Alasdair Gray

1987

Book, 20.8 x 13.6 cm, 141 p., language : English, publisher : Grove Press, Inc., New York (First published in 1985 by Canongate Publishing Ltd., Scotland), ISBN : 0-802-13004-6.
Materials: Ink, paper

Collection: Collection M HKA, Antwerp (Inv. no. B 2027/37).

Literary synopsis

The Fall of Kelvin Walker was adapted from a play of the same name. The play was written in 1964 and produced by BBC television in 1968 and staged in 1972. The work is based on Gray's experiences when he came down from Scotland to London to work on a film called Under the Helmet made by a friend of his for the Huw Weldon television programme Monitor. The film was about Gray's painting and poetry and was made in such a way that the viewer was likely to assume, although this was never stated, that Gray was dead - that he was alive and well being only revealed at the very end. Gray saw how possible it was for someone to create an entirely new life there, casting off their inhibitions and all the social connections you've had through your life that conspire to hold you where you are. The result was the Kelvin Walker play.

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