Theatre

See also Playwrights.

Plays (etc.)

Shaw play: takes its title from the opening words of Virgil's Aeneid (in translation!) – Latin: Arma virumque cano		Arms and the Man
Flanders & Swann's famous 1960s comedy revue: included the songs A Transport of Delight, A Gnu, and The Hippopotamus (Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud)		At the Drop of a Hat
Sequel to the above: included the songs The Gasman Cometh and Ill Wind – the latter set to an arrangement of the finale of Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 4 in E♭ Major		At the Drop of Another Hat
Revue that launched the careers of Peter Cooke, Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller and Alan Bennett		Beyond the Fringe
Noël Coward play, first performed in 1941 and filmed in 1945: title is from the first line of Shelley's (Ode) To a Skylark		Blithe Spirit
David Hare's 1998 adaptation of Der Reigen (more usually known in the French translation La Ronde), for which its author Arthur Schnitzler was prosecuted for obscenity following its first performance in 1921 (he hadn't originally intended it to be performed publicly) – see Nicole Kidman		The Blue Room
French farce, written by Marc Camoletti: ran for seven years in the West End (1962–9?) and named by Guinness as the most–performed French play; central character is a bachelor who is engaged to three air hostesses		Boeing–Boeing
Harold Pinter's first major commercial success (1960): set entirely in one room, features just three characters (Aston, Mick and Davies)		The Caretaker
Play by Tennessee Williams: explores the interaction between Maggie Pollitt and the family of her husband Brick – including his father, "the Delta's biggest cotton–planter", known as Big Daddy – over the course of one evening on the family estate in Mississippi		Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
West End production (of a play by Simon Gray) that Stephen Fry walked out of in 1995		Cell Mates
Farce by Brandon Thomas, first performed 21 Dec 1892		Charley's Aunt
1980 play by Mark Medoff, about the relationship between a deaf student and her teacher – Trevor Eve starred as the teacher in the London production		Children of a Lesser God
Arthur Miller's 1953 version of the Salem witch trials of 1692–3: opens with the Reverend Samuel Paris watching over his sick 10–year–old daughter Betty; the strong–willed farmer John Proctor, and Abigail Williams, his wife's maid, are the main protagonist and antagonist		The Crucible
Two–part West End stage play written by Jack Thorne, based on an original new story by Thorne, J. K. Rowling, and John Tiffany; opened summer 2016; the eighth story in the 'Wizarding World universe', set mainly in the year 2021; the story begins in 2017, 19 years after the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and features Harry, now working at the Ministry of Magic, and his younger son Albus Severus Potter; title is Harry Potter and the ...		Cursed Child
1897 play by Edmond Rostand, based on the life of a 17th–century French dramatist, but greatly embellished; the title character feels himself unable to express his love for his distant cousin, the beautiful Roxane, because of his extremely large nose		Cyrano de Bergerac
Arthur Miller, 1949: Willy Loman is the central character (Linda is his wife, Biff and Harold – "Happy" – his sons) of		Death of a Salesman
Christopher Marlowe's best–known play (1593): a well–respected German scholar sells his soul to Lucifer in return for 24 years' service from the devil Mephistophilis, to teach him to perform magic		Doctor Faustus
Written by Ronald Harwood, based on his experiences working for the actor–manager Sir Donald Wolfit (who is not named in the play); first produced 1980; 1983 film version starred Tom Courtenay as Norman (the title character) and Albert Finney as 'sir' (the Wolfit character), both of whom were nominated for Oscars		The Dresser
Play (premiered 1957) by Samuel Beckett: features Hamm, who is blind and cannot stand up; Clov, his servant, who cannot sit down; Nagg and Nell, Hamm's father and mother, who have no legs and live in adjacent dustbins		Endgame
Peter Shaffer, 1973: about a psychiatrist (Martin Dysart) who attempts to treat a young man (Alan Strang) with a pathological fascination with horses. Daniel Radcliffe caused a sensation in 2007 by appearing nude in it on the West End stage		Equus
1938 play by the British dramatist Patrick Hamilton: filmed in 1940 starring Anton Walbrook and Diana Wynyard, remade in 1944 starring Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman; gave its name to a form of psychological manipulation that seeks to sow seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or members of a targeted group, making them question their own memory, perception, and sanity		Gas Light
Written in 1923 (after a night spent stranded at Mangotsfield Station, near Bristol) by Arnold Ridley, who later starred as Private Godfrey in Dad's Army; ran for two years in the West End; filmed at least three times, including a 1941 version starring Arthur Askey; preceded the fairground ride of the same name, which first opened at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in 1930		The Ghost Train
Tennessee Williams's first successful play – premiered in Chicago in 1944: featuring only four characters (Amanda Wingfield, her grown–up children Tom and Laura, and Tom's friend Jim O'Connor) – Tom and Amanda are said to be based on the author and his mother		The Glass Menagerie
The first English tragedy: by Sackville & Norton, first performed 19 Jan 1561		Gorboduc
Play by Alan Bennett, premiered in 2004: set in the fictional Cutlers' Grammar School, Sheffield		The History Boys
Play by Harold Brighouse, set in Salford in 1880 and first performed in New York in 1916: has been compared to Cinderella and King Lear		Hobson's Choice
1951 play by John Van Druten, based on Christopher Isherwood's The Berlin Stories – inspired the musical Cabaret		I am a Camera
A Trivial Comedy for Serious People: subtitle of (Oscar Wilde play)		The Importance of Being Earnest
Play by Marlow: title character is called Barabas		The Jew of Malta
Jimmy Porter is the central character; his wife Alison, Cliff Lewis, Helena Charles and Colonel Redfern (Alison's father) are other characters, in		Look Back in Anger
West End fixture: given the title suggested by Shakespeare's Hamlet as that of a 'play within the play' (which is actually called The Murder of Gonzago)		The Mousetrap
English title of Molière's play L'Avare – first performed in Paris in 1668, and in England in 1672		The Miser
GBS play: actor/producer Arnold Daly tried and acquitted for disorderly conduct (New York, 1905)		Mrs. Warren's Profession
Verse drama by T. S. Eliot, first performed in 1935, about the assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket in 1170		Murder in the Cathedral
Collective title of Alan Ayckbourn's Round and Round the Garden, Living Together and Table Manners (all written in 1973 and first performed in 1974)		The Norman Conquests
Felix Ungar and Oscar Madison are the title characters of		The Odd Couple
Named after a French observation concerning an attractive posterior		Oh! Calcutta
Three–act play by the English dramatist Tom Taylor (first performed in 1858) that Abraham Lincoln was watching when he was assassinated		Our American Cousin
Noel Coward play that includes the line "Very flat, Norfolk"		Private Lives
Play by J. M. Barrie, first produced 1901: gave its name to a popular confectionery brand		Quality Street
Highly–regarded 1959 play by Lorraine Hansberry: about the lives of black Americans living under racial segregation in Chicago		A Raisin in the Sun
Play by Bertolt Brecht, first produced 1958: a satirical allegory of the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany prior to World War II		The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
Play by Howard Brenton, first staged at the National Theatre in 1980: the subject of an unsuccessful prosecution for gross indecency by Mary Whitehouse in 1982		The Romans in Britain
Play by Tennessee Williams: received a 30–minute ovation on its opening night, on Broadway in 1947; main characters are Blanche DuBois, Harold 'Mitch' Mitchell, Stanley Kowalski and Stella Kowalski		A Streetcar Named Desire
Olga, Masha and Irina Prozorov are the title characters of (play by Chekhov)		Three Sisters
Play by Chekhov: portrays the visit of a retired university professor, with his new, young, second wife, Yelena, to the family estate that has supported their lavish urban lifestyle		Uncle Vanya
Ivan Petrovich Voynitsky – the brother of the professor's first wife, who has managed the family estate in the professor's absence – is the title character of
Play by Terence Rattigan, based on a real incident involving George Archer–Shee		The Winslow Boy
London Palladium talent show at which Ernie Wise was discovered		Youth Take a Bow

The Importance of Being Earnest

The central character: lives the life of a libertine called Ernest, while in London; was found in a handbag at Victoria station, and named after the town to which the finder was travelling		John (Jack) Worthing
Jack's ward, for whose benefit he assumes a serious attitude when in the country (pretending that Ernest is his brother)		Cicely Cardew
Jack's best friend, who pretends to be Ernest when he visits Jack in the country, gets engaged to Cicely – and turns out to be Jack's younger brother		Algeron Moncrieff
Cicely's governess – who turns out to be the person who left the baby Jack in the handbag at Victoria station		Miss Prism
The rector at Woolton (location of Jack's country house)		Dr. Chasuble
Algernon's cousin, who eventually gets engaged to Jack despite her aunt's disapproval (although she is dying to meet Ernest)		Gwendolen Fairfax
Gwendolen's formidable aunt, who expressly forbids her engagement after finding out that Jack was found in a handbag as a baby (speaks the famous line "A handbag!")		Lady Bracknell
Algernon's imaginary friend in the country, whom (rather like Jack and Ernest) he pretends to be when he is there		Bunbury
Prepared for Lady Bracknell's visit, but eaten by Algernon before she arrives		Cucumber sandwiches

Plays: Details

Travelling concert party in The Good Companions (J. B. Priestley)		Dinky Doos
Classic German legend, dramatised by Christopher Marlowe in the 1590s and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries		Faust
Name of the butler, in Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan (he has to say "Yes, Milady" quite a lot)		Parker
Mrs. Warren's profession (in the play of that title by George Bernard Shaw) was		Prostitution
Major Barbara (GBS): Barbara Undershaft is a Major in the		Salvation Army

People

The original Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, on Broadway (1956)			Julie Andrews
Artistic Director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in the Round, Scarborough, 1972–2009; all but four of his 73 plays (to date) were premiered there			Alan Ayckbourn
Rescued and rebuilt Sadlers Wells Theatre, Islington (opened 1933); established the Vic–Wells Opera Company, which became English National Opera and the Royal Ballet; managed the Old Vic from 1912 until her death in 1937 (aged 63)			Lilian Bayliss
Created the role of Maggie "the Cat" Pollitt in Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Broadway, 1955) – later starred in Dallas			Barbara Bel Geddes
Breakthrough role, on stage (Broadway, 1947) and on film (1951), was as the rough, working–class Polish–American anti–hero Stanley Kowalski, in Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire			Marlon Brando
Played Hamlet in Broadway's most commercially successful Shakespeare production, 1964. Asked by Olivier, 1962: "Make up your mind – do you want to be an actor or a household name?" Replied "Both"			Richard Burton
The original Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion (1913) – the role said to have been created for her by Shaw			Mrs. Patrick Campbell
Builder of the Savoy Theatre, producer of Gilbert & Sullivan operas there; founder of an eponymous production company			Richard d'Oyly Carte
Scottish singer: with three Top 20 hits behind her, made her stage debut in Willy Russell's Blood Brothers in 1982; later appeared in TV series including Band of Gold			Barbara Dickson
Starred in the original London production of Barnum (1981); created the title role in Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera, in the West End (1986) and on Broadway (1988); starred as the Wizard of Oz in the original West End production of the Lloyd Webber–Rice musical, for its first 12 months (2011–12)			Michael Crawford
Jesus in Godspell (London stage); Che (the narrator) in the original (London) stage production of Evita			David Essex
Chosen to play Maria in Andrew Lloyd Webber's production of The Sound of Music, 2006, in the reality TV programme How do you solve a problem like Maria?			Connie Fisher
Replaced Olivier as Director of the National Theatre in 1973			Peter Hall
Played C. S. Lewis in the stage production of Shadowlands			Nigel Hawthorne
First actor to be knighted; famous for his role in the melodrama The bells			Henry Irving
Created the role of 'Big Daddy' Pollitt in Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Broadway, 1955); also played the role in the 1958 film			Burl Ives
Famous architect (1573–1652) who designed the sets for Ben Johnson's royal masques			Inigo Jones
Dublin–born founder of the Bluebell Girls			Margaret Kelly
Appeared nude (briefly) in the West End and on Broadway, in 1998, in David Hare's The Blue Room – which critic Charles Spencer in the Daily Telegraph famously described as "pure theatrical Viagra"			Nicole Kidman
Director of many vigorous productions at the Theatre Royal, Stratford (London), 1950–75; artistic director of Theatre Workshop, following its move there in 1953			Joan Littlewood
Set up the production company Really Useful Group, in 1977			Andrew Lloyd Webber
Shot to fame understudying Carol Haney in The pyjama game on Broadway			Shirley MacLaine
West End impresario: hits include Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, Mary Poppins, Oliver!, Miss Saigon, Cats; less successful productions include Moby Dick (1993) and Martin Guerre (1996 – relaunched in 1997 after a £500,000 revamp); knighted in 1996			Cameron Mackintosh
Bip (white face, dressed all in white, tall black hat with flower)			Marcel Marceau
Founder of the Mermaid Theatre, London (1959)			Bernard Miles
Artistic director of the RSC, 1968 – ; producer of Nicholas Nickleby and Les Miserables			Trevor Nunn
First Director of the National Theatre (1963–73); the Society of West End Theatre awards were renamed in his honour in 1984 (5 years before his death)			Laurence Olivier
Oscar–winning actor, played the title role in Jeffrey Bernard is unwell on stage			Peter O'Toole
Played Edith Piaf on the London stage, 1993			Elaine Paige
Stage name of Joseph Pujol (1857–1945) – a French Music Hall artiste who farted tunes (the name means "fart maniac")			Le Pétomane
Acted under the name of David Baron in the 1950s			Harold Pinter
Antony and Cleopatra — Stratford, 1953	Antony		Michael Redgrave
	Cleopatra		Peggy Ashcroft
Directed the original production of Look Back in Anger (1956, at the Court Theatre, London); also directed the 1958 film version, starring Richard Burton as Jimmy Porter			Tony Richardson
Produced and starred in the Whitehall farces, 1950–66			Brian Rix
Director of Shakespeare's Vic, from its opening in 1995 to 2005			Mark Rylance
Tony–nominated director and star of Side by side by Sondheim (London and Broadway)			Ned Sherrin
The original Mr Mistoffelees in Cats (West End, 1981)			Wayne Sleep
US actor, became artistic director of London's Old Vic theatre 2004			Kevin Spacey
Russian actor and director, 1863–1938: created a method of acting using "emotional memory", which has become a byword for the technique of producing realistic characterisations			Constantin Stanislavski
Won a Tony in 1948 for the role of Blanche Dubois in Tennessee Williams's play A Streetcar Named Desire, but had to wait another 42 years for an Oscar			Jessica Tandy
Noted for Shakespearean roles opposite Henry Irving and correspondence with George Bernard Shaw			Dame Ellen Terry
St. Joan: role created by G. B. Shaw for			Sybil Thorndike
Male impersonator (1864–1952; born Matilda Alice Powles, became Lady de Frece in 1890 when she married the theatre impresario Sir Walter de Frece): scandalised Queen Mary by wearing trousers at a Royal Variety Performance in 1912			Vesta Tilley
Played King Lear from a wheelchair on Broadway, in 1956, after breaking a bone in one foot and spraining the other ankle			Orson Welles
Appeared with Steve Martin in an acclaimed stage production of Waiting for Godot (late 80s)			Robin Williams
First obtained recognition with American Blues			Tennessee Williams
Broadway impresario – famous for a series of theatrical revues, 1907–31, inspired by the Folies Bergeres of Paris			Florenz Ziegfeld

The Odd Couple (on Broadway, 1965):

Felix Ungar – the neat one		Art Carney
Oscar Madison – the messy one		Walter Matthau
Replaced the above as Oscar after 8 months		Jack Klugman

Characters and Roles

A Streetcar Named Desire (Tennessee Williams): tells the doctor, in the play's most famous line, "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers"		Blanche Dubois
Subject of the play When she danced		Isadora Duncan
Maureen Lipman performed a one–woman show in the 1980s as a tribute to		Joyce Grenfell
"Was this the face that launched a thousand ships?" said (in Marlowe's Dr. Faustus) of		Helen of Troy
Phonetics expert in Pygmalion		Prof. Henry Higgins
Played on the London stage by Jason Donovan, Phillip Schofield, David Day		Joseph
Ross: play by Terence Rattigan, based on the life of		T. E. Lawrence
Character from Sheridan's play The Rivals, noted for mixing up words		Mrs. Malaprop
Insignificance (Terry Johnson): play based on the life of		Marilyn Monroe
Subject of Robert Bolt's play A Man for All Seasons		Sir Thomas More
Irish washerwoman with a strong line in comic abuse, the creation of Music Hall artiste Arthur Lucan		Old Mother Riley
Classical character of the Italian commedia dell'arte (17th century), on whom Mr. Punch was based – named after his long nose		Pulcinella
Third–rate music hall artiste in John Osborne's The Entertainer – played on stage and film by Laurence Olivier		Archie Rice
Panto character named after a variety of tea popular in 19th Century Britain		Widow Twankey

Theatrical Terms and Expressions

Traditional words of encouragement to an actor going on stage – it being considered bad luck to say "Good luck". Often said to originate with John Wilkes Booth, assassin of Abraham Lincoln, who was a well–known actor; but the phrase is not recorded in English until at least 50 years after the assassination, and there are similar phrases in other languages that long predate Booth		"Break a leg"
Male role played by a female actor (actress)		Breeches role
Name used in "the profession" for when actors burst into uncontrollable fits of giggling (also used in broadcasting)		Corpsing
Room where cast members rest when not required on stage (also in a TV studio)		Green room
Japanese townsmen's theatre, 18th & 19th centuries, still popular		Kabuki
A formerly patented brand of theatrical blood – now used generically – named after the street that links the Royal Albert Hall and Kensington Gardens (including the Albert Memorial)		Kensington Gore
Term coined to describe the British cultural movement of the mid–to–late 1950s, typically depicting working class youth in domestic situations: "angry young men". Authors included John Osborne, Arnold Wesker, Alan Sillitoe, Shelagh Delaney		Kitchen sink realism
Traditional Japanese theatre form: developed in the 14th century, said to be the oldest form of theatre still being performed regularly; its name is a Sino–Japanese word for 'skill' or 'talent'		Noh (or Nogaku)
Speech introducing a play		Prologue
The arch that separates the stage from the auditorium		Proscenium
Traditional form used when referring to Macbeth – it being considered bad luck to name it out loud		The Scottish Play
Speech where a character expresses his or her thoughts aloud, without addressing any other character		Soliloquy
Scruto		Trapdoor
Music Hall in the USA		Vaudeville
Passageway under a bank of seating, allowing the audience to "spew out" at the end of a performance (contrary to some claims, not the name of an area set aside in ancient Rome for actual vomiting)		Vomitorium

Theatres, etc.

London home of the RSC, before the Barbican Centre was built		Aldwych Theatre
Theatre where The Mousetrap opened in 1952 (see St. Martin's)		Ambassadors
1959: London's first new theatre for 200 years		Mermaid
Lyttelton Theatre, Cottesloe Theatre, Olivier Theatre		National Theatre
London theatre with the same name as the element with atomic number 46 (originally, in ancient Greece and Rome, an image on which the safety of a city was said to depend)		Palladium
London Open Air Theatre, founded 1933		Queen Mary's Gardens, Regent's Park
Theatre that The Mousetrap moved to in 1974 (from the Ambassadors)		St. Martin's
London theatre, built 1881 by Richard D'Oyly Carte to stage the works of Gilbert & Sullivan, which came to be named after it; first in the world to be lit by electricity		Savoy

The Aldwych Farces

The Aldwych Farces were a series of twelve plays that ran at the Aldwych Theatre, in London's West End, from 1923 to 1933. They were presented by the actor–manager Tom Walls, who also starred in them along with Ralph Lynn. Nine of them were written by Ben Travers.

The first play ran for over two years (February 1923 to July 1925) and had 598 performances. The next three ran for approximately one year each, changing in mid–summer; thereafter the changes were more frequent.

Years	Author(s)		Title
1923–5	Roi Cooper Megrue, Walter Hackett		It Pays to Advertise
1925–6	Ben Travers		A Cuckoo in the Nest
1926–7	Ben Travers		Rookery Nook
1927–8	Ben Travers		Thark
1928–9	Ben Travers		Plunder
1929–30	Ben Travers		A Cup of Kindness
1930	Ben Travers		A Night Like This
1930–1	George Arthurs, Arthur Miller		Marry the Girl
1931–2	Ben Travers		Turkey Time
1932	Ben Travers		Dirty Work
1932–3	H. F. Maltby		Fifty–Fifty
1933	Ben Travers		A Bit of a Test

The Whitehall Farces

Continuing in the tradition of the Aldwych Farces, the five Whitehall Farces ran at the Whitehall Theatre, in London's West End, from 1950 to 1966. They were presented by the actor–manager Brian Rix.

Other actors who appeared in the Whitehall Farces included Terry Scott, Andrew Sachs and Leo Franklyn, as well as Brian Rix's wife, Elspet Gray, and his sister, Sheila Mercier (best known today for playing Annie Sugden in Emmerdale Farm, for more than twenty years from its first episode in 1972).

The first Whitehall Farce ran for almost four years, from 12 September 1950 to 24 July 1954, and had 1610 performances. The fifth ran for less than two years and had approximately 765 performances.

Years	Author(s)		Title
1950–54	Colin Morris		Reluctant Heroes
1954–58	John Chapman		Dry Rot
1958–61	John Chapman		Simple Spymen
1961–64	Ray Cooney, Tony Hilton		One for the Pot
1964–66	Ray Cooney		Chase Me, Comrade

Other

The Mousetrap began its record–breaking West End run in			1952
Dance troupe at the Folies Bergere, Paris, founded by Dublin–born Margaret Kelly			Bluebell Girls
Caryll and Mundy, Eddie Gray, Nervo and Knox, Flanagan and Allen			The Crazy Gang
Eddie Rivers (USA), Royal Cremorne Music Hall, London 1871: the first			Human cannonball
Senior officer of the British royal household, effectively responsible for theatre censorship from 1737 (from 1843, specifically where it was necessary "for the preservation of good manners, decorum or of the public peace"); these powers were abolished in 1968			Lord Chamberlain
Acting company that Shakespeare belonged to			Lord Chamberlain's Men
Hetty King, Vesta Tilley			Male impersonators
Setting of Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire (US city)			New Orleans
Best Comedy award on the Edinburgh Fringe (sponsorship replaced 2005 by Scottish bank Intelligent Finance – renamed the if.com award)			Perrier
Series of comedy revues in aid of Amnesty International, featuring members of the Monty Python team, Peter Cook and Rowan Atkinson, amongst others: became known by the title of the third event (1979); the first two were A Poke in the Eye (1976) and The Mermaid Frolics (1977)			The Secret Policeman's Ball
Annual awards presented by the American Theatre Wing and the Broadway League, for Broadway productions and performances (with other discretionary awards for non–Broadway)			Tonys
The American actress and director Antoinette Perry (1888–1946) is best remembered in the name of the

© Haydn Thompson 2017–23