''Banana Ridge'' is a farce by

Ben Travers Ben Travers (12 November 188618 December 1980) was an English writer. His output includes more than 20 plays, 30 screenplays, 5 novels, and 3 volumes of memoirs. He is best remembered for his long-running series of farces first staged in the ...

. It opened at the Strand Theatre on 27 April 1938 and ran for 291 performances. The play revolves round the question of the paternity of a young man, and the worry of each of the two principal characters that he may be the young man's father.

Background

In the 1920s and 30s Travers had written nine farces which, with three by other authors, were known collectively as the '' Aldwych farce''s. The series had run in uninterrupted succession at the

Aldwych Theatre The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Aldwych in the City of Westminster, central London. It was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200 on three levels. History Origins The theatre was constructed in th ...

between 1923 and 1933 After this Travers attempted a serious play on a religious theme, but it was not a success. He did better with his next play, ''O Mistress Mine'' (1936), a romantic

Ruritanian Ruritania is a fictional country, originally located in central Europe as a setting for novels by Anthony Hope, such as ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1894). Nowadays the term connotes a quaint minor European country, or is used as a placeholder name f ...

comedy. ''Banana Ridge'' was his return to the genre for which he was celebrated. It starred

Robertson Hare John Robertson Hare, OBE (17 December 1891 – 25 January 1979) was an English actor, who came to fame in the Aldwych farces. He is remembered by more recent audiences for his performances as the Archdeacon in the popular BBC sitcom, ''All Ga ...

, one of the best-loved members of the regular Aldwych team, and

Alfred Drayton Alfred Drayton (1 November 1881 – 26 April 1949) was a British stage and film actor. Drayton worked in a brewery when he was 18 but having a good deal of amateur dramatics experience decided to go on stage. His first appearance on stage was ''T ...

, an experienced and popular comic actor. Travers, who did not usually act, played the role of Wun, a servant. He had spent some years in Malaya as a young man, and wrote, and sometimes improvised, colloquial Malay lines for himself.

Original cast

*Eleanor Pound – Kathleen O'Regan *Mason – Basil Lynn *Susan Long –

Olga Lindo Olga Lindo (13 July 1899 – 7 May 1968) was an English actress. She was the daughter of Frank Lindo, a well-known actor, manager and author. She made her stage debut at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 26 December 1913. She later joined her ...

*Digby Pound –

*Willoughby Pink –

*Jones –

Robert Flemyng Benjamin Arthur Flemyng (3 January 1912 – 22 May 1995), known professionally as Robert Flemyng, was a British actor. The son of a doctor, and originally intended for a medical career, Flemyng learned his stagecraft in provincial repertory the ...

*Cora Pound – Carla Lehmann *Basil Bingley – Frank Royde *Jean Pink – Constance Lorne *Wun –

*Staples – Atholl Fleming *Sir Ramsey Tripp – William Senior

Plot

Critical reception

Revivals and adaptations

The play was revived in 1976, opening 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 P ...

on 19 July, and running till 13 August 1977. It starred

Robert Morley Robert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE (26 May 1908 – 3 June 1992) was an English actor who enjoyed a lengthy career in both Britain and the United States. He was frequently cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment, of ...

as Digby Pound and George Cole as Willoughby Pink. Cole was succeeded in January 1977 by

Julian Orchard Julian Dean Chavasse Orchard (3 March 1930, in Wheatley, Oxfordshire – 21 June 1979, in Westminster, London)GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 1979 15 1935 WESTMINSTER – Julian Dean C. Orchard, DoB = 3 March 1930 was an English comedy actor. He ...

. A film adaptation of the play was made in 1942, under the same title. Hare and Drayton repeated their stage roles. It was directed by Walter C. Mycroft, who co-wrote the screenplay with Travers and

Lesley Storm Lesley Storm was the pen-name of Mabel Cowie (1898–1975), also known by her married name of Mabel Clark. She was a Scottish writer, who wrote a number of plays, some of which were filmed. ''Black Chiffon'' and '' Roar Like a Dove'' were ma ...

."Banana Ridge"
British Film Institute, accessed 12 March 2013

Notes

References

* {{cite book, editor-last= Gaye, editor-first=Freda , year= 1967, title=Who's Who in the Theatre , edition=fourteenth, location=London , publisher=Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons , oclc=5997224 1938 plays Comedy plays Plays by Ben Travers