''No Thoroughfare'' is a stage play and novel by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

and

Wilkie Collins William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for '' The Woman in White'' (1859), a mystery novel and early "sensation novel", and for '' The Moonstone'' (1868), which has b ...

, both released in December 1867.

Background

In 1867

and

collaborated to produce a stage play titled ''No Thoroughfare: A Drama: In Five Acts''. The two had previously collaborated on the play ''

The Frozen Deep ''The Frozen Deep'' is an 1856 play, originally staged as an amateur theatrical, written by Wilkie Collins under the substantial guidance of Charles Dickens. Dickens's hand was so prominent—beside acting in the play for several performances, ...

''. This was the last stage production to be associated with Dickens, who died in June 1870. The play opened at the Adelphi Theatre on 26 December 1867. file:No Thoroughfare by Dickens and Wilkie Collins.jpg, left, ''No Thoroughfare'' by

and

. Left to right: Joey Ladle (Benjamin Webster), Sally Goldstraw (Mrs. Alfred Mellon), George Vendale (Henry G. Neville), Jules Obenreizer (Charles Fechter, Charles Albert Fechter), Marguerite (Carlotta Leclercq), Walter Wilding (John Billington (actor), John Billington), and Bintrey ( George G. Belmore). The novel ''No Thoroughfare'' was also first published in 1867, in the

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

number of Dickens's periodical '' All the Year Round''. There are thematic parallels with other books from Dickens's mature writings, including ''

Little Dorrit ''Little Dorrit'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in serial form between 1855 and 1857. The story features Amy Dorrit, youngest child of her family, born and raised in the Marshalsea prison for debtors in London. Arthur Cl ...

'' (1857) and especially '' Our Mutual Friend'' (1865). The publication of the story in ''All The Year Round'' represents an early example of commercial merchandising, promoting the story to those who were aware of the stage play, and the play to those who had read the book. The chapters of the book are referred to as '

acts The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...

', and match the acts of the play. In the book Collins assisted in Act 1 and Act 4; Collins scripted most of the stage play with Dickens's assistance.

The novel

The story contains crafted descriptions, well-drawn and diverse characters, eerie and exotic backgrounds, mystery, semi-concealed identities, brinkmanship with death, romance, the eventual triumph of Good over Evil, and many other elements expected in classic Dickens. At 48,000 words it is the length of many modern novels.

Plot summary

Two boys from the Foundling Hospital are given the same name, (Walter Wilding), with disastrous consequences in adulthood. After the death of one – now a proprietor of a wine merchant's company – the executors, to right the wrong, are commissioned to find a missing heir. Their quest takes them from wine cellars in the City of London to the sunshine of the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

– across the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

in winter. Danger and treachery would prevail were it not for the courage of the

heroine A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''hero ...

, Marguerite, and a faithful company servant.

The stage play

The stage play follows a similar plotline, but is compressed and made particularly dramatic in the fourth act, which is set in the Swiss Alps. The tension builds to a spectacular scene in which Obenreizer, the villain, confronts the hero George Vendale, at the side of a mountain gorge. It has been performed rarely since the 1867 West End premiere, in 1876 at the

Olympic Theatre The Olympic Theatre, sometimes known as the Royal Olympic Theatre, was a 19th-century London theatre, opened in 1806 and located at the junction of Drury Lane, Wych Street and Newcastle Street. The theatre specialised in comedies throughout ...

Gasson, Andrew
"''No Thoroughfare''"
Wilkie Collins Information Pages, accessed 1 April 2020 and in 1904 at a small theatre in Islington. However, on 2 June 2007 Primavera Productions produced a staged reading, directed by Tom Littler, at the King's Head Theatre in London. The reading starred

Louise Brealey Louise Brealey (born 27 March 1979), also credited as Loo Brealey, is an English actress, writer and journalist. She played Molly Hooper in '' Sherlock'', Cass in ''Back'', Scottish professor Jude McDermid in ''Clique'', Gillian Chamberlain in ...

as Marguerite.

Footnotes

External links

* * {{Wilkie Collins 1867 British novels 1867 plays Chapman & Hall books English novels Novels by Charles Dickens Novels by Wilkie Collins Plays by Charles Dickens Plays by Wilkie Collins Works originally published in All the Year Round