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''The Private Secretary'' is an 1883
farce
Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...
in three acts, by
Charles Hawtrey. The play, adapted from a German original, depicts the vicissitudes of a mild young clergyman, innocently caught up in the machinations of two irresponsible young men who are bent on escaping their creditors.
When the play opened in London the notices for the piece were hostile, and it was seen as a stop-gap in the schedule of the theatrical company presenting it. Despite these predictions the play ran in London for a total of 1,469 performances in its first run and later revivals. The critics found much more to praise in the performances of the cast, with particular praise for
Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor and theatre manager.
Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End, winning praise for adventurous progra ...
as the meek clergyman, the Rev Robert Spalding. He was succeeded in the role by
W. S. Penley, who received equally good notices, and played the part in several productions. The play was frequently revived in the first half of the 20th century, and was adapted for film in 1935.
History
The play was adapted by the young actor
Charles Hawtrey from the German ''Der Bibliothekar'', a comedy by Gustav von Moser.
[ The play ran at the Cambridge Royal Theatre in 1883, was brought to London in 1884, and ran there until 1886. Hawtrey revived the play twice, in 1892 at the ]Comedy Theatre
The Harold Pinter Theatre, known as the Comedy Theatre until 2011, , and in 1895 at the Avenue Theatre.[ His profits were estimated by ''The Idler'' to be around £100,000.][Schumacher, p. 360]
Actors who played the Rev Robert Spalding included Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor and theatre manager.
Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End, winning praise for adventurous progra ...
,["The London Theatres", ''The Era'', 5 April 1884, p. 6] W. S. Penley, Frank Thornton
Frank Thornton Ball (15 January 192116 March 2013), professionally known as Frank Thornton, was an English actor. He was known for playing Captain Peacock in ''Are You Being Served?'' and its sequel ''Grace & Favour'' (''Are You Being Served? ...
, and James Finlayson. Edward Everett Horton
Edward Everett Horton Jr. (March 18, 1886 – September 29, 1970) was an American character actor. He had a long career in film, theater, radio, television, and voice work for animated cartoons.
Early life
Horton was born in Kings County ...
played Spalding in the 1935 British film version of the play, directed by Henry Edwards.
Original cast
*Mr Marsland, MFH – A. Beaumont
*Harry Marsland – H. Reeves Smith
*Mr Cattermole – W. J. Hill
William Jones Hill (14 January 1834 – 13 April 1888), billed as W. J. Hill, was an English actor, singer and comedian.Boase, FedericModern English Biography (volume 1 of 4) A-H(2018)
Hill began his career in New York in 1868. Upon his return ...
*Douglas Cattermole – R. C. Carlton
*Rev Robert Spalding – Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor and theatre manager.
Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End, winning praise for adventurous progra ...
*Mr Sidney Gibson – G. W. Anson
*John – G. Ogilvy
*Knox – Mr Chalinor
*Porter – Mr Hilton
*Gardener – H Parry
*Edith Marsland – Lucy Buckstone
Lucy Isabella Buckstone (September 1857 – 17 March 1893) was an English actress born to a noted British stage family. She was perhaps best remembered for her portrayals of Annette in the Leopold David Lewis drama '' The Bells'', and Lucy Ormond ...
*Eva Webster – Miss Tilbury
*Mrs Stead – Mrs Leigh Murray
*Miss Ashford – Mrs Stephens
::Source: '' The Era''[
]
Plot
Two impecunious young men of good family, Harry Marsland and Douglas Cattermole, plot to escape their creditors with the unwitting help of the innocent young clergyman, Robert Spalding. Harry's uncle has engaged Spalding – whom he has not met – as his private secretary; Douglas takes Spalding's place, passing himself off as Spalding while leaving the real one in London to take charge of Douglas's chambers. Cattermole senior, Douglas's uncle newly returned from India, calls at the chambers; he takes Spalding to be his nephew and is disgusted at his meek and mild manner.[
At Squire Marsland's country house, Douglas – posing as Spalding – is joined by Harry. Their attempt to avoid their creditors is foiled when Mr Gibson, their principal creditor, arrives, and threatens to reveal their machinations to Mr Marsland. To placate him they play on his intense snobbery, and invite him to stay as a guest in the Squire's house. Cattermole senior is already a guest there. Old Mr Marsland, unconvinced that Cattermole junior can be such a milksop as his uncle thinks him, sends a telegraph to Douglas's chambers as a result of which the real Spalding hurries down to the house. His presence threatens to undermine Harry and Douglas's deception, and he is harried by the two of them. He is hidden in one room after another, under a table, in an oak chest, and behind the curtains. His ordeal is ended when Gibson, who has got drunk and been asked to leave the house, reveals the truth about the identities of Douglas and Spalding. This greatly pleases old Cattermole, who realises that his nephew is not saintly and ineffectual but an impudent young man after his own heart, and worthy to be his heir. Douglas pairs off with old Marsland's daughter Edith, and Harry with her friend Eva.][
]
Critical reception
The reviews for the piece were generally unfavourable. ''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 ...
'' thought it "at best but a stop-gap affording little opportunity for a display of the undoubted ability of the company".["Prince's Theatre", ''The Times'', 31 March 1884, p. 7] ''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 w ...
'' commented that the play "only entertains its hearers by fits and starts … a purposeless romp, no matter how spiritedly it is conducted, cannot last for four acts without becoming tedious to all concerned." ''The Pall Mall Gazette
''The Pall Mall Gazette'' was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood. In 1921, '' The Globe'' merged into ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', which itself was absorbed int ...
'' thought that the piece dragged badly, but suggested that there was enough comic material to make a good play after a thorough revision. ''The Era'' also thought the piece too lengthy for its material, and said that it could not predict a long run for the play, despite a good deal that was "exceedingly amusing". ''The Morning Post
''The Morning Post'' was a conservative daily newspaper published in London from 1772 to 1937, when it was acquired by ''The Daily Telegraph''.
History
The paper was founded by John Bell. According to historian Robert Darnton, ''The Morning Po ...
'' remarked, "Instead of light comedy we get heavy horseplay." The critics were similarly of the same mind about the performances, giving particular praise to Tree as the hapless Spalding. ''The Times'' said that he convulsed the house with laughter at every turn,[ and ''The Era'' observed, "we can promise our readers a hearty laugh" at his performance.][
Hawtrey revised the play, reducing it to three acts, and the following year '']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 ...
'' said, "No smarter bit of work has been seen for a long time than Mr Hawtrey's comedy. The fun is distinctly fresh, and it is crisp and clean-cut all through". The play was frequently revived during the first half of the 20th century. In 1927 ''The Times'' commented that history had not borne out its original harsh verdict, and that audiences still laughed throughout the play, which demonstrated its continuing strength after more than forty years.["The Private Secretary", ''The Times'', 20 December 1927, p. 12] In 1946 the critic Allardyce Nicoll
John Ramsay Allardyce Nicoll (28 June 1894 – 17 April 1976) was a British literary scholar and teacher.
Allardyce Nicoll was born in Partick, Glasgow, and educated at Stirling High School and the University of Glasgow, where he was the G. A. Cl ...
commented that the play "coldly regarded in the script, seems utterly beneath contempt" but that its extraordinary success showed that it "formed a not entirely despicable medium for farcical interpretation." Nicoll bracketed the piece with a later long-running farce, ''Charley's Aunt
''Charley's Aunt'' is a farce in three acts written by Brandon Thomas. The story centres on Lord Fancourt Babberley, an undergraduate whose friends Jack and Charley persuade him to impersonate the latter's aunt. The complications of the plot inc ...
''.[Nicoll, p. 183]
Notes
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Private Secretary, The
1883 plays
British plays
Comedy plays