''The Lyons Mail'' is an 1877 drama by

Charles Reade Charles Reade (8 June 1814 – 11 April 1884) was a British novelist and dramatist, best known for '' The Cloister and the Hearth''. Life Charles Reade was born at Ipsden, Oxfordshire, to John Reade and Anne Marie Scott-Waring, and had at leas ...

based on his play ''

The Courier of Lyons ''The Courier of Lyons'' is a play by the English writer Charles Reade, which was first performed in 1854. He based it on the 1796 Courrier de Lyon case in Revolutionary France, drawing inspiration from a previous play based on the case by the Fr ...

'' (1854). The new version was written for

Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ( ...

for performance at the Lyceum Theatre.Hammet, Michael, ''Plays by Charles Reade'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986 p. 9 Reade's play was based on the 1796 Courrier de Lyon case in

Revolutionary France The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, drawing inspiration from a previous play based on the case by the French writers

Paul Siraudin Pierre-Paul-Désiré Siraudin (18 December 1812 – 8 September 1883) was a French playwright and librettist. He also used the pen names Paul de Siraudin de Sancy, Paul Siraudin de Sancy and M. Malperché. Biography He wrote many plays, mai ...

and Louis-Mathurin Moreau. Reade had written the play specifically for the actor

Charles Kean Charles John Kean (18 January 181122 January 1868), was an English actor and theatre manager, best known for his revivals of Shakespearean plays. Life Kean was born at Waterford, Ireland, a son of actor Edmund Kean and actress Mary Kean (''ne ...

. It had its début on 26 June 1854 with

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

and Prince Albert in attendance. The roles of Joseph Lesurques and Dubosc were played by the same actor. In the original production this was

. Later the roles were played by his son

H. B. Irving Harry Brodribb Irving (5 August 1870 – 17 October 1919), was a British stage actor and actor-manager; the eldest son of Sir Henry Irving and his wife Florence ( née O'Callaghan), and father of designer Laurence Irving and actress Elizabeth ...

Bransby Williams Bransby Williams (born Bransby William Pharez; 14 August 1870 – 3 December 1961) was a British actor, comedian and monologist. He became known as "The Irving of the music halls". Early years Born in Hackney, London, the son of William Me ...

(wearing Irving's costumes from the original production) at the Lyceum Theatre (1923)

J. P. Wearing John Peter Wearing (born c. 1945) is an Anglo-American theatre historian and professor, who has written numerous books and articles about nineteenth and twentieth-century drama and theatre, including ''The Shakespeare Diaries: A Fictional Autobi ...

''The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel''
Rowman & Littlefield (2014) - Google Books p. 237 and

John Martin Harvey Sir John Martin-Harvey (22 June 1863 – 14 May 1944), known before his knighthood in 1921 as John Martin Harvey, was an English stage actor-manager. Born in Bath Street, Wivenhoe, Essex, he was the son of John Harvey, a yacht-designer and ...

at the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Pala ...

(1930),

''The London Stage 1930-1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel''
Rowman & Littlefield (2014) - Google Books p. 61 who had played Joliquet in the 1891, 1893 and 1898 revivals at the Lyceum, among other actors. At the Lyceum the role of Jeanette was often played by

Ellen Terry Dame Alice Ellen Terry, (27 February 184721 July 1928), was a leading English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born into a family of actors, Terry began performing as a child, acting in Shakespeare plays in London, and tour ...

. The play's backdrops by

Hawes Craven Henry Hawes Craven Green (3 July 1837 – 22 July 1910) was an English theatre scene-painter. He collaborated with Henry Irving, Richard D'Oyly Carte and Herbert Beerbohm Tree, producing stage sets of unprecedented realism. Craven's career la ...

used in the productions at the Lyceum were destroyed in a fire in 1897 at the theatre's scenic store in Bear Lane in

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

. In 1901 Irving and

took the play alongside ''Charles I'', ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. Although classified as ...

'', ''Louis XI'', ''Nance Oldfield'', '' The Bells'', ''Waterloo'' and ''Madame Sans-Gêne'' on a tour of the United States where it played at the Knickerbocker Theatre in New York, among other venues. In 1905 Henry Irving made his farewell tour of the provinces in seven plays for which he was best known including ''The Lyons Mail''. So many

supernumerary actor Supernumerary actors are usually amateur character actors in opera and ballet performances who train under professional direction to create a believable scene. Definition The term's original use, from the Latin ''supernumerarius'', meant someon ...

s were required that rather than hire local people Irving took his on tour with him.

Roles

Cast of the 1893 production at the Lyceum Theatre in London: *Joseph Lesurques - (Merchant of Paris) -

*Dubosc - (Captain of a gang of 500) - Henry Irving *Courriol - (Member of the Gang) -

William Terriss William Terriss (20 February 1847 – 16 December 1897), born as William Charles James Lewin, was an English actor, known for his swashbuckling hero roles, such as Robin Hood, as well as parts in classic dramas and comedies. He was also a nota ...

*Choppard - (Member of the Gang) -

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

*Fouinard - (Member of the Gang) - John Archer *Durochat - (Member of the Gang) - W. J. Lorriss *Jerome Lesurques - (Father of Joseph) - Alfred Bishop *Dorval - (a Magistrate) - Frank Tyars *Didier - (betrothed to Julie) -

William Haviland William Haviland (1718 – 16 September 1784) was an Irish-born general in the British Army. He is best known for his service in North America during the Seven Years' War. Life William Haviland was born in Ireland in 1718. He entered milit ...

*Joliquet - (Jerome's serving boy) -

John Martin-Harvey Sir John Martin-Harvey (22 June 1863 – 14 May 1944), known before his knighthood in 1921 as John Martin Harvey, was an English stage actor-manager. Born in Bath Street, Wivenhoe, Essex, he was the son of John Harvey, a yacht-designer an ...

*Guerneau - (Friend of Lesurques) -

Edward Gordon Craig Edward Henry Gordon CraigSome sources give "Henry Edward Gordon Craig". (born Edward Godwin; 16 January 1872 – 29 July 1966), sometimes known as Gordon Craig, was an English modernist theatre practitioner; he worked as an actor, director and ...

*Lambert - (Friend of Lesurques) - L. C. Lacy *Postmaster of Montgeron -

Henry Howe Henry Howe (October 11, 1816 – October 14, 1893) was an American author who wrote histories of several states in the United States. His most celebrated work is the three volume ''Historical Collections of Ohio''. Life Henry Howe was born in ...

*Coco - T. Reynolds *Commissary of Police - H. W. Cushing *Postilion - J. H. Allen *Guard - R. P. Tabb *Waiter - W. Marion *Julie Lesurques - (Daughter of Joseph) - Amy Coleridge *Marie - (a Servant) - Miss Foster *Niece to Postmaster - Kate Phillips *Jeanette -

Jessie Millward Jessie Millward (1861 – July 13, 1932) was an English stage actress known for her performances both in Britain and the United States. She played roles in Shakespeare and other classic plays, as well as melodramas and other contemporary works. L ...

Synopsis

In Act I we are near

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in France in 1796 where the audience is introduced to the contrasting lives of the central characters, Joseph Lesurques, a rich and respectable self-made man who arrives in Paris for the wedding of his daughter Julie to her fiancé, the merchant Didier. While meeting old friends at a café members of the gang of Dubosc, an escaped convict, thief and drunk also gather. After Lesurques leaves Dubosc arrives. He rejects Jeanette, the mother of his child and conspires with his gang to rob the Lyons Mail. Lesurques's innkeeper father Jerome faces bankruptcy but is too proud to ask his son for help, and while he leaves to find a buyer for his inn his son returns and leaves money for him. Dubosc and his gang meet at the inn which is on a lonely stretch of the road by which the Lyons Mail must pass. Here Dubosc makes his arrangements to waylay the Lyons Mail which they rob while murdering the courier, at the same time making off with the money left by Lesurques for his father. When Jerome returns he confronts Dubosc and believes him to be his son but is shot and wounded.Jeffrey Richards
''Sir Henry Irving: A Victorian Actor and His World''
Hambledon and London (2005) - Google Books pp. 159-160 Act II is set in Lesurques's house in Paris where Julie gives work to Jeanette. Lesurques is wrongly identified by Joliquet the tavern-boy as the robber of the Lyons Mail; he is arrested alongside Courriol and Choppard, two of the real criminals. Jerome believes his son is a member of the criminal gang and offers him a pistol to take the honourable way out, but when Lesurques rejects the offer his father sees him as a coward. In Act III Lesurques is on trial; his daughter Julie wants to call off her engagement to Didier to save him from shame. However, he turns down her offer and produces evidence that demonstrates her father's innocence. Dubosc gets into the house and destroys the evidence stabbing Julie in his escape. Lesurques having been found guilty is in prison awaiting execution when Julie arrives and explains the case of mistaken identity, which is confirmed by Courriol and Choppard. Julie leads the authorities to Dubosc who has taken a room in a tavern to see Lesurques pass by on his way to execution. He is arrested after a violent struggle and Lesurques is released from custody.

Act I.

*Scene I. - A Café *Scene 2. - A Roadside Inn at Lieursaint *''The Robbery of the Lyons Mail''

Act II.

*Scene. - Lesurques's House

Act III

*Scene I. - Lesurques's House *Scene II. - Courtyard of the Prison *Scene III. - A Garret overlooking the Place of Execution

Music

*Overture -

Georges Jacobi Georges Jacobi (3 February 1840 –13 September 1906) was a German violinist, composer and conductor who was musical director of the Alhambra Theatre in London from 1872 to 1898. His best-known work was probably ''The Black Crook'' (1872) writt ...

*Waltz - Noche Serend -

Maude Valérie White Maude Valérie White (1855 – 1937) was a French-born English composer who became one of the most successful songwriters (in the English serious style) of the Victorian period. Early years Although born near Dieppe in Normandy to upper middl ...

*Overture -

François-Auguste Gevaert François-Auguste Gevaert (31 July 1828 in Huysse, near Oudenaarde – 24 December 1908 in Brussels) was a Belgian musicologist and composer.N. Slonimsky, Ed., ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', 8th ed., Schirmer Books, NY Li ...

Production

The actor

, who appeared as Joliquet opposite Irving in the play in the early 1890s, later said of Irving's performance:

Lesurques in his hands bore very little resemblance to a hero in melodrama; he was typical of all that is implied by 'middle-class respectabilty', though perhaps a trifle too distinguished, and might have passed for a younger brother of Doctor Primrose, whom he more nearly resembled than any other of his impersonations.... I have known the audience 'stagger' on the first appearance of Dubosc. Lesurques is hardly out of sight when Dubosc is there in the doorway, grim, sinister, the embodiment of wicked intent. His accomplices cower as he comes among them with contemptuous, insolent tolerance. Then, peremptorily, he issues his orders and from that moment dominates.

Martin-Harvey also recalled that to emphasise the cruelty of Dubosc Irving hummed some bars of ''

La Marseillaise "La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du R ...

'' while searching the dead body of the courier, on another night shocking the audience by instead humming '

Nearer, My God, to Thee "Nearer, My God, to Thee" is a 19th-century Christian hymn by Sarah Flower Adams, which retells the story of Jacob's dream. Genesis 28:11–12 can be translated as follows: "So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because t ...

'. 'The effect was appalling,' Martin-Harvey said. ' n the finaleit is hardly possible to exaggerate the savagery of Irving's performance in that scene, yet never did he overstep the truth of nature and degenerate into extravagance. Dubosc though a monster was a credible human being and it was that fact that gave the play its lasting popularity'.

Revivals

In 1906 Irving's son

revived ''The Lyons Mail'' at the

Shaftesbury Theatre The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden. Opened in 1911 as the New Prince's Theatre, it was the last theatre to be built in Shaftesbury Avenue. History The theatre was d ...

in London, himself playing the dual roles of Joseph Lesurques and Dubosc, with his wife

Dorothea Baird Dorothea Baird (20 May 1875 – 24 September 1933) was an English stage and film actress. Career Her first stage appearance was with the Oxford University Dramatic Society in February 1894, when she played Iris in ''The Tempest''. She was ...

in the cast.

Mr. H.B. lrving's opening night of the Shaftesbury on Thursday was made historical by the enthusiasm of the audience. Old friends of his distinguished father and many well-wishers gave him a magnificent "send off." He emerged triumphantly from the ordeal of comparison in the great twin parts of Lesurques and Dubosc in ''The Lyons Mail'', that picturesque melodrama which has been given a niche in dramatic fame far above its deserts by the genius of Irving the elder. When at the close on Thursday night Mr. H.B. Irving expressed the hope that he had made the play interesting, both to those to whom it was new and to those who were familiar with it in the old days at the Lyceum, there was one great shout of "You have". The earnestness of the performance could not be resisted, and those who critically opined that it lacked a trifle in power were overwhelmed. The new Irving is worthy to play his father's parts.'The New Irving' - ''Lloyds Weekly News'' (London, UK) - 18 October 1908

The actor

(wearing Irving's costumes from the original production) revived ''The Lyons Mail'' at the Lyceum Theatre in 1923 followed by that of

at the

in 1930.

Adaptations

There were a number of adaptations of Reade's work, notably a 1916 silent film ''

The Lyons Mail ''The Lyons Mail'' is a 1931 British historical mystery adventure film directed by Arthur Maude and starring John Martin Harvey, Norah Baring, and Ben Webster. It was based on the 1877 play ''The Lyons Mail'' by Charles Reade which in turn was ...

'' directed by

Fred Paul Fred Paul (1880–1967) was a Swiss-born British actor and film director. Paul was born in Lausanne in 1880 but moved to Britain at a young age. He was a prolific actor and director in the 1910s and 1920s, but his career dramatically declined with ...

and a 1931 talkie, ''

'', made at

Twickenham Studios Twickenham Studios (formerly known as Twickenham Film Studios) is a film studio in St Margarets, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, that is used by various motion picture and television companies. It was established in 1913 by Ralph ...

by the director

Arthur Maude Arthur John Maude (23 July 1880 – 9 January 1950) was an English actor, screenwriter, and film director. Biography Maude was born Arthur John Maud on 23 July 1880 in Pontefract, West Riding, Yorkshire, to William Robert Maud (1849–1919) and ...

References

External links

Sir Henry Irving as Dubosc in ''The Lyons Mail''
- by James Ferrier Pryde c1906 -

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

Photographs
of the

production of ''The Lyons Mail'' at the

(1908) - Stage Beauty website {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons Mail 1877 plays Melodramas British plays adapted into films