A concert party, also called a Pierrot troupe, is the collective name for a group of entertainers, or Pierrots, popular in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

during the first half of the 20th century. The

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

given by a Pierrot troupe was called a Pierrot show. Concert parties were travelling shows of songs and comedy, often put on at the seaside and opening with a Pierrot number.

History

In 1891, the singer and banjoist Clifford Essex, inspired by Michel Carré fils' pantomime ''L'enfant prodigue'' (1890), which he had seen at the Prince of Wales' Theatre (of the latter known as the Scala Theatre) in London, resolved to create a troupe of English Pierrot entertainers. Thus began the tradition of seaside Pierrots in

pointed hat Pointed hats have been a distinctive item of headgear of a wide range of cultures throughout history. Although often suggesting an ancient Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European tradition, they were also traditionally worn by women of Sápmi, Lapland ...

s and black or coloured costumes who sang, danced, juggled, and joked on the piers of

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

and

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

from the 1890s until the 1950s.See Pertwee. The style of performance attracted artists from

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

and variety theatre. Some performers, such as Neville Kennard, were known as specialists in the field. Immensely popular in Great Britain from the 1920s to the 1940s, concert parties were also formed by several countries'

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

during the First and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

s. During the Second World War, the British Armed Forces' concert party became known as the

Entertainments National Service Association The Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was an organisation established in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, ...

(ENSA), later succeeded by the Combined Services Entertainment (CSE). As other forms of entertainment (particularly

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

) replaced variety shows in general, concert parties largely died out during the 1950s. This form of entertainment has been described by Roy Hudd as long-gone and much lamented.Roy Hudd, Philip Hindin, ''Roy Hudd's cavalcade of variety acts: a who was who of light entertainment, 1945-60'', 1997, p94 The most famous fictitious concert party outside the armed forces was ''

The Good Companions ''The Good Companions'' is a novel by the English author J. B. Priestley. Written in 1929, it follows the fortunes of a Concert Party (entertainment), concert party on a tour of England. It is Priestley's most famous novel and established hi ...

'' in J. B. Priestley's eponymous novel. In the novel '' Sylvia Scarlett'', the main characters (

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English and American actor. Known for his blended British and American accent, debonair demeanor, lighthearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing, he ...

and

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress whose Katharine Hepburn on screen and stage, career as a Golden Age of Hollywood, Hollywood leading lady spanned six decades. She was known for her headstrong ...

in the film version) form a concert party, The Pink Pierrots. A Pierrot troupe features strongly in

Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have been tra ...

's 1952 children's book, ''The Rubadub Mystery''.

References

Bibliography

* Pertwee, Bill. ''Pertwee’s Promenades and Pierrots: One Hundred Years of Seaside Entertainment''. Newton Abbot (Eng.): Westbridge Books, 1979. * Columbia University, Press."J.B.Priestley". "''Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia'', 6th Edition(2013): 1. ''History Reference Center''. web. 15 Apr. 2013. * RIM, plc." Roy Hudd". ''Hutchinson's Biography Database''(2011): 1. ''History Reference Center''. web. 15 Apr. 2013.

External links

Historical archives at UK's ''Archives Hub''

Golden summers of concert party years
{Dead link, date=July 2020 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes
Pierrot troupes
on postcards Music hall Entertainment organizations * Percy Monkman https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/he-entertained-troops-in-two-world-wars-bradford-bank-clerk-with-a-double-life/ar-AA1Ggghf