''Victoria Regina'' is a 1934 play by

Laurence Housman Laurence Housman (; 18 July 1865 – 20 February 1959) was an English playwright, writer and illustrator whose career stretched from the 1890s to the 1950s. He studied art in London. He was a younger brother of the poet A. E. Housman and his s ...

about

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

, staged privately in London in 1935, produced on Broadway in 1935, and given its British public premiere in 1937.

Plot

Background

There was a ban on personations of Victoria in public theatres in Britain, and the play was first given at the

Gate Theatre The Gate Theatre is a theatre on Cavendish Row in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1928. History Beginnings The Gate Theatre was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir with Daisy Bannard Cogley and Gearóid Ó Lochlai ...

, London in May 1935. The Gate, being a theatre club, was technically private and therefore exempt from the prohibition. In 1936

Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 1 ...

had the ban revoked, and public performances of the play were possible. The first was in 1937 at the

Lyric Theatre, London The Lyric Theatre is a West End theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. It was built for the producer Henry Leslie, who financed it from the profits of the light opera hit, '' Dorothy'', which he transferred from its origina ...

, where

Pamela Stanley Pamela Margaret Stanley (6 September 1909 – 30 June 1991) was a British actress who appeared in a number of stage and film roles in Britain and the United States; the role with which she became most identified with was that of Queen Victoria. ...

repeated her performance in the title role seen at the Gate two years earlier. The play ran at the Lyric for 337 performances.

1937 cast

* Lord Conyngham –

Allan Aynesworth Edward Henry Abbot-Anderson (14 April 1864, Sandhurst, Berkshire – 22 August 1959, Camberley, Surrey), known professionally as Allan Aynesworth, was an English actor and producer. His career spanned more than six decades, from 1887 to 194 ...

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...

–

Douglas Jefferies Douglas Jefferies (1884–1959) was a British stage and film actor. Selected filmography * '' A Safe Affair'' (1931) - Henry * '' Channel Crossing'' (1933) - Dr. Walkley * '' What Happened to Harkness?'' (1934) - (uncredited) * ''The Cardinal'' ...

Duchess of Kent Duchess of Kent is the principal courtesy title used by the wife of the Duke of Kent. There have been four titles referring to Kent since the 18th century. The current duchess is Katharine, the wife of Prince Edward. He inherited the dukedom ...

– Irma Cioba *

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

– Pamela Stanley * Prince Albert –

Carl Esmond Carl Esmond (born Karl Simon; June 14, 1902– December 4, 2004) was an Austrian-born American film and stage actor, born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary. Although his age was given as 33 in the passenger list when he arrived in the USA in January 19 ...

* Prince Ernest –

Albert Lieven Albert Lieven (born Albert Fritz Liévin; 22 June 1906 – 22 December 1971) was a German actor. Early life Lieven was born in Hohenstein, East Prussia (Olszynek, Poland). His father was the head physician of the Tuberculosis sanatorium Ho ...

*Mr Anson – John Garside *Lady Muriel – Pamela Carme *Lady Grace – Frances Clare *Lady in Waiting – Enid Lindsey * Duchess of Sutherland –

Mabel Terry-Lewis Mabel Gwynedd Terry-Lewis (born as Mabel Gwynedd Lewis) ( 28 October 1872 – 28 November 1957) was an English actress and a member of the Terry-Gielgud dynasty of actors of the 19th and 20th centuries. After a successful career in her twe ...

*Lady Jane – Penelope Dudley Ward * General Grey – Douglas Jefferies * John Brown – James Woodburn * Earl of Beaconsfield – Ernest Milton ::Source: ''The Times''.

Broadway

The play was staged three times on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, New York – between 1935 and 1937, twice at the Broadhurst and in 1938 at the

Martin Beck Martin Beck is a fictional Swedish police detective and the main character in the ten novels by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, collectively titled ''The Story of a Crime''. Frequently referred to as the Martin Beck stories, all have been ada ...

. All three productions featured

Helen Hayes Helen Hayes MacArthur ( Brown; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress whose career spanned 80 years. She eventually received the nickname "First Lady of American Theatre" and was the second person and first woman to have w ...

as Victoria. A twenty-four year old

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...

enjoyed his appearance as Prince Albert in the Broadhurst productions."Victoria Regina"
IBDB. Retrieved 13 July 2020 Hayes as Victoria was recorded on radio in an episode of '' The Campbell Playhouse''.

References

External links

1952 ''Best Plays'' radio adaptation
at

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, ...

Sources

* British plays adapted into films 1934 plays Cultural depictions of Queen Victoria Broadway plays Plays about British royalty West End plays Cultural depictions of Albert, Prince Consort {{1930s-play-stub