Swinging London in 1967
Move Over Mrs Markham was written and first performed in 1967.
Philip Larkin wrote: Sexual intercourse began / In nineteen sixty-three
(which was rather late for me) – / Between the end of the Chatterley
ban / And the Beatles' first LP.
So by 1967, you would imagine London to have been a hotbed of adultery and naughtiness. And for some daring souls no doubt it was. For
others it was something to read about in the Daily Mail and titter about in
plays such as this. Joanna wants to be “with it”, but in reality is still firmly
living in the innocent world of the 1950s. Philip doesn’t even aspire to be
fashionable. Henry, Alistair, Walter and Miss Wilkinson however, have
thoroughly embraced modern attitudes, providing us with some highly
comic clashes of culture.
1967 was a wonderful year. England was still basking in the afterglow of
that World Cup final. Radio 1 was launched. And if you tuned in