''A Night Like This'' is a farce by

Ben Travers Ben Travers (12 November 188618 December 1980) was an English writer. His output includes more than 20 plays, 30 screenplays, 5 novels, and 3 volumes of memoirs. He is best remembered for his long-running series of farces first staged in the ...

, written as one of the series of

Aldwych farces The Aldwych farces were a series of twelve stage farces presented at the Aldwych Theatre, London, nearly continuously from 1923 to 1933. All but three of them were written by Ben Travers. They incorporate and develop British low comedy styles, ...

staged nearly continuously at the

Aldwych Theatre The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Aldwych in the City of Westminster, central London. It was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200 on three levels. History Origins The theatre was constructed in th ...

, London, from 1923 to 1933. The farces were directed by

Tom Walls Thomas Kirby Walls (18 February 1883 – 27 November 1949) was an English stage and film actor, producer and director, best known for presenting and co-starring in the Aldwych farces in the 1920s and for starring in and directing the film adapt ...

, who co-starred in most of them with

Ralph Lynn Ralph Clifford Lynn (8 March 1882 – 8 August 1962) was an English actor who had a 60-year career, and is best remembered for playing comedy parts in the Aldwych farces first on stage and then in film. Lynn became an actor at the age of 18 ...

, and a supporting cast of regular Aldwych performers. The play is a spoof of detective plays and thrillers, with the two stars successfully taking on a criminal gang. Eventually, the gang is rounded up, and the jewels taken from the heroine are restored to their proper owner. The piece opened at the Aldwych Theatre on 18 February 1930 and ran until 15 November, a total of 267 performances.

Background

''A Night Like This'' was the seventh in the series of twelve

, and the sixth written by Travers. The first four in the series, '' It Pays to Advertise'', ''

A Cuckoo in the Nest ''A Cuckoo in the Nest'' is a farce by the English playwright Ben Travers. It was first given at the Aldwych Theatre, London, the second in the series of twelve Aldwych farces presented by the actor-manager Tom Walls at the theatre between 1923 ...

'', '' Rookery Nook'' and '' Thark'' had long runs, averaging more than 400 performances each. The next two were more modest successes: '' Plunder'' (1928) ran for 344 performances, and '' A Cup of Kindness'' (1929) for 291. Like its predecessors, the play was produced and directed by

, who co-starred with

, a specialist in playing "silly ass" characters. The regular company of supporting actors included

Robertson Hare John Robertson Hare, OBE (17 December 1891 – 25 January 1979) was an English actor, who came to fame in the Aldwych farces. He is remembered by more recent audiences for his performances as the Archdeacon in the popular BBC sitcom, ''All Ga ...

, who played a figure of put-upon respectability;

Mary Brough Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

in eccentric old lady roles;

Ethel Coleridge Ethel Coleridge (14 January 1883 – 15 August 1976) was an English actress, best known for her roles in the original Aldwych farces in the 1920s and 1930s. Life and career Coleridge was born Ethel Coleridge Tucker in South Molton, Devonshire, ...

as the severe voice of authority;

Winifred Shotter Winifred Florence Shotter (5 November 1904 – 4 April 1996) was an English actress best known for her appearances in the Aldwych farces of the 1920s and early 1930s. Initially a singer and dancer in the ensembles of musical comedies, Shotte ...

as the sprightly young female lead; and the saturnine Gordon James.

Original cast

*Knee – Gordon James *Edgar Pryor – John R Turnbull *Mrs Decent –

*Cora Mellish –

*Aubrey Slot –

Kenneth Kove Kenneth Kove (1892–1984) was a British actor. He was a regular member of the Aldwych farce team between 1923 and 1930, often in "silly-ass" roles; appearing in '' It Pays to Advertise'' (1923), '' Thark'' (1927), '' A Cup of Kindness'' (1929), ...

*Mary Deane – Doreen Bendix *Mrs Knee –

*PC Michael Marsden –

*Amy –

Margot Grahame Margot Grahame (born Margaret Clark; 20 February 1911 – 1 January 1982) was an English actress most noted for starring in '' The Informer'' (1935) and ''The Three Musketeers'' (1935). She started acting in 1930 and made her last screen app ...

*Clifford Tope –

*Miles Tuckett –

*Craggy – Louis Bradfield *Snake Lloyd – Archibald Batty *Cabman – Fred Morgan *Mrs Tuckett –

Norma Varden Norma Varden Shackleton (20 January 1898 – 19 January 1989), known professionally as Norma Varden, was an English-American actress with a long film career. Life and career Early life Born in London, the daughter of a retired sea captain ...

*Detective Inspector Curtis – Philip Carlton"Aldwych Theatre", The Times , 19 February 1930, p. 12

Synopsis

Edgar Pryor runs a shady gambling club with the aid of various henchmen, including Knee, Craggy and Lloyd. Cora Mellish has got into his clutches, and to pay her debts he has taken a valuable necklace from her that she does not own. Her boyfriend, Aubrey – nephew of the real owner of the necklace – is too ineffectual to help, but she gains three champions in the form of Mrs Decent, Clifford Tope and Police Constable Michael Marsden. Marsden is cornered in the gambling den by two of the gang and puts up a strong fight, which he wins with ease when Tope appears through the window armed with a poker and lays out the assailants (see picture above). Marsden and Tope go in pursuit of the rest of the gang. They requisition the only available cab, immobilising the rightful passenger, Miles Tuckett, by separating him from his trousers. Tope and Marsden round up the gang and restore the necklace to its rightful owner, Mrs Tuckett.

Critical reception

The play divided critical opinion. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' thought that "judged by the standard that the Aldwych farces have set for themselves, ''A Night Like This'' is a disappointment. It lacks speed … above all, it lacks verbal neatness and surprise". In ''

The Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'',

Ivor Brown Ivor John Carnegie Brown CBE (25 April 1891 – 22 April 1974) was a British journalist and man of letters. Biography Born in Penang, Malaya, Brown was the younger of two sons of Dr. William Carnegie Brown, a specialist in tropical diseases ...

thought the production "immensely ingenious" with "business of the happiest order". In ''

The Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication i ...

'', J. T. Grein said, "The two comedians have probably never been so amusing as they are in ''A Night Like This.''"

Adaptations

The play was adapted for the cinema in 1932, under the same title. Walls directed, and he, Lynn, Hare, Brough, Shotter and Varden reprised their stage roles."A Night Like This"
British Film Institute, accessed 19 February 2013

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Night Like This, A 1930 plays Aldwych farce Comedy plays Plays by Ben Travers British plays adapted into films