Teeth 'n' Smiles

Teeth 'n' Smiles is a musical play written by David Hare.

Performances

Directed by the author, the play was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre on 2 September 1975.^[1]

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.

Dramatis Personae and Cast Lists

Character	Description	Played by (1975)	Played by (1976)	Played by (1977)	Played by (1979)	Played by (2002)
Arthur	songwriter	Jack Shepherd	Martin Shaw	Frank Grimes	Robert Lloyd	Scott Handy
Inch	roadie	Karl Howman	Karl Howman	Peter Attard	Tom Bowles	Nicolas Tennant
Laura	p.r.	Cherie Lunghi	Gay Hamilton	Belinda Lang	Gillian Cally	Lucy Briers
Nash	drummer	Rene Augustus	Charlie Grima	Stephen Price	Don Hawkins	Justin Pickett
Wilson	keyboard	Mick Ford	Mick Ford	Kevin Elyot	Ron Emslie	Zubin Varla
Snead	porter	Roger Hume	Roland MacLeod	Noel Collins	Keith Taylor	Robert Calvert
Peyote	bass guitar	Hugh Fraser	Hugh Fraser	David Cardy	Chris Jagger	Keith-Lee Castle
Smegs	lead guitar	Andrew Dickson	Andrew Dickson	Larry Whitehurst	Mervyn Stutter	Lance Burman
Anson	student	Antony Sher	Antony Sher	Peter Whitman	David Bamber	Dominic Charles-Rouse
Maggie	vocals	Helen Mirren	Helen Mirren	Cheryl Kennedy	Linda Marlowe	Amanda Donohoe
Saraffian	manager	Dave King	Dave King	Patrick O'Connell	Maurice Kaufmann	Ivan Kaye
Randolph	star	Heinz	Heinz	Tom Wilkinson	Anthony Head	William Maidwell
Technician	technician	Ian Elliott / David Charkham	David Cross / Kit Thacker	Steve Morley

1975 cast.^[2] 1976 cast.^[3] 1977 cast.^[4] 1979 cast.^[5]

In a 1979 production in the USA, Maggie was played by Ellen Greene.

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.

Music

The songs in the play were written by Nick Bicât (music) and Tony Bicât (lyrics) and were -

• Close To Me
• Passing Through
• Yeah Yeah Yeah
• Bastards
• Let's Have A Party
• Arthur's Song
• Last Orders

^[6]

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.^[7]

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.”^[8]