Epitaph for George Dillon
Subtitle: a play in three acts
By: by John Osborne and Anthony Creighton
Contributors: Creighton, Anthony, joint author
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Published: 1958
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 94
Description: This is an early John Osborne play, one of two plays that he wrote in collaboration with Anthony Creighton. In this play, George Dillon is a dedicated but jobless actor, an ambitious and serious playwright. But as the months go by and no parts are offered, his manuscripts returned, his life becomes a nightmare of anonymity, petty debt, and enforced idleness. When he goes to live with the Elliot family, the nightmare changes but does not lift. Eventually, George Dillon forges his "success". Yet, his epitaph is a judgment on all of us: "He never allowed himself one day of peace. He made no one happy. He loved no one successfully. And, in the end, it doesn't really matter."