''The Whip'' is a melodrama by Henry Hamilton and Cecil Raleigh, first performed in 1909 at the

Drury Lane Theatre The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drur ...

in London. The play's original production had intricate scenery and spectacular stage effects, including a horse race and a train crash. There were later productions in the United States and Australia, and the play inspired two

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

Reception

Tallulah Bankhead Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's '' L ...

offers a reminiscence of attending ''The Whip'' at the

Manhattan Opera House The Manhattan Center is a building in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Built in 1906 and located at 311 West 34th Street, it houses Manhattan Center Studios, the location of two recording studios; its Grand Ballroom; and the Hammerstein Ballroo ...

as a child: The heroine, "Lady Di" Sartoris, created by

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 ...

, was referenced in

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...

's '' Heavy Weather'' (1933).

Adaptations

A novelization by Richard Parker was published in 1913. The play was adapted into films of the same name in 1917 and again in 1928.

Sources

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References

External links

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Photographs of the stage settings for ''The Whip''
British plays 1909 plays {{1900s-play-stub