You Never Can Tell (play)

''You Never Can Tell'' is an 1897 four-act play by George Bernard Shaw that debuted at the Royalty Theatre. It was published as part of a volume of Shaw's plays entitled ''Plays Pleasant''.

Characters

*Mr. (or Dr.) Valentine, the dentist – Mr. Yorke Stephens
*Gloria Clandon, the eldest daughter – Miss Margaret Halstan
*Walter, the waiter – Mr. James Welch
*Dolly Clandon, twin to Philip – Miss Winifred Fraser
*Philip Clandon, twin to Dolly – Mr. Roland Bottomley
*Mrs. Clandon, the mother – Miss Elsie Chester
*Mr. Fergus Crampton, the landlord and father – Mr. Herman Vezin
*Mr. Finch McComas, a solicitor – Mr. Sydney Warden
*Bohun, a QC (Queens Counsel) – Mr. Charles Charrington
*The Parlor-maid – Miss Mabel Hardinge
*Jo, another waiter – Mr. Edward Knoblauch
*The Cook – Mr. Leopold Profeit

Produced under the direction of Mr. James Welch

Plot

The play is set in a seaside town and tells the story of Mrs Clandon and her three children, Dolly, Phillip and Gloria, who have just returned to England after an eighteen-year stay in Madeira.

The children have no idea who their father is and, through a comedy of errors, end up inviting him to a family lunch. At the same time, a dentist named Valentine has fallen in love with the eldest daughter, Gloria, who considers herself a modern woman and claims to have no interest in love or marriage.

The play continues with a comedy of errors and confused identities, with the friendly and wise waiter, Walter (most commonly referred to by the characters as "William," because Dolly thinks he resembles Shakespeare), dispensing his wisdom with the titular phrase "You Never Can Tell."

Setting

Time: One Day in August 1896

Place: An English seaside resort

;Act I: A dentist's office
;Act II: The Terrace of The Marine Hotel
;Act III: The Clandons sitting room at The Marine Hotel
;Act IV: The Clandons sitting room at The Marine Hotel – Later at Night

In performance

*

''You Never Can Tell'' has also been performed at the Shaw Festival, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario several times: in 1963, 1973, 1979, 1988, 1995, 2005 and most recently in 2015.
'You Never Can Tell' aired on 'BBC Play of the Month' on October 30, 1977, with Robert Powell as Dr Valentine, Judy Parfitt as Mrs. Clandon and Cyril Cusack as the Waiter·

Audio adaptations

The BBC
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