''In Good King Charles's Golden Days'' is a play by

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

, subtitled ''A True History that Never Happened''. It was written in 1938-39 as an "educational history film" for film director

Gabriel Pascal Gabriel Pascal (born Gábor Lehel; 4 June 1894 – 6 July 1954) was a Hungarian film producer and director whose best-known films were made in the United Kingdom. Pascal was the first film producer to successfully bring the plays of Georg ...

in the aftermath of '' Pygmalion''s cinema triumph. The cast of the proposed film were to be sumptuously clothed in 17th century costumes, far beyond the resources of most theatre managements. However, by the time of its completion in May 1939, it had turned into a Shavian Restoration comedy.''Bernard Shaw, Volume 3: The Lure of Fantasy'' by Michael Holroyd, Chatto and Windus, London (1991) The title of the play is taken from the first line of the traditional song " The Vicar of Bray".

Plot

The setting is the English court during the reign of Charles II of England (reigned 1660–1685). A discussion play, the issues of nature, science, power and leadership are debated between King Charles II ('Mr Rowley'),

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a " natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...

, George Fox and the artist Godfrey Kneller, with interventions by three of the king's mistresses (

Barbara Villiers, 1st Duchess of Cleveland Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, Countess of Castlemaine (née Barbara Villiers, – 9 October 1709), was an English royal mistress of the Villiers family and perhaps the most notorious of the many mistresses of King Charles II of En ...

;

Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth Louise Renée de Penancoët de Kéroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth (5 September 1649 – 14 November 1734) was a mistress of Charles II of England. Early life Louise was the daughter of Guillaume de Penancoët, Seigneur de Kéroualle (d. 1690) ...

; and

Nell Gwynn Eleanor Gwyn (2 February 1650 – 14 November 1687; also spelled ''Gwynn'', ''Gwynne'') was a celebrity figure of the Restoration period. Praised by Samuel Pepys for her comic performances as one of the first actresses on the English stag ...

). The short second Act involves Charles in conversation with his queen,

Catherine of Braganza Catherine of Braganza ( pt, Catarina de Bragança; 25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705) was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland during her marriage to King Charles II, which lasted from 21 May 1662 until his death on 6 February 1685. She ...

Original production

Billed as 'A history lesson in three scenes by Bernard Shaw', the first production was at the Malvern Festival Theatre on 12 August 1939, directed by H K Ayliff and designed by Paul Shelving. Cast: *Mrs Basham: Isobel Thornton *Sally:

Betty Marsden Betty Marsden (24 February 1919 – 18 July 1998) was an English comedy actress. She is particularly remembered as a cast member of the radio series '' Beyond Our Ken'' and ''Round the Horne''. Marsden also appeared in two Carry On films, ''Carr ...

*Isaac Newton:

Cecil Trouncer Cecil Stallard Trouncer (5 April 1898 – 15 December 1953) was an English actor. His daughter Ruth Trouncer also took up acting. Early life Cecil Trouncer was born in Southport on 5 April 1898 and was educated at Clifton College. During the Firs ...

*George Fox: Herbert Lomas *Mr Rowley (King Charles II):

Ernest Thesiger Ernest Frederic Graham Thesiger, CBE (15 January 1879 – 14 January 1961) was an English stage and film actor. He is noted for his performance as Doctor Septimus Pretorius in James Whale's film ''Bride of Frankenstein'' (1935). Biography ...

*Nell Gwynn:

Eileen Beldon Eileen Beldon (12 September 1901 – 3 August 1985) was an English stage and film actress. She had a successful career as a Shakespearean actress as well as in modern repertory theatre. Biography Eileen Beldon was born on 12 September 1901 in ...

*Barbara Villiers, 1st Duchess of Cleveland; Daphne Heard *Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth:

Ina De La Haye Ina De La Haye (1906–1972) was a Russian Empire born actress and singer known for her performances in Britain on stage, film and television. She was also known as Ina Delahaye.Wearing p.56 She was married to Colonel J. V. Delahaye from 1930 to ...

*James, Duke of York: William Hutchison *Godfrey Kneller: Alec Clunes *Queen Catherine of Braganza:

Violet Vanbrugh Violet Vanbrugh (11 June 1867 – 10 November 1942), born Violet Augusta Mary Barnes, was an English actress with a career that spanned more than 50 years. Despite her many successes, her career was overshadowed by that of her more famous sister ...

Ayliff's production first transferred to the Streatham Hill Theatre on 15 April 1940, then to the New Theatre in London on 9 May 1940.

James Agate James Evershed Agate (9 September 1877 – 6 June 1947) was an English diarist and theatre critic between the two world wars. He took up journalism in his late twenties and was on the staff of ''The Manchester Guardian'' in 1907–1914. He later ...

, writing for ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'', noted that the play was the best to have "come from the Shavian loom since ''

Methuselah Methuselah () ( he, מְתוּשֶׁלַח ''Məṯūšélaḥ'', in pausa ''Məṯūšālaḥ'', "His death shall send" or "Man of the javelin" or "Death of Sword"; gr, Μαθουσάλας ''Mathousalas'') was a biblical patriarch and a f ...

''".

Revivals

Ernest Thesiger, who again played 'Mr Rowley', revived the play at the Malvern Festival on 11 August 1949. It was also revived at the Malvern Festival Theatre in 1983. A radio production was broadcast on the

BBC Third Programme The BBC Third Programme was a national radio station produced and broadcast from 1946 until 1967, when it was replaced by Radio 3. It first went on the air on 29 September 1946 and quickly became one of the leading cultural and intellectual f ...

on September 18th 1949 with Abraham Sofaer in the title role. Radio Times
/ref> The first North American production was on 24 January 1957 at the Downtown Theater on New York's East 4th Street, where it ran for nearly two years, one of the longest runs of any Shaw play in the USA (as noted by Lawrence Langner). A BBC production in the ''

Play of the Month ''Play of the Month'' is a BBC television anthology series, which ran from 1965 to 1983 featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays (or adaptations) which were usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different wo ...

'' series, starring Sir

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Brit ...

as King Charles, was broadcast in February 1970.

References

*''In Good King Charles's Golden Days'' by Bernard Shaw, with 12 text illustrations by

Feliks Topolski Feliks Topolski RA (14 August 1907 – 24 August 1989) was a Polish expressionist painter and draughtsman working primarily in the United Kingdom. Biography Feliks Topolski was born on 14 August 1907 in Warsaw, Poland. He studied in the Acade ...

, Constable, London (1939) *''File on Shaw'', compiled by Margery Morgan, Methuen, London (1989) *''Bernard Shaw'', a biography by Michael Holroyd in five volumes, Chatto and Windus (1988-1992) *Shaw's preface to the play, first published in the collected edition of ''Geneva, Cymbeline Refinished'' and ''In Good King Charles's Golden Days'', Constable (1947) *''Bernard Shaw: The Complete Prefaces'', volume III, 1930–1950, edited by Dan H Laurence and Daniel J Leary, Allen Lane, The Penguin Press (1997) {{George Bernard Shaw 1939 plays Plays set in the 17th century Plays by George Bernard Shaw Cultural depictions of Isaac Newton Cultural depictions of Charles II of England Cultural depictions of Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland Cultural depictions of Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth Cultural depictions of Nell Gwyn Cultural depictions of Catherine of Braganza