''Fallen Angels'' is a comedy by the English playwright
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 ...
. It opened at the
Globe Theatre
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and gra ...
, London (now called the Gielgud Theatre) on 21 April 1925 and ran until 29 August. The central theme of two wives admitting to premarital sex and contemplating adultery met hostility from the office of the official theatre censor, the
Lord Chamberlain
The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main cha ...
, and the necessary licence was granted only after the personal intervention of the Chamberlain.
Background
In 1924 Coward achieved his first hit as a playwright with ''
The Vortex
''The Vortex'' is a play in three acts by the English writer and actor Noël Coward. The play depicts the sexual vanity of a rich, ageing beauty, her troubled relationship with her adult son, and drug abuse in British society circles after the ...
'', and consolidated his success in March 1925 with the
revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own duri ...
''
On with the Dance''. His comedy ''Fallen Angels'' had already attracted the interest of
Gladys Cooper
Dame Gladys Constance Cooper, (18 December 1888 – 17 November 1971) was an English actress, theatrical manager and producer, whose career spanned seven decades on stage, in films and on television.
Beginning as a teenager in Edwardian musi ...
, who wanted to produce the piece and co-star with
Madge Titheradge
Madge Titheradge (2 July 1887 14 November 1961) was an Australian-born actress who became a leading actress in the West End of London and on Broadway.
She began as a child actress before the First World War, and went on to star in the 1920s and ...
, but the contractual commitments of the two actresses precluded it.
[ It was not until the success of ''The Vortex'' that other managements became eager to stage the playwright's existing works, which, as well as ''Fallen Angels'', included '']Hay Fever
Allergic rhinitis, of which the seasonal type is called hay fever, is a type of inflammation in the nose that occurs when the immune system overreacts to allergens in the air. Signs and symptoms include a runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, red, i ...
'' and '' Easy Virtue''.
''Fallen Angels'' was taken up by Marie Lohr
Marie may refer to:
People Name
* Marie (given name)
* Marie (Japanese given name)
* Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973
* Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in Tro ...
and her husband Anthony Prinsep, who were jointly in management at the Globe Theatre
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and gra ...
in Shaftesbury Avenue
Shaftesbury Avenue is a major road in the West End of London, named after The 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. It runs north-easterly from Piccadilly Circus to New Oxford Street, crossing Charing Cross Road at Cambridge Circus. From Piccadilly Cir ...
.[Castle, p. 75] They intended it as a vehicle for Margaret Bannerman
Margaret Bannerman (born Marguerite Grand; December 15, 1896 – June 14, 1976) was a Canadian actress. She is known for her work in the English films '' The Gay Lord Quex'', '' Lady Audley's Secret'' and '' Hindle Wakes''. She had a successful c ...
, a popular West End star. There was initially some difficulty in obtaining a licence from the theatre censor, the Lord Chamberlain
The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main cha ...
, whose approval was required for any public theatrical presentation. An official in the Lord Chamberlain's office recommended that a licence should be refused on the grounds that the loose morals of the two main female characters "would cause too great a scandal".[Hoare, p. 145] The Lord Chamberlain (Lord Cromer
Earl of Cromer is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, held by members of the Baring family, of German descent. It was created for Evelyn Baring, 1st Viscount Cromer, long time British Consul-General in Egypt. He had already been cr ...
) overruled his subordinate: "I take the view that the whole thing is so much unreal farcical comedy, that subject to a few modifications in the dialogue it can pass."[
Four days before the first night Bannerman was taken ill, and ]Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Lif ...
was brought in as a last-minute substitute. The play, directed by Stanley Bell, opened at the Globe on 21 April 1925 and ran for 158 performances, until 29 August.["Globe Theatre", ''The Times'', 22 April 1925, p. 12]
Original cast
: Julia Sterroll – Tallulah Bankhead
: Frederick Sterroll – Arthur Wellesley
: Jane Banbury – Edna Best
Edna Clara Best (3 March 1900 – 18 September 1974) was a British actress.
Early life
Born in Hove, Sussex, England, she was educated in Brighton and later studied dramatic acting under Miss Kate Rorke who was the first professor of Drama at ...
: William Banbury – Gerald Ames
Gerald Ames (12 September 1880 – 2 July 1933) was a British actor, film director and Olympic fencer. Ames was born in Blackheath, London in 1880 and first took up acting in 1905. He was a popular leading man in the post-First World War cinema ...
: Saunders – Mona Harrison
: Maurice Duclos – Austin Trevor
Claude Austin Trevor Schilsky (7 October 1897 – 22 January 1978) was an Irish actor who had a long career in film and television.
He played the parson in John Galsworthy's ''Escape'' at the world premiere in London's West End in 1926 an ...
::Source: ''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'' (fou ...
'', 22 April 1925.[
]
Synopsis
The play is set in the London flat of Frederick and Julia Sterroll in 1925.
;Act 1
Two youngish men, Frederick Sterroll and William Banbury, go off on a golfing trip, leaving their wives to amuse themselves as best they can. The wives have each received a postcard from Maurice Duclos, whose lovers they had both been before their marriages. He tells them he is due in London and hopes to call on them imminently. Unsure whether they will be able to resist Maurice's powerful charm, they decide to leave before he arrives, but as they are about to go, suitcases in hand, the doorbell rings.[
;Act 2
The ring at the door had not been Maurice (it was the plumber), and the two women have decided to brave the forthcoming encounter. While waiting, quite nervously, for Maurice's arrival, they drink too many cocktails and too much champagne. Their old rivalry for Maurice's affections surfaces, they begin to bicker, and a tremendous quarrel ensues. By the end of the act Maurice has still not appeared and Julia has ordered Jane out of the flat.][
;Act 3
The next morning Julia wrongly imagines Jane has gone off with Maurice. In fury Julia tells William about his wife's supposed liaison. Jane, meanwhile, having spent the night innocently alone at a hotel, concludes that Julia and Maurice have gone off together, and she tells Frederick about her suspicions. Maurice finally arrives, and (almost) reassures the husbands that nobody has gone off with anybody, and there is nothing to worry about. He has taken the flat above the Sterrolls, and invites both couples to come and see it. The men decline, and Maurice escorts Julia and Jane to his flat. Presently the voices of all three are heard singing a sentimental love song; the husbands exchange panicked glances and rush upstairs.][
]
Later productions
A production by the Amsterdam Municipal Theatre was banned after a few performances in 1926. The play was presented on Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
in 1927, with the following cast:
: Julia Sterroll – Fay Bainter
Fay Okell Bainter (December 7, 1893 – April 16, 1968) was an American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for ''Jezebel'' (1938) and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Early life
Bainter wa ...
: Frederick Sterroll – Gordon Ash
: Jane Banbury – Estelle Winwood
Estelle Winwood (born Estelle Ruth Goodwin, 24 January 1883 – 20 June 1984) was an English actress who moved to the United States in mid-career and became celebrated for her wit and longevity.
Early life and early career
Born Estelle Ruth Go ...
: William Banbury – Gerald Hamer
Gerald Hamer (16 November 1886 – 6 July 1972)Profile
ftvdb.bfi.org.uk; accesse ...
: Saunders – Eileen Beldon
Eileen Beldon (12 September 1901 – 3 August 1985) was an English stage and film actress. She had a successful career as a Shakespearean actress as well as in modern repertory theatre.
Biography
Eileen Beldon was born on 12 September 1901 in ...
: Maurice Duclos – Luis Alberni
Luis Alberni (October 4, 1886 – December 23, 1962) was a Spanish-born American character actor of stage and films.
Early years
Alberni was born in Barcelona, Spain, on October 4, 1886. He acted in stock theater for four years in Marseille ...
Under the title ''Le Printemps de Saint-Martin'', the play was given in Paris in 1928 and again in 1945. ''Fallen Angels'' was revived in London in 1949, with Hermione Gingold
Hermione Ferdinanda Gingold (; 9 December 189724 May 1987) was an English actress known for her sharp-tongued, eccentric character.
Her signature drawling, deep voice was a result of nodules on her vocal cords she developed in the 1920s and e ...
and Hermione Baddeley
Hermione Youlanda Ruby Clinton-Baddeley (13 November 1906 – 19 August 1986) was an English actress of theatre, film and television. She typically played brash, vulgar characters, often referred to as "brassy" or "blowsy".Folkart, Burt, "Noted ...
as the wives.["Ambassadors Theatre", ''The Times'', 30 November 1949, p. 8] In a Broadway production in 1956 Nancy Walker
Nancy Walker (born Anna Myrtle Swoyer; May 10, 1922 – March 25, 1992) was an American actress and comedian of stage, screen, and television. She was also a film and television director (lending her talents to ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', on wh ...
and Margaret Phillips played Julia and Jane. A 1967 West End revival starred Joan Greenwood
Joan Mary Waller Greenwood (4 March 1921 – 28 February 1987) was an English actress. Her husky voice, coupled with her slow, precise elocution, was her trademark. She played Sibella in the 1949 film ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'', and also app ...
and Constance Cummings
Constance Cummings CBE (May 15, 1910 – November 23, 2005) was an American-British actress with a career spanning over 50 years.
Early life
Cummings was born in Seattle, Washington, the only daughter and younger child of Kate Logan (née Cu ...
.[Wardle, Irving. "Average Coward ration of insult and repartee", ''The Times'', 5 April 1967, p. 10] In 2000 Felicity Kendal
Felicity Ann Kendal (born 25 September 1946) is an English actress, working principally in television and theatre. She has appeared in numerous stage and screen roles over a more than 70-year career, but the role that brought attention to her ...
and Frances de la Tour
Frances J. de Lautour (born 30 July 1944), better known as Frances de la Tour, is an English actress. She is known for her role as Miss Ruth Jones in the television sitcom ''Rising Damp'' from 1974 until 1978. She is a Tony Award winner and thr ...
played the wives in a production at the Apollo Theatre
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London. , London.
A television adaption of the play was broadcast by the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
as Julia and Jane. BBC radio presented a production in April 1973, a month after the author's death. Julia was played by
. The following year, an
as Jane.
At the time of the original production critical opinion was divided, with the down-market section of the press taking a hostile, moralistic stance, and the critics in the more serious newspapers taking a generally favourable view. ''
'' called the piece an "unpleasant play which might the tickle the palate of certain playgoers who enjoy the decadent." ''
'' found the leading characters and their "'modern' impudences" "very tiresome". ''
'' praised Coward's theatrical skill as "little short of amazing". and the reviewer in ''
'', though rating the piece "neither a great nor a good play" on account of its overt theatricality and lack of depth, declared himself "vastly amuse
by it. ''The Times'' judged that the play confirmed Coward's position as "the most uncannily adroit of our younger dramatists".