''The Eve of Saint Venus'' is a story or, as author

Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993), who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his dystopian satire ''A Clockwork ...

(pen-name of John Burgess Wilson) put it, an "opusculum", on the theme of marriage. Originally conceived as a

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

in three acts in 1952, it was re-written as a novella after the author initially failed to find a theatre willing to stage the play. The novella was first published in 1964. The play version of the work premiered in 1979.

History

The first version of this story was written in 1952 as a three-act theological comedy. Initially Burgess planned to use it as a libretto for an opera he intended writing. However the libretto became too long to work in an opera, and he completed it as a stage play. When he was unable to find a drama group willing to mount a production, he set it aside, and eventually released it as a novel, retaining some of the poetry that survived from the would-be libretto, including a sonnet, a hymn to (sexual) love. Andrew Biswell describes this, and the problematic nature of Burgess's own first marriage while he was writing the libretto, in his biography of Burgess. Burgess's play version of ''The Eve of Saint Venus'' received its premiere at the

New Wolsey Theatre The New Wolsey Theatre is an award-winning producing theatre with a café & bar in Ipswich, Suffolk. It is a midsized regional theatre, having a seating capacity of 400. History It replaced The Arts Theatre, the town's much loved and respecte ...

in December 1979 with a cast that included Ian Talbot as Ambrose,

Joanna Foster Joanna Foster is a British actress active in theatre and television since 1978. On stage she created roles in the world premieres of Andrew Davies's ''Diary of A Desperate Woman'' (1979), Anthony Burgess's '' The Eve of Saint Venus'' (1979), and ...

as Diana, Catherine Terris as Julia, Brian Ralph as George Selway, M.P., Audrey Barr as Mrs. Selway, and Gabrielle Hamilton as Nanny. Antony Tuckey directed the production. Burgess also made several sketches of characters in the novel. (These are in a notebook in the archive of the Anthony Burgess Centre at the University of Angers.) A new edition of the book, which Burgess described as a "tribute to matrimony", was dedicated to the

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

and

Princess Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subs ...

of Wales, and published in 1981, the year of their marriage. The Prince and Princess separated in 1992, and were divorced in 1996. Burgess wrote in the preface to another edition, that of 1984: "I dedicate this work to all ... who, ... having achieved arriage... are still not disillusioned with it."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eve Of St. Venus, The 1964 British novels 1979 plays Novels by Anthony Burgess British novellas Sidgwick & Jackson books