''
Harlequin
Harlequin (; it, Arlecchino ; lmo, Arlechin, Bergamasque pronunciation ) is the best-known of the '' zanni'' or comic servant characters from the Italian '' commedia dell'arte'', associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditional ...
and the
Fairy's Dilemma'', retitled ''The Fairy's Dilemma'' shortly after the play opened, is a play in two acts by
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most fam ...
that parodies the
harlequinade that concluded 19th-century
pantomime
Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...
s.
It was produced at the
Garrick Theatre
The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play, ' ...
by
Arthur Bourchier, lessee of the theatre, on 3 May 1904 and ran for 90 performances, closing on 22 July 1904. The work was Gilbert's last full-length play.
Background
''The Fairy's Dilemma'', "an original domestic pantomime in two acts",
['']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 ...
'', 21 April 1904, p. 11 was
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most fam ...
's first play produced since ''
The Fortune Hunter'' in 1897. He had announced a retirement from the theatre after the poor reception of that play. In 1900, he wrote a story called "The Fairy's Dilemma", published in the Christmas number of ''
The Graphic
''The Graphic'' was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company Illustrated Newspapers Ltd. Thomas's brother Lewis Samuel Thomas was a co-founder. The premature death of the latt ...
'' magazine that year. In 1904, he emerged from his seven-year "retirement" to adapt the story into a play, which he directed himself, as he usually did with his plays.
[Stedman, p. 325] ''The Fairy's Dilemma'' was Gilbert's only play premiered at the Garrick Theatre, which he had built in 1889.
[Crowther, p. 710] Incidental music for the piece was arranged by Edmond Rickett,
[ consisting of popular songs of the 1860s and 1870s, such as " Champagne Charlie".]['']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 ...
'', 5 May 1904 ''The Fairy's Dilemma'' was Gilbert's last full-length non-musical play.
Arthur Bourchier had leased the Garrick in 1900, and he and his wife Violet Vanbrugh
Violet Vanbrugh (11 June 1867 – 10 November 1942), born Violet Augusta Mary Barnes, was an English actress with a career that spanned more than 50 years. Despite her many successes, her career was overshadowed by that of her more famous sister ...
starred in numerous plays there over the next six years often producing new works, including ''The Fairy's Dilemma''. The piece garnered enthusiastic opening-night reviews in London on 3 May 1904. According to ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', the play "met with distinct success. It is brilliantly nonsensical".["Gilbert's New Play; ''The Fairy's Dilemma'' Is Brilliantly Nonsensical"]
''The New York Times'', 15 May 1904, p. 4 ''The Telegraph
''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include:
Australia
* ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
'' called it "a new sensation".[ '']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 ...
'' wrote, "The piece kept the whole house laughing almost without intermission during the two short hours of its duration.... It restores Mr. Gilbert to the stage in his most irresistibly whimsical vein, and deserves to rank among the brightest and most exhilarating of his productions."[ '']The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'' noted its "immense superiority", "fresh dramatic wit" and the audience's "sensation of delight not less keen than rare", while opining that "age cannot wither" Gilbert's "finish and precision... his mordant wit" and his "brilliant fun".[''The Observer'', 8 May 1904] Max Beerbohm
Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20 May 1956) was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the drama critic for the '' Saturd ...
, writing in ''The Saturday Review'', however, criticised the show for being more appropriate to the 1870s.
''The Fairy's Dilemma'' is a parody of the conventional harlequinade and of melodrama.[ However, the play was written decades after the heyday of the harlequinade. Houses were good at first, but despite its initial success and good reviews, the audience dwindled, and it lasted only 90 performances and was withdrawn on 22 July 1904. Violet Vanbrugh speculated that too few theatregoers remembered the old harlequinade well enough to enjoy the parody. Nevertheless, the piece was sent on a brief tour.][
]
Roles and original cast
;Supernaturals:
* Fairy Rosebud – Jessie Bateman
Jessie Eliza Bateman (2 August 1877 – 14 November 1940) was an English stage actress. Bateman began her career as a child actress. After early success on tour in Shakespearean roles, she built her career both in London and foreign tours. S ...
* Demon Alcohol – Jerrold Robertshaw
* Imps, Goblins, Fairies, etc.
;Unnaturals:
* Col. Sir Trevor Mauleverer, Baronet, a fastidious Life Guardsman/Clown – Arthur Bourchier
* The Rev. Aloysius Parfitt, a clergyman/Harlequin – O. B. Clarence
* Mr. Justice Whortle/Pantaloon – Sydney Valentine
Sydney Valentine Nossiter (1865 – 23 December 1919), known professionally as Sydney Valentine, was an English actor of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. He was President of the Actors' Association and was remembered for negotiating what became ...
* Lady Angela Wealdstone, Daughter of the Marquis of Harrow (disguised as Jane Collins)/Columbine – Violet Vanbrugh
Violet Vanbrugh (11 June 1867 – 10 November 1942), born Violet Augusta Mary Barnes, was an English actress with a career that spanned more than 50 years. Despite her many successes, her career was overshadowed by that of her more famous sister ...
* Clarissa Whortle – Dorothy Grimstone
* Mrs. Crumble, Housekeeper to Mr. Parfitt – Miss Ewell
Synopsis
;Act I
Fairy Rosebud enters the Abode of Demon Alcohol, who complains bitterly about the law that requires demons to speak in verse; and indeed he is very bad at it. Rosebud is depressed because the Fairy Queen has told her that her incompetence can no longer be tolerated; unless she becomes more attentive to her duties of protecting mortals from demons, she will be sent to the back row of the ballet chorus. She had decided to protect and assist Aloysius Parfitt, a clergyman, and Jane Collins, a nurse. Jane has attracted the attention of Sir Trevor Mauleverer, a colonel in the Life Guards, who Rosebud believes to be a wicked baronet. Rosebud asks the demon to carry Jane off to Sir Trevor's apartment (making it look as if Sir Trevor has had her carried off) so that Rosebud can then rescue Jane and restore her to Aloysius. The demon is attracted to Rosebud and agrees. However, Jane is really Lady Angela Wealdstone, a lady of fashion, in disguise, and Sir Trevor is really an honourable man. Nevertheless, Lady Angela has run away from home to avoid being forced by her father into an arranged marriage with Sir Trevor.
Meanwhile, however, Aloysius is in love with Clarissa Whortle, the daughter of a judge. Sir Trevor has led everyone to believe that he is going to marry Clarissa to assist Aloysius in evading Clarissa's father. Aloysius, on the other hand, has allowed everyone to believe that he will marry Jane. Before going to the Registrar to be married, Aloysius decides that Clarissa's clothing is too fashionable, so Clarissa borrows Jane's nurse attire. Rosebud appears and the mortals criticise her because her skirts are too short. No one wants her assistance, but she explains (mistaking Clarissa for Jane because of the change of clothing) that a demon is planning to carry off the lady. She vanishes, and everyone is angry with her, thinking her rude. Now Demon Alcohol meets Sir Trevor, who has been left alone. The demon is also confused by the change of clothing; he abducts Clarissa (thinking her to be Jane) and takes her to Sir Trevor's lodgings.
;Act II
Behind the house of the judge (Clarissa's father), the demon and Rosebud meet. He tells her, mistakenly, that he has abducted the nurse and brought her to Sir Trevor's flat. Rosebud summons the fairies to help her "rescue" the girl, whom she assumes is Jane. Aloysius now arrives to tell the judge of Clarissa's disappearance. Rosebud magically summons Jane (alias Lady Angela), still thinking that it was Jane who was abducted, and Lady Angela magically appears, wearing only her dressing jacket. Rosebud is angry at the demon for carrying off the wrong lady. The only solution, she thinks, is to transform the mortals into harlequinade characters. She changes Parfitt into Harlequin, Jane into Columbine, the judge into Pantaloon and Sir Trevor into Clown. All are angry, but Rosebud insists that they play the harlequinade and uses her magic to force them to do so.
While Rosebud looks on, everyone is affected by the magic and must play their harlequinade parts. When she is not watching, however, they regain their true personalities and are all horrified at the excesses of their harlequinade characters. Matters go from bad to worse, and Rosebud finally relents, agreeing to marry the demon and asking Aloysius to perform the ceremony. All are restored to their original characters, Aloysius embraces Clarissa, and Sir Trevor embraces Lady Angela.
Analysis
Gilbert had always been fascinated by pantomime, particularly the harlequinade that concluded every pantomime in the early and mid-Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
.[ When Gilbert was growing up, the harlequinade was an extremely popular part of the Christmas pantomimes that were produced at most of the major theatres in London. Gilbert admired the elegant dancing part of the Harlequin and in 1879 played this character in a pantomime that he co-authored, '']The Forty Thieves
''The Forty Thieves'' is a "Pantomime Burlesque" written by Robert Reece, W. S. Gilbert, F. C. Burnand and Henry J. Byron, created in 1878 as a charity benefit, produced by the Beefsteak Club of London. The Beefsteak Club still meets in Irving ...
''. Many of Gilbert's Bab Ballads
''The Bab Ballads'' is a collection of light verses by W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911), illustrated with his own comic drawings. The book takes its title from Gilbert's childhood nickname. He later began to sign his illustrations "Bab". Gilbert w ...
, stories and other works, especially in the 1860s, reflect his interest in the harlequinade and his ideas about the moral issues that it presented, particularly in connection with the cruel character of Clown.[Gilbert, W. S. "Getting Up a Pantomime", ''London Society'', January 1868, pp. 50–51; Crowther, pp. 716–17]
After writing and thinking about the harlequinade for half a century, and like some of Gilbert's earlier works, ''The Fairy's Dilemma'' "sets pantomime fantasy alongside modern everyday life... a harlequinade parodied and subverted."[Crowther, p. 719] As ''The Observer'' noted in their opening night review of the piece, Gilbert turns inside out, as no other dramatist could do as well, conventional Christmas pantomimes, "with their good fairies and wicked demons supernaturally influencing the destinies of unnatural lovers.... Mr. Gilbert makes the goodness of the Fairy Rosebud as perfunctory as the wickedness of the Demon Alcohol; and it is she who, with a view to her own professional advancement, invents for the Demon the malignant plot".[ Further, in a parody of the melodramatic conventions of the Victorian era, the bad baronet is not bad, the innocent damsel is not innocent, and the stern judge delights in entertaining his court. When the judge turns into Pantaloon, he exclaims, "it's not as great a change as I should have supposed!"][ As with Gilbert's typical comedies, the joke "depends for much of its point upon the grave unconsciousness of its interpreters".][
According to scholar Andrew Crowther, the play explores two ideas that are an important part of many of Gilbert's stage works, including the famous Gilbert and Sullivan operas. "One is that stage romance and fantasy should be brought down to earth with reminders of prosaic reality. The other is that real life should take on some of the romance and fantasy of the stage."][ Crowther notes that in the play, the "supernatural" fairy and demon speak in a more natural manner than the mortals, who Gilbert calls "unnaturals". The play shows the tension between Gilbert's love of the harlequinade and his disapproval of the morality that it portrays. After a lifetime of fascination with the subject, the play resolves Gilbert's deep interest in the subject. According to Crowther, in many ways, the play was the capstone of Gilbert's career. He would write no more full-length plays and only one further opera ('']Fallen Fairies
''Fallen Fairies''; ''or, The Wicked World'', is a two-act comic opera, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Edward German. The story is an operatic adaptation of Gilbert's 1873 blank-verse fairy comedy, '' The Wicked World''. In Fairy ...
'').[Crowther, p. 721]
Notes
References
*
*
* Crowther, Andrew. "Clown and Harlequin", ''W. S. Gilbert Society Journal'', vol. 3, issue 23, Summer 2008, pp. 710–21
External links
Script of ''The Fairy’s Dilemma''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairy's Dilemma, The
Plays by W. S. Gilbert
1904 plays
Works originally published in The Graphic