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Marda Vanne
Marda "Scrappy" Vanne (born Margaretha van Hulsteyn;One source, a close friend, spells her name "Margueretha". 27 September 1896 – 27 April 1970) was a South African actress who found fame in London. Early life Margaretha was born in Pretoria, South African Republic to Sir Willem and Lady van Hulsteyn. Willem was born in The Netherlands in 1865 and emigrated to South Africa at the age of fifteen. He became a leading lawyer in Johannesburg and later a member of the South African Parliament for many years. During the South African War, he became an advisor to Lord Milner, the Governor of the Cape Colony, and was knighted by King Edward VII in 1902. She was briefly married to politician Johannes Gerhardus "Hans" Strijdom, but the couple divorced within a year. Strijdom later went on to serve as Prime Minister of South Africa from 1954-58. In 1914, Vanne met Isaac Rosenberg in Cape Town, who was on a visit to South Africa. He took a shine to her and drew a charcoal sketch of her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isaac Rosenberg
Isaac Rosenberg (25 November 1890 – 1 April 1918) was an English poet and artist. His ''Poems from the Trenches'' are recognized as some of the most outstanding poetry written during the First World War. Early life Isaac Rosenberg was born in Bristol, the second of six children and the eldest son (his twin brother died at birth) of his parents, Barnett (formerly Dovber) and Hacha Rosenberg, who were Lithuanian Jewish immigrants to Britain from Dvinsk (now in Latvia). In 1897, the family moved to Stepney, a poor district of the East End of London, and one with a large Jewish community. Isaac Rosenberg attended St. Paul's Primary School at Wellclose Square, St George in the East parish. Later, he went to the Baker Street Board School in Stepney, which had a strong Jewish presence.Vivien Noakes (Editor.Isaac Rosenberg Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. See: Chronological Summary of Isaac Rozenberg's Life, pp. XXYII – XXXYI. During discussions of immigration issues in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central School Of Speech And Drama
The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a constituent college of the University of London in 2005 and is a member of Conservatoires UK and the Federation of Drama Schools. Courses The school offers undergraduate, postgraduate, research degrees and short courses in acting, actor training, applied theatre, theatre crafts and making, design, drama therapy, movement, musical theatre, performance, producing, research, scenography, stage management, teacher training, technical arts, voice and writing. History In 2006, the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art was absorbed into Central. On 29 November 2012, the 'Royal' title was bestowed on the school by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of its reputation as a "world-class institution for exceptional professional training in theatr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blithe Spirit (play)
''Blithe Spirit'' is a comic play by Noël Coward, described by the author as "an improbable farce in three acts". The play concerns the socialite and novelist Charles Condomine, who invites the eccentric Mediumship, medium and clairvoyant Madame Arcati to his house to conduct a séance, hoping to gather material for his next book. The scheme backfires when he is haunted by the ghost of his wilful and temperamental first wife, Elvira, after the séance. Elvira makes continual attempts to disrupt Charles's marriage to his second wife, Ruth, who cannot see or hear the ghost. The play was first seen in the West End theatre, West End in 1941 and ran for 1,997 performances, a new record for a non-musical play in London. It also did well on Broadway theatre, Broadway later that year, running for 657 performances. The play was Blithe Spirit (1945 film), adapted for the cinema in 1945; a Blithe Spirit (2020 film), second film version followed in 2020. Coward directed a musical theatre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several successful novels and plays. There he met the Llewelyn Davies boys, who inspired him to write about a baby boy who has magical adventures in Kensington Gardens (first included in Barrie's 1902 adult novel ''The Little White Bird''), then to write ''Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'', a 1904 West End "fairy play" about an ageless boy and an ordinary girl named Wendy who have adventures in the fantasy setting of Neverland. Although he continued to write successfully, ''Peter Pan'' overshadowed his other work, and is credited with popularising the name Wendy. Barrie unofficially adopted the Davies boys following the deaths of their parents. Barrie was made a baronet by George V on 14 June 1913, and a member of the Order of Merit in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck. Viola (who is disguised as Cesario) falls in love with the Duke Orsino, who in turn is in love with Countess Olivia. Upon meeting Viola, Countess Olivia falls in love with her thinking she is a man. The play expanded on the musical interludes and riotous disorder expected of the occasion, with plot elements drawn from the short story "Of Apollonius and Silla" by Barnabe Rich, based on a story by Matteo Bandello. The first recorded public performance was on 2 February 1602, at Candlemas, the formal end of Christmastide in the year's calendar. The play was not published until its inclusion in the 1623 First Folio. Characters * Viola – a shipwrecked young woman who disguises herself a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies
Dame Gwen Lucy Ffrangcon-Davies, (25 January 1891 – 27 January 1992) was a British actress and centenarian. Early life She was born in London of a Welsh family; the name "Ffrangcon" is said to originate from a valley in Snowdonia. Her parents were opera baritone David Ffrangcon-Davies (né David Thomas Davies) and Annie Francis Rayner. Career Ffrangcon-Davies made her stage debut in 1911, as a singer as well as an actress, and received encouragement in her career from Ellen Terry. In 1924, she played Juliet opposite John Gielgud as Romeo, and Gielgud was grateful to her for the rest of his life for the kindness she showed him, casting her as Queen Anne in ''Richard of Bordeaux'' in 1934. In 1925, Ffrangcon-Davies played Tess in a stage version of '' Tess of the d'Urbervilles'', including a special presentation for its author, Thomas Hardy. In 1938, Ffrangcon-Davies appeared with Ivor Novello in a production of ''Henry V'' at Drury Lane. Later the same year, she appeared ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decline and Fall'' (1928) and ''A Handful of Dust'' (1934), the novel ''Brideshead Revisited'' (1945), and the Second World War trilogy ''Sword of Honour'' (1952–1961). He is recognised as one of the great prose stylists of the English language in the 20th century. Waugh was the son of a publisher, educated at Lancing College and then at Hertford College, Oxford. He worked briefly as a schoolmaster before he became a full-time writer. As a young man, he acquired many fashionable and aristocratic friends and developed a taste for country house society. He travelled extensively in the 1930s, often as a special newspaper correspondent; he reported from Ethiopian Empire, Abyssinia at the time of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, 1935 Italian invasi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alec Waugh
Alexander Raban Waugh (8 July 1898 – 3 September 1981) was a British novelist, the elder brother of the better-known Evelyn Waugh, uncle of Auberon Waugh and son of Arthur Waugh, author, literary critic, and publisher. His first wife was Barbara Jacobs (daughter of the writer William Wymark Jacobs), his second wife was Joan Chirnside and his third wife was Virginia Sorenson, author of the Newbery Medal–winning ''Miracles on Maple Hill''. Biography Waugh was born in London to Arthur Waugh and Catherine Charlotte Raban, a great-granddaughter of Lord Cockburn (1779–1854), and educated at Sherborne School, a public school in Dorset. The result of his experiences was his first, semi-autobiographical novel, ''The Loom of Youth'' (1917), in which he dramatised his schooldays. The book was inspired by Arnold Lunn's ''The Harrovians'', published in 1913 and discussed at some length in ''The Loom of Youth.'' ''The Loom of Youth'' was so controversial at the time (it mentioned ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monckton Hoffe
Monckton Hoffe (1880–1951) was an Irish playwright and screenwriter. Early life On 26 December 1880, Hoffe was born in Connemara, Ireland. His full name was Reaney Monckton Hoffe-Miles. Career Hoffe was known for his romantic comedies and was well known in commercial theatre in London in the 1920s. He wrote more than 20 plays. He was initially an actor who wrote his first play, '' The Lady Who Dwelt in the Dark,'' in 1903. He became more widely known with '' The Little Damozel'' in 1909 in which Charles Hawtrey appeared. He wrote for films and broadcasting, and continued to act on stage and in films intermittently throughout his life. Hoffe was married to Barbara Conrad but the marriage was dissolved in 1923. He died on 4 November 1951 in London. Selected plays *'' The Lady Who Dwelt in the Dark'' (1903) *'' The Little Damozel'' (1909) *'' The Faithful Heart'' (1921) *'' Pomp and Circumstance'' (1922) *'' Hate Ship'' *'' The Flame of Love'' *'' The Crooked Friday'' ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Many Waters (play)
Many Waters is a play by the Irish writer Monckton Hoffe. It was first performed in 1926 under the title ''The Unnamed Play'' lasting for one performance at the Stand Theatre in London. Revised and under its new title it enjoyed a much longer West End run at the Ambassadors Theatre, lasting for 313 performances between 18 July 1928 and 20 April 1929. The 1928 cast included Nicholas Hannen, Marda Vanne, Milton Rosmer, Reginald Denham, Aubrey Dexter and Robert Douglas in his West End debut. The title is from the expression "Many waters cannot quench love". Film version In 1931 it was made into a British film of the same title directed by Milton Rosmer and starring Lillian Hall-Davis, Arthur Margetson and Elizabeth Allan Elizabeth Allan (9 April 1910 – 27 July 1990) was an English stage and film actress who worked in both Britain and Hollywood, where she appeared in 50 films. Life and career Allan was born in Skegness, Lincolnshire in 1910 and educated in ....Goble p. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Easy Virtue (play)
''Easy Virtue'' is a three-act play by Noël Coward, written in 1924 when he was 25 years old. The play depicts the conflict that arises within a conventional upper-middle-class household when the only son of the family marries a glamorous divorcée. The play had a successful first run in New York in 1925 and then opened in London in 1926. It has been revived several times since and made into a film twice – in Easy Virtue (1928 film), 1928 and Easy Virtue (2008 film), 2008. Background ''Easy Virtue'' was produced at a time when Coward was riding a wave of success. ''The Vortex'' (1924) had been a controversial sensation on both sides of the Atlantic with its portrayal of recreational drug taking and veiled references to homosexuality; his comedy ''Hay Fever (play), Hay Fever'' (1925) achieved box-office success in the West End theatre, West End. In his autobiography, ''Present Indicative'', Coward said that his object in writing the play was to present a comedy in the structu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise"."Noel Coward at 70" ''Time'', 26 December 1969, p. 46 Coward attended a dance academy in London as a child, making his professional stage début at the age of eleven. As a teenager he was introduced into the high society in which most of his plays would be set. Coward achieved enduring success as a playwright, publishing more than 50 plays from his teens onwards. Many of his works, such as '' |
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