''The Watched Pot'' (alternative title ''The Mistress of Briony'') is a

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

play by

Saki Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), better known by the pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirize Edwardian society and cultur ...

and

Charles Maude Charles Bulmer Maude (29 April 1848 - 11 May 1927) was an Anglican priest in the last third of the nineteenth century and the first third of the twentieth. Maude was born in Chapel Allerton, Potternewton, Leeds, son of Edmund Maude, of Middleton L ...

published in 1924. The play, all three acts of which are set in the fictional

English country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

of Briony Manor, revolves around the search for a suitable bride for young Trevor Bavvel, who is the sole heir to the estate. The present owner is the widowed Hortensia Bavvel, his mother, who is a bossy and short-tempered woman. ''The Watched Pot'' had its professional premiere on July 14, 1930, during the third

summer stock In American theater, summer-stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock the ...

season of the

University Players The University Players was primarily a summer stock theater company located in West Falmouth, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, from 1928 to 1932. It was formed in 1928 by eighteen college undergraduates. Notable among them were Eleanor Phelps of Vassa ...

. It was directed by

Bretaigne Windust Ernest Bretaigne Windust (January 20, 1906 – March 19, 1960) was a United States-based French-born theater, film, and television director. Early life He was born in Paris, the son of English violin virtuoso Ernest Joseph Windust and singer ...

. Among the cast were

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and rai ...

(William), Elizabeth Johnson (Sybil Bumont), Christine Ramsey (Agatha Clifford), Charles Leatherbee (Trevor Bavvel), Elizabeth Fenner (Hortensia Bavvel),

Kent Smith Frank Kent Smith (March 19, 1907 – April 23, 1985) was an American actor who had a lengthy career in film, theatre and television. Early years Smith was the son of Mr. and Mrs. James E. Smith. He was born in New York City and was educated ...

(Ludovic Bavvel),

Aleta Freel Aleta Freel (June 14, 1907 – December 7, 1935) was an American stage actress. Life and career Freel was born Aleta Freile in Jersey City, New Jersey, the daughter of physician Dr. William Freile and the former Minnie Uchtman. She was educ ...

(Clare Henessey), Bretaigne Windust (Rene St. Gall), Thomas Bartlett Quigley (Stephen Sparrowby), Robert C. Leatherbee (The Youngest Drummond Boy), Alfred Dalrymple (Col. Mutsome), and Nancy Sullivan (Mrs. Peter Vulpy).''See'' Houghton, Norris, ''But Not Forgotten: The Adventure of the University Players,'' William Sloane Associates (New York: 1951), p.135f; and Sweeney, Kevin, ''Henry Fonda: A Bio-Bibliography,'' Greenwood Press (New York: 1992), p. 172.

References

External links

* The full text of
The Watched Pot
' at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

1924 plays Plays by Saki {{1920s-play-stub