy and gutsy than me. I endorse most of what Maggie says, in fact in many ways it’s difficult to talk about her because I feel so close to her."[10]
