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Ducks And Drakes (play)
''Ducks and Drakes'' is a 1941 comedy play by the Irish writer Molly Keane. The plot revolves around the wives of three brothers, all living on a farm while their husbands are away due to the war. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Bath before transferring to the West End. It ran for 23 performances at the Apollo Theatre, directed by John Gielgud, with a cast that included Judy Campbell, Ronald Squire, Nora Swinburne, Kathleen Harrison, Mary Jerrold and Lilian Braithwaite Dame Florence Lilian Braithwaite, (9 March 1873 – 17 September 1948), known professionally as Lilian Braithwaite, was an English actress, primarily of the stage, although she appeared in both silent and talkie films. Early life She was born ....Wearing p.55 References Bibliography * Wearing, J.P. ''The London Stage 1940-1949: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel''. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. 1941 plays Plays by Molly Keane West End plays Comedy plays Plays set in England ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Molly Keane
Molly Keane (20 July 1904 – 22 April 1996),Who's Who 1987 Mary Nesta Skrine, and who also wrote as M. J. Farrell, was an Irish novelist and playwright. Early life Keane was born Mary Nesta Skrine in Ryston Cottage, Newbridge, County Kildare. Her mother was a poet who wrote under the pseudonym Moira O'Neill; her father was a fanatic for horses and hunting. She grew up at Ballyrankin House on the side of River Slaney, a few miles south east of Bunclody, County Wexford and refused to go to boarding school in England as her siblings had done. She was educated by her mother, governesses, and at a boarding school in Bray, County Wicklow. Relationships between her and her parents were cold and she states that she had no fun in her life as a child. Her own passion for hunting and horses was born out of her need for fun and enjoyment. Reading did not feature much in her family, and, although her mother wrote poetry, it was of a sentimental nature, "suitable to a woman of her class". ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theatre Royal, Bath
The Theatre Royal in Bath, England, was built in 1805. A Grade II* listed building, it has been described by the Theatres Trust as "One of the most important surviving examples of Georgian theatre architecture". It has a capacity for an audience of around 900. The Theatre Royal was built to replace the Old Orchard Street Theatre, funded by a Tontine and elaborately decorated. The architect was George Dance the Younger, with John Palmer carrying out much of the work. It opened with a performance of Shakespeare's Richard III and hosted performances by many leading actors of the time including Dorothea Jordan, William Macready and Edmund Kean. A major fire in 1862 destroyed the interior of the building and was quickly followed by a rebuilding programme by Charles J. Phipps, which included the construction of the current entrance. Further redecoration was undertaken in 1892; more extensive building work, including a new staircase and the installation of electric lighting, followed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comedy Play
Comedy is a genre of dramatic performance having a light or humorous tone that depicts amusing incidents and in which the characters ultimately triumph over adversity. For ancient Greeks and Romans, a comedy was a stage-play with a happy ending. In the Middle Ages, the term expanded to include narrative poems with happy endings and a lighter tone. In this sense Dante used the term in the title of his poem, the ''Divine Comedy'' (Italian: ''Divina Commedia''). The phenomena connected with laughter and that which provokes it have been carefully investigated by psychologists. The predominating characteristics are incongruity or contrast in the object, and shock or emotional seizure on the part of the subject. It has also been held that the feeling of superiority is an essential factor: thus Thomas Hobbes speaks of laughter as a "sudden glory." Modern investigators have paid much attention to the origin both of laughter and of smiling, as well as the development of the "play insti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West End Theatre
West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes, "West End" in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1195, Along with New York City's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London. Famous screen actors, British and international alike, frequently appear on the London stage. There are a total of 39 theatres in the West End, with the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, opened in May 1663, the oldest theatre in London. The Savoy Theatre – built as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan – was entirely lit by electricity in 1881. Opening in October 2022, @sohoplace is the first new West End theatre in 50 years. The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) announced ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apollo Theatre
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.English Heritage listing accessed 28 April 2007 Designed by the architect Lewin Sharp for owner , it became the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street when it opened its doors on 21 February 1901, with the American '' [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. A member of the Terry family theatrical dynasty, he gained his first paid acting work as a junior member of his cousin Phyllis Neilson-Terry's company in 1922. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art he worked in repertory theatre and in the West End theatre, West End before establishing himself at the Old Vic as an exponent of William Shakespeare, Shakespeare in 1929–31. During the 1930s Gielgud was a stage star in the West End and on Broadway theatre, Broadway, appearing in new works and classics. He began a parallel career as a director, and set up his own company at the Sondheim Theatre, Queen's Theatre, London. He was regarded by many as the finest Prince Hamlet, Hamlet of his era, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judy Campbell
Judy Campbell (born Judith Mary Gamble; 31 May 1916 – 6 June 2004) was an English film, television and stage actress, widely known to be Noël Coward's muse. Her daughter is the actress and singer Jane Birkin, her son the screenwriter and director Andrew Birkin, and among her grandchildren are the actresses Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou Doillon, the late poet Anno Birkin, the artist David Birkin and the late photographer Kate Barry. Early life Campbell was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, on 31 May 1916, daughter of John Arthur Gamble and his wife Mary (née Fulton). She was educated briefly at Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School, then at St Michael's Convent, East Grinstead, Sussex. Both her parents were on the stage; her father was also the author of several plays under his professional name of J.A. Campbell. In Grantham, her family was acquainted with the family of Margaret Roberts, later to become Margaret Thatcher, Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. () Ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ronald Squire
Ronald Launcelot Squire (25 March 1886 – 16 November 1958) was an English character actor. Biography Born in Tiverton, Devon, England, the son of an army officer, Lt.-Col. Frederick Squirl and his Irish-born wife Mary (Ronald's surname 'Squire' was his stage name), he attended Wellington College and started professional life as a journalist, before training at RADA. He spent his early acting career in Liverpool repertory theatre in light comedy roles, before moving on to films. His appearances include ''The Rocking Horse Winner'', ''The Million Pound Note'' and Mike Todd's lavish 1956 version of ''Around the World in 80 Days''. He died 16 November 1958 aged 72, after being taken ill at his home in Great Ormond Street, London. He made numerous appearances in West End plays alongside his film career. These included performances in '' On Approval'', '' The Bread-Winner'', ''All Rights Reserved'', '' Ducks and Drakes'', ''While the Sun Shines'', ''Jane'', '' The Way Things ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nora Swinburne
Leonora Mary Johnson (24 July 1902 – 1 May 2000), known professionally as Nora Swinburne, was an English people, English actress who appeared in many Cinema of the United Kingdom, British films. Early years Swinburne was born in Bath, Somerset, Bath, Somerset, the daughter of Henry Swinburne Johnson and his wife Leonora Tamar (née Brain). She was educated at Rosholme College, Weston-super-Mare, and studied for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. As a member of Clive Currie's Young Players in 1914, she appeared at the Grand, Croydon, Court and Little Theatres, during that year. In 1914, she attended an audition with the ballerina Phyllis Bedells and later Anna Pavlova who considered her too young, even if very talented, for the corps de ballet. Nora instead joined the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, Italia Conti school where she obtained her first real part as a child actress in ''Where the Rainbow Ends''. She performed in the show in London and in all the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kathleen Harrison
Kathleen Harrison (23 February 1892 – 7 December 1995) was a prolific English character actress best remembered for her role as Mrs. Huggett (opposite Jack Warner and Petula Clark) in a trio of British post-war comedies about a working-class family's misadventures, The Huggetts. She later played the charwoman Mrs. Dilber opposite Alastair Sim in the 1951 film '' Scrooge'' (US: ''A Christmas Carol'', 1951) and a Cockney charwoman who inherits a fortune in the television series ''Mrs Thursday'' (1966–67). Life and career Born in Blackburn, Lancashire, Harrison was brought up in London, her father having become borough engineer for Southwark. She was educated at Clapham High School before training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (1914–15). She spent some years living in Argentina and Madeira before making her professional acting debut in the UK in the 1920s. Harrison made her stage debut as Mrs. Judd in ''The Constant Flirt'' at the Pier Theatre, Eastbourne in 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Jerrold
Mary Jerrold (4 December 1877 – 3 March 1955) was an English actress. She was married to actor Hubert Harben, and mother of actress Joan Harben and celebrity chef Philip Harben. She made her London stage debut as Prudence Dering in ''Mary Pennington Spinster'' (1896); and played Martha Brewster for three and a half years in the original West End production of '' Arsenic and Old Lace'', opening in 1942. In 1922, in a stage production of Jane Austen's ''Pride and Prejudice'', Jerrold became one of the oldest actresses cast as Elizabeth Bennet, at age 44. In the play, she acted opposite her husband, cast as Mr. Collins. She appeared in Molly Keane's '' Ducks and Drakes'' in 1941. In 1946 she starred in the West End melodrama '' But for the Grace of God'' by Frederick Lonsdale. In 1951 she played the lead role in Kenneth Horne's comedy '' And This Was Odd'' at the Criterion Theatre. In 1953 she appeared in ''A Day by the Sea'' by N.C. Hunter. Partial filmography * ''Disraeli'' (1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lilian Braithwaite
Dame Florence Lilian Braithwaite, (9 March 1873 – 17 September 1948), known professionally as Lilian Braithwaite, was an English actress, primarily of the stage, although she appeared in both silent and talkie films. Early life She was born in Ramsgate, Kent, the daughter of the Revd John Masterman Braithwaite (1846–1889), then a curate and later vicar of Croydon, and his wife, Elizabeth Jane, daughter of Colonel Thomas Sidney Powell, CB. Educated at Croydon High School, she was the eldest of seven children, having five brothers, two of whom - Colonel Francis Powell Braithwaite and Vice-Admiral Lawrence Walter Braithwaite - served with distinction in the military.Dame Lilian Braithwaite - |
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