On Monday 7 October, Player Playwrights held an appreciation of Peter Vincent, one of our most talented and successful writer members, who died in July.
In a career that stretched back to the 1960s and The Frost Report, Peter wrote for many of the greatest names in British comedy, including Tommy Cooper, Dave Allen and the Two Ronnies.
Despite his great success in writing comedy for television and radio, Peter became an enthusiastic member of PP, providing support, guidance and invaluable advice to many of our writers and building enduring friendships along the way.
His son Bosie, grandsons Ned and Alvie and nephew Richard Banham joined many of Peter’s Player Playwriter friends for an evening that included many personal memories, a lot of laughter and tributes from his family and friends.
There were readings from Peter's work, including some of his best gags, as well as poetry and the first episode of the much loved BBC Radio 4 series, When The Dog Dies, which he co-wrote with Ian Davidson.
Thank you to Mary Conway who did such a good job curating the evening and to the team of the PP actors who brought Peter’s work to life.
If you visit the Player Playwrights Facebook page you can watch a moving speech from Bosie about his father.
The evening included many tributes from Peter's family and many of his old friends, including some who could not make it down to the North London Tavern in person.
Below are the words from Ninaz Khodaiji, who also provided the photos for this page.
NINAZ'S TRIBUTE
I will start by reading out the beginning of one of Peter’s last emails to me:
“I write very short stories these days and rewrite each one about ten times. I don’t mind the work, but the interruptions like next door’s kids coming to collect their ball etc make me annoyed – until I think…Hang on! That’s a story too. Ideas come up when we stop work to wash up or start walking or gardening etc.”
There, in just those three lines, we learn so much about Peter and about writing. His dedication, the continuous hard work he put in and his ability to find inspiration in the smallest, everyday things.
I have been privileged to have Peter as a friend and as a mentor on a couple of pieces that I have developed. He was the most generous mentor that you could hope for – he freely shared his huge experience and wisdom, but always with self-deprecation and humour. He would work hard on anything he committed himself to - I remember him sending over pages of detailed notes at a time when I was switching broadband providers and had lost my internet connection. A few days later, when I was back online, I had another email from him – have you got the notes I sent about your play or is your silence one of horror?
I reread some of those notes recently and found that there was even more to learn – one of his suggestions was to read Dido Queen of Carthage, which I somehow missed, but will do now.
The great thing about Peter is that he always showed up fully. As a mentor when writing a new pilot or play, on most birthdays when he could travel, at my wedding. He even turned up when I attempted stand-up comedy for the first time and he knew who the audience were – I remember him saying to me later “ Your audience does not watch Newsnight. They read the Sun”.
Later, when it was more difficult for him to travel, he wrote wonderful, detailed Christmas cards, which I have kept. In one of them, he wrote that he still kept a notebook with him at all times. I will continue to be encouraged and inspired by the time I had with him.
All I can say is a big thank you to Peter. I hope he realised how much he was valued and appreciated.
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