|
Living Room (play)
''Living Room'' is a play by the British writer Esther McCracken. The play's original West End theatre, West End run at the Garrick Theatre lasted for 142 performances between 9 June and 9 October 1943, after a premiere at Richmond Theatre under the working title ''White Elephants''.Wearing p.114 Its plot concerns Slum Clearance in the United Kingdom, slum clearance and the effect it has on various people. The original cast included Lloyd Pearson, Fred Groves (actor), Fred Groves, Louise Hampton and Jane Baxter. McCracken followed it the next year with one of her biggest hits ''No Medals''. Both plays tackled more serious subjects than the light comedies she had made her name with. References Bibliography * Wearing, J.P. ''The London Stage 1940-1949: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel''. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. 1943 plays Plays by Esther McCracken Plays set in England {{1940s-play-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Esther McCracken
Esther McCracken (née Armstrong, 1902–1971) was a British actress and playwright. Biography She was born Esther Helen Armstrong in Newcastle upon Tyne on 25 June 1902 and was educated at the Central Newcastle High School, where she won the cricket-ball throwing competition every year. From 1929, she acted with the Newcastle Repertory Company. Her first play ''The Willing Spirit'' was produced in 1936. It was her second play, ''Quiet Wedding'', in 1938, which made her reputation as a writer of domestic comedy and took her to London. It was later filmed by Anthony Asquith in 1941, and by Roy Boulting in 1958, as '' Happy Is the Bride''. Her next plays, ''The Willing Spirit'' in 1936, ''Counter Attraction'' in 1938, and ''White Elephants'' in 1940, were less successful, but '' Quiet Weekend'', in 1941, surpassed her earlier success and ran for over a thousand performances. It was filmed in 1946. She married Angus McCracken, a famous northern rugby player and accountant i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West End Theatre
West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes, "West End" in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1195, Along with New York City's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London. Famous screen actors, British and international alike, frequently appear on the London stage. There are a total of 39 theatres in the West End, with the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, opened in May 1663, the oldest theatre in London. The Savoy Theatre – built as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan – was entirely lit by electricity in 1881. Opening in October 2022, @sohoplace is the first new West End theatre in 50 years. The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) announc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Garrick Theatre
The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play, '' The Notorious Mrs. Ebbsmith'', was an early success at the theatre. In its early years, the Garrick appears to have specialised in the performance of melodrama. The theatre later became associated with comedies, including '' No Sex Please, We're British'', which played for four years from 1982 to 1986. History There was previously another theatre that was sometimes called the Garrick in London, in Leman Street, opened in 1831 and demolished in 1881.Allingham, Philip V"Theatres in Victorian London" The Victorian Web, 29 November 2015 The new Garrick Theatre was financed in 1889 by the playwright W. S. Gilbert, the author of over 75 plays, including the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas. It was designed by Walter Emden, with C. J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richmond Theatre
The present Richmond Theatre, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is a British Victorian theatre located on Little Green, adjacent to Richmond Green. It opened on 18 September 1899 with a performance of ''As You Like It''. One of the finest surviving examples of the work of theatre architect Frank Matcham, the building, in red brick with buff terracotta, is listed Grade II* by Historic England. John Earl, writing in 1982, described it as " outstanding importance as the most completely preserved Matcham theatre in Greater London and one of his most satisfying interiors." History The theatre, originally known as the ''Theatre Royal and Opera House'', is structured into the familiar stalls, dress and upper circles, with four boxes at dress level. The auditorium is a mixture of gilt detailing and red plush fabrics, covering seats and front of circles. Its interior and exterior has been used as a movie set in many films (e.g. ''Evita'', ''Topsy-Turvy'', standing in f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slum Clearance In The United Kingdom
Slum clearance in the United Kingdom has been used as an urban renewal strategy to transform low income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. Early mass clearances took place in the country's northern cities. Starting from 1930, councils were expected to prepare plans to clear slum dwellings, although progress stalled upon the onset of World War II. Clearance of slum areas resumed and increased after the war, while the 1960s saw the largest number of house renewal schemes pursued by local authorities, particularly in Manchester where it was reported around 27% 'may' have been unfit for human habitation - Although the majority were well built solid structures which could have been renovated or repurposed; housing, churches, schools and pubs which formed close-knit communities were devastated, with families dispersed across other areas. Towards the end of the decade, a housing act in 1969 provided financial encouragement for authorities and la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lloyd Pearson
Lloyd Mawson Pearson (13 December 1897 – 2 June 1966) was an English actor, who appeared mostly in character roles on stage and screen. He created the roles of Rat in '' Toad of Toad Hall'' in 1929 and Alderman Helliwell in the West End production of J. B. Priestley's '' When We Are Married'' in 1938, a role he reprised in the film version in 1943. Life and career Pearson was born in Cleckheaton, near Batley in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the son of William Edward Pearson and his wife Ada, ''né'' Farrar.Gaye, pp. 1054–1055 He was educated at Whitcliffe Mount Grammar School and Owen's College. He then became a clerk in the Midland Bank. After serving in the armed forces in the First World War he studied for the stage at Lady Benson's Dramatic School and made his first appearance on the stage at the Palace Pier, Brighton in 1919 as the Police Officer in ''Diana of Dobson's''. He made his first appearance in London at the St Martin's Theatre on 21 January 1920, as Lentu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fred Groves (actor)
Fred Groves (8 August 1880 – 4 June 1955) was a British actor of the celebrated Groves acting family. On stage from 1896, he appeared in the original West End production of Noël Coward's ''Cavalcade'' (1931-2); and was a leading man in silent films, latterly becoming a character player in movies. He appeared in the 1925 play '' Number 17'' in the West End. He was a son of Charles Groves (1843-1909), a well-known Victorian and Edwardian comedic actor who made appearances on Broadway and in London's West End. He was also a nephew of the Fred Karno comedian Walter Groves (1856-1906), and a half-brother to the film and stage actor Charles Groves (1875-1955). Among his feature film appearances was the comedy ''Sally In Our Alley''. It marked the screen debut of Gracie Fields, an established music hall star. Gracie's husband, the screenwriter Archie Pitt was set to play the leading role of Alf Cope, but during the first week of filming, as Fields and Pitt were travelling back ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louise Hampton
Louise Hampton (23 December 1879 – 10 February 1954) was a British actress. Although her career began when she was a child, it was for "the pathos and dignity of her elderly, motherly roles""Obituary: Louise Hampton", ''The Stage'', 18 February 1954, p. 11 that she was best known. Life and career Early years Hampton was born in Stockport, Cheshire, the daughter of the actor Henry Hampton and his wife, Margaret, ''née'' Douglas. She made her stage debut at the age of four at the Queen's Theatre, Manchester as Henri, the child in ''Belphegor''.Parker, Gaye and Herbert, pp. 1071–1072 In 1899 she married the actor Edward Thane (1873–1954)."Louise Hampton" Ancestry UK. Retrieved 22 July 2021 In 1911 she toured Australia under the management of [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jane Baxter
Jane Baxter (9 September 1909 – 13 September 1996) was a British actress. Her stage career spanned half a century, and she appeared in a number of films and in television. Early life Baxter was born as Feodora Kathleen Alice Forde in Bremen, Germany to an Anglo-Irish naval engineer father and a German mother of noble background, Hedwig von Dieskau. The family castle lies on the outskirts of Halle in Saxony-Anhalt. Hedwig had been lady-in-waiting to Princess Charlotte, sister of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Feodora was named after Charlotte's daughter, Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen, who committed suicide in 1945. Career Feodora Forde came to London at the age of six and studied acting at the Italia Conti Academy. She made her debut on the London stage at the age of 15 at the Adelphi Theatre in 1925 as an urchin in a short-lived musical, ''Love's Prisoner''. Her breakthrough occurred in 1928 when she substituted as Peter Pan for Jean Forbes-Robertson, whom she understudied. On th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
No Medals
''No Medals'' is a play by the British writer Esther McCracken first staged in 1944. Its West End run at the Vaudeville Theatre lasted for 740 performances between 4 October 1944 and 19 July 1946. It depicts the struggles of a middle-class British housewife during the war years. The original cast included Fay Compton and Frederick Leister while Thora Hird appeared in a comic relief role as servant in her first London performance. Film adaptation In 1948 it was turned into a film ''The Weaker Sex'' with McCracken working on the adaptation herself. Directed by Roy Ward Baker, it starred Ursula Jeans, Cecil Parker Cecil Parker (born Cecil Schwabe, 3 September 1897 – 20 April 1971) was an English actor with a distinctively husky voice, who usually played supporting roles, often characters with a supercilious demeanour, in his 91 films made between ... and Joan Hopkins. Only Thora Hird reprised her role from the original production. References Bibliography * Wearin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> West End Theatre")
