''The Magistrate'' is a farce by English playwright
Arthur Wing Pinero
Sir Arthur Wing Pinero (24 May 185523 November 1934) was an English playwright and, early in his career, actor.
Pinero was drawn to the theatre from an early age, and became a professional actor at the age of 19. He gained experience as a supp ...
. It concerns a respectable
magistrate
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...
who finds himself caught up in scandalous events that threaten to disgrace him.
The first production opened at the
Court Theatre in London on 21 March 1885. It was Pinero's first attempt at farce, after several dramas, and took audiences and critics by surprise.
[ It was very favourably reviewed, and became a box-office hit, running for a year until 24 March 1886.
In 1917 it was adapted as a ]musical comedy
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...
that ran in London for 801 performances under the title '' The Boy''. The plot was unchanged, but the characters received new names. In 1934, it was adapted for the screen as ''Those Were the Days Those Were the Days may refer to:
Music Albums
* ''Those Were the Days'' (Johnny Mathis album) (1968)
* ''Those Were the Days'' (Cream album) (1997)
* ''Those Were the Days'' (Dolly Parton album) (2005)
* '' Those Were the Days – The Best of L ...
'', starring Will Hay
William Thomson Hay (6 December 1888 – 18 April 1949) was an English comedian who wrote and acted in a schoolmaster sketch that later transferred to the screen, where he also played other authority figures with comic failings. His film '' O ...
.
Original cast
*Mr. Poskett – Arthur Cecil
Arthur Cecil Blunt (1 June 1843 – 16 April 1896), better known as Arthur Cecil, was an English actor, comedian, playwright and theatre manager. He is probably best remembered for playing the role of Box in the long-running production of ''Cox a ...
*Mr. Bullamy – Fred Cape
*Colonel Lukyn – John Clayton John Clayton may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Writing
*John Clayton (architect) (died 1861), English architect and writer
*John Bell Clayton and Martha Clayton, John Bell Clayton (c. 1907–1955), American writer
*John Clayton (sportswriter) ( ...
*Captain Horace Vale – F. Kerr
*Cis Farringdon – H. Eversfield
*Achille Blond, proprietor of the Hôtel des Princes – Mr. Chevalier
*Isidore, a waiter – Mr. Deane
*Mr. Wormington, chief clerk at Mulberry Street Court – Gilbert Trent
*Inspector Messiter – Albert Sims
*Sergeant Lugg – William Lugg
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
*Constable Harris – Mr. Burnley
*Wyke, a servant at Mr. Posket's – Mr. Fayre
*Agatha Poskett, late Farringdon, ''née'' Verrinder – Mrs. John Wood
Mrs. John Wood (6 November 1831 (baptised 28 November), Liverpool – 11 January 1915, Birchington-on-Sea), born Matilda Charlotte Vining, was an English actress and theatre manager.
Biography
Born into a theatrical family,
Matilda Charlotte ...
*Charlotte Verrinder, Mrs Posket's sister – Marion Terry
Marion Bessie Terry (born Mary Ann Bessy Terry; 13 October 1853 – 21 August 1930) was an English actress. In a career spanning half a century, she played leading roles in more than 125 plays. Always in the shadow of her older and more famous si ...
*Beatie Tomlinson – Miss Norreys
*Popham – Miss La Coste[
]
Synopsis
Act I
At Mr. Posket's, Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions.
Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...
Some years before the play begins, Mr. Posket, a London magistrate, married a widow, Agatha Farringdon. At the time she had pretended to be 31 rather than her true age, which was 36. Accordingly, she found that she needed also to knock five years off the supposed age of her son by her first marriage, Cis Farringdon. When the play opens, the Poskets are preparing to entertain to dinner the following day an old friend of Posket, Colonel Lukyn. The Colonel knew Mrs. Posket in her earlier days, and is Cis's godfather. He is well aware of Mrs. Posket's true age. Fearful that the Colonel may be indiscreet about dates, she slips out that evening to see him privately. She takes with her her sister Charlotte who is staying with the Poskets for a few days, getting over a broken engagement.
Agatha's son Cis takes advantage of his mother's absence. Although he is supposed to be 14, he is in fact 19 without knowing it, and his precocity is far in advance of his supposed age. He smokes, he flirts, he gambles, and now, as soon as his mother has left, he coolly proposes to his staid stepfather that they should go to the Hôtel des Princes, where he has a room. Posket allows himself to be persuaded.[
]
Act II
Room in the Hôtel des Princes, Meek Street
Greatly to his surprise Posket finds himself "making a night of it". Colonel Lukyn has also arranged to dine at the Hôtel des Princes, with his friend Captain Horace Vale. The latter is the man who has broken Charlotte's heart, throwing her over in a fit of jealousy. When Agatha and Charlotte arrive to see the Colonel, there is a lengthy reconciliation scene between Vale and Charlotte. Equally lengthy are the carousings of Posket and Cis in the adjoining room – so much so that a breach of the licensing laws is committed and the police arrive to search the house.
The landlord, having put out the lights, brings all his law-breaking guests into one room and bids them conceal themselves as best they can. Posket and his wife hide under the same table, each unaware of the other's identity. When the police burst in, Posket and Cis make a dash to the balcony, which collapses under their weight, depositing them in the street below. The others are all taken into custody.
Posket and Cis, with the police in pursuit, run through muddy streets, scramble over spiked fences into sloppy ditches, out of London and into the suburbs. In the chase they are separated.[
]
Act III
Scene I – The magistrates' room, Mulberry Street
Posket staggers back to London just in time to perform his magisterial duties at Mulberry Street court. He is tattered, bruised and dirty. He pretends to be much shocked when the chief clerk tells him that the first case he has to hear involves his friend Lukyn. Despite Lukyn's appeal, Posket permits no favours, and insists that the case must be tried in the normal way. He puts on a show of moral outrage when Lukyn tells him that there are ladies in the case. On going into court, Posket is so shocked to find his wife in the dock that he finds himself, in a trance-like state, sentencing her to seven days' imprisonment without the option of a fine.
Scene II – At Mr. Posket's again
Posket's excessive sentence of his wife and the other guests at the hotel is over-ruled on a technicality by Posket's fellow magistrate, Bullamy. Back at home, Posket feels the force of his wife's indignation, but she cannot avoid explaining her presence at the hotel, and the truth about her deception about her age comes out. He forgives her.[
]
Critical reception
''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 ...
'' said that for "deftness of construction, ingenuity and genuine fun" the play was the equal of any French farce, and said that it made the public laugh until their sides ache. '' The Era'' said "the fun is fast and furious … ingeniously constructed … supremely bright and comical."["The London Theatres", ''The Era'', 28 March 1885, p. 14]
Revivals
The play has been frequently revived. Productions include those at Terry's Theatre
Terry's Theatre was a West End theatre in the Strand, in the City of Westminster, London. Built in 1887, it became a cinema in 1910 before being demolished in 1923.
History
The theatre was built in 1887, near Fountain's Court, on the site of a ...
in 1892; the Arts Theatre
The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London.
History
It opened on 20 April 1927 as a members-only club for the performance of unlicensed plays, thus avoiding theatre censorship by the Lord Chamberl ...
, 1943; St Martin's Theatre
St Martin's Theatre is a West End theatre which has staged the production of ''The Mousetrap'' since March 1974, making it the longest continuous run of any show in the world.
The theatre is located in West Street, near Shaftesbury Avenue, in t ...
in 1944; and the Old Vic
Old or OLD may refer to:
Places
*Old, Baranya, Hungary
* Old, Northamptonshire, England
*Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD)
*OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...
in 1959. Another was at the Cambridge Theatre
The Cambridge Theatre is a West End theatre, on a corner site in Earlham Street facing Seven Dials, in the London Borough of Camden, built in 1929–30 for Bertie Meyer on an "irregular triangular site".
Design and construction
It was des ...
, London, from 18 September 1969, starring Alastair Sim
Alastair George Bell Sim, CBE (9 October 1900 – 19 August 1976) was a Scottish character actor who began his theatrical career at the age of thirty and quickly became established as a popular West End performer, remaining so until his ...
as Mr. Posket, Patricia Routledge
Dame Katherine Patricia Routledge, (; born 17 February 1929) is an English actress, singer and broadcaster. For her role as Hyacinth Bucket in the BBC sitcom ''Keeping Up Appearances'' (1990–1995), she was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award f ...
as Agatha Posket, Michael Aldridge
Michael William ffolliott Aldridge (9 September 1920 – 10 January 1994) was an English actor. He was known for playing Seymour Utterthwaite in the television series ''Last of the Summer Wine'' from 1986 to 1990 and he had a long career as a ...
as Captain Vale, Renée Asherson
Dorothy Renée Ascherson (19 May 1915 – 30 October 2014), known professionally as Renée Asherson, was an English actress. Much of her theatrical career was spent in Shakespearean plays, appearing at such venues as the Old Vic, the Liverpoo ...
as Charlotte, Robert Coote
Robert Coote (4 February 1909 – 26 November 1982) was an English actor. He played aristocrats or British military types in many films, and created the role of Colonel Hugh Pickering in the long-running original Broadway production of ''My Fai ...
as Colonel Lukyn and Tamara Ustinov as Beatie Tomlinson. A more recent London revival, starring Ian Richardson
Ian William Richardson (7 April 19349 February 2007) was a Scottish actor.
He portrayed the Machiavellian Tory politician Francis Urquhart in the BBC's '' House of Cards'' (1990–1995) television trilogy. Richardson was also a leading S ...
as Posket, was 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 ...
in 1997.
Between 14 November 2012 and 10 February 2013, a production of ''The Magistrate'' was presented at the National Theatre in London, and streamed live to cinemas across the UK. Directed by Timothy Sheader
Timothy Sheader (born 23 November 1971 in Scarborough, North Yorkshire) is a British theatre director. Sheader read Law with French at the University of Birmingham before moving into a career in theatre. Since 2007, he has been Artistic Director ...
, the production featured John Lithgow
John Arthur Lithgow ( ; born , 1945) is an American actor. Lithgow studied at Harvard University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before becoming known for his work on the stage and screen. He has been the recipient of numerous ...
in the title role opposite Nancy Carroll
Nancy Carroll (born Ann Veronica Lahiff; November 19, 1903 – August 6, 1965) was an American actress. She started her career in Broadway musicals and then became an actress in sound films and was in many films from 1927 to 1938. She was t ...
."The Magistrate"
National Theatre, accessed 10 February 2013
Notes
References
*
External links
*
Theatre posters
from performances at Royal Lyceum Theatre
The Royal Lyceum Theatre is a 658-seat theatre in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, named after the Theatre Royal Lyceum and English Opera House, the residence at the time of legendary Shakespearean actor Henry Irving. It was built in 1883 by a ...
, Edinburgh in 1885
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magistrate, The
Plays by Arthur Wing Pinero
1885 plays
British plays adapted into films
West End plays