Point Valaine
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''Point Valaine'' is a play by
Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...
. It was written as a vehicle for
Alfred Lunt Alfred David Lunt (August 12, 1892 – August 3, 1977) was an American actor and director, best known for his long stage partnership with his wife, Lynn Fontanne, from the 1920s to 1960, co-starring in Broadway theatre, Broadway and West End thea ...
and his wife
Lynn Fontanne Lynn Fontanne (; 6 December 1887 – 30 July 1983) was an English actress. After early success in supporting roles in the West End theatre, West End, she met the American actor Alfred Lunt, whom she married in 1922 and with whom she co-starred i ...
, who starred together in the original
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 Stre ...
production in 1934. The play was not seen in Britain until 1944 and was not staged in London until 1947. The play is a story of sexual intrigue, jealousy and suicide in the West Indies. Its striking departure from Coward's familiar high society comedy did not appeal to audiences, and despite the box-office appeal of the Lunts it ran for only 55 performances on Broadway and did no better in Britain with other performers.


Background and first productions

Coward had been a close friend of the husband-and-wife stars,
Alfred Lunt Alfred David Lunt (August 12, 1892 – August 3, 1977) was an American actor and director, best known for his long stage partnership with his wife, Lynn Fontanne, from the 1920s to 1960, co-starring in Broadway theatre, Broadway and West End thea ...
and
Lynn Fontanne Lynn Fontanne (; 6 December 1887 – 30 July 1983) was an English actress. After early success in supporting roles in the West End theatre, West End, she met the American actor Alfred Lunt, whom she married in 1922 and with whom she co-starred i ...
since they met in 1921, and the three had appeared together in Coward's ''
Design for Living ''Design for Living'' is a comedy play written by Noël Coward in 1932. It concerns a trio of artistic characters, Gilda, Otto and Leo, and their complicated three-way relationship. Originally written to star Lynn Fontanne, Alfred Lunt and C ...
'', which broke box-office records 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 Stre ...
in 1932. Two years later, the Lunts wanted a new play from Coward, but were dismayed at what he wrote for them. He said he was honestly attempting to break new ground "by creating a group of characters and establishing an atmosphere as far removed as possible from anything I have done before". The usual Coward witticisms were eschewed and the dialogue was littered with strong language. Fontanne was certain the public would not like the sordid plot and predicted the play would run no longer than six weeks. Coward dismissed her doubts, but they were justified. The first night audience received the play unenthusiastically. The Lunts were idolised, and the public did not take to seeing them play flawed and sordid characters. Coward's biographer
Philip Hoare Philip Hoare (Southampton, 1958) is a British writer, film-maker and curator. He won the 2009 Samuel Johnson Prize, now known as the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, for his work ''Leviathan, or the Whale''. Early life and education Ho ...
writes that ''Point Valaine'' was the only failure of the Lunts' joint career.Hoare, p. 264 After a try-out in Boston in late December 1934, the play opened at the
Ethel Barrymore Theatre The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 243 West 47th Street (Manhattan), 47th Street in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1928, it ...
in New York on 16 January 1935. Despite a highly favourable review in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' by the influential critic
Brooks Atkinson Justin Brooks Atkinson (November 28, 1894 – January 14, 1984) was an American theater critic. He worked for ''The New York Times'' from 1922 to 1960. In his obituary, the ''Times'' called him "the theater's most influential reviewer of his ...
(see below), the play closed after 55 performances. The first British performances were given by the
Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...
company at the
Playhouse Playhouse () is a common term for a theatre. Playhouse, The Playhouse, Playhouse Theatre, or Playhouse Theater may also refer to: Venues and theatre companies Australia * Dunstan Playhouse, at the Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide, South Au ...
, Liverpool, running for 37 performances from 18 October 1944.
Mary Ellis Mary Ellis (born May Belle Elsas; June 15, 1897 – January 30, 2003) was an American actress and singer who spent most of her career in Britain. Trained as a lyric soprano, she began performing at the Metropolitan Opera where she created the ...
played Linda,
Frederick Valk Frederick Valk (10 June 1895 – 23 July 1956) was a German-born stage and screen actor of Czech Jewish descent who fled to the United Kingdom in the late 1930s to escape Nazi persecution, and subsequently became a naturalised British citizen. ...
Stefan and Julian Dallas Martin. The first London production was at the Embassy Theatre, opening on 3 September 1947 and running for 37 performances. Mary Ellis was again Linda, with Ben-Astar as Stefan and
Allan Cuthbertson Allan Darling Cuthbertson (7 April 1920 – 8 February 1988) was an Australian actor. He was best known for playing stern-faced military officers in British films of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Cuthbertson was born in Perth, Western Austra ...
as Martin.Mander and Mitchenson, p. 190


Roles and original casts


Synopsis

The play is set in the Point Valaine hotel on a small island in the
British West Indies The British West Indies (BWI) were the territories in the West Indies under British Empire, British rule, including Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Antigua and Barb ...
. The hotel is owned and run by Linda Valaine, an attractive woman aged between thirty-five and forty-five. One of the guests at the hotel is the writer Mortimer Quinn, who coaxes Linda into telling him her life story. She was a missionary's daughter, brought up locally; to escape the oppressive religious environment she married a Frenchman, though not in love with him, and went to live in
Lyons Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
. He was killed in the First World War, and she returned to the island, changed its name from Shark Point to Point Valaine, and turned the mission station into a hotel. Quinn asks her about the life story of her interesting and mysterious Russian head waiter, Stefan, but she tries to change the subject. After parting company from Quinn, Linda goes to her room, where she is joined by Stefan, who, it becomes clear, is her lover. Among new arrivals at the hotel is Martin Welford, a gallant young airman, recuperating from crashing and getting lost in the jungle. He falls in love with Linda, who tells him she is too old for him, but eventually falls into his arms. Stefan discovers the affair and makes his jealousy and his relationship with Linda very plain to Martin, who is appalled. Linda realises that Martin will never speak to her again, and angrily renounces Stefan. She tells him she has never loved him and will never forgive him: "Go away and die!". Unseen by Linda he jumps from the balcony into the sea. The next morning the disillusioned Martin is comforted by Quinn, who has guessed about the sexual triangle. He tells the young man that when he is older he will be able to look back with detachment and feel sorry for Linda. The assembled guests are interrupted at their breakfasts by the shrieking of the hotel's maid outside. Quinn goes to investigate, and returns to report that Stefan has been found drowned. Linda "in a harsh, cold voice" speaks Stefan's epitaph: "I must see about engaging a new head waiter".Mander and Mitchenson, pp. 191–194


Critical reception

Brooks Atkinson remarked on the "sense of impending horror" Coward conjured up; "Mr Coward knows to drain ugliness and violence out of the tropical atmosphere." He found Stefan's suicide, "the climax of a vague, mounting fever in the detached life of Point Valaine and Mr Coward is ingenious enough to capture the fullness of the evil". Atkinson also praised the stars highly, and suggested that the impact of the play owed much to their performances. Atkinson's fellow critic Percy Hammond enjoyed the piece, but thought it "a little play and a big show" chiefly remarkable for the performances of the Lunts. Burns Mantle in ''
The Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN radio and WGN tel ...
'' praised Coward for breaking away from his high society manner but regretted his choice of so "ugly and forbidding" a theme, and criticised the Lunts for undertaking their roles. The New York correspondent of ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' thought the play had "a real and violent emotional power: a power quite different from anything Mr Coward has done before", but he added that he was in a minority among reviewers in rating the piece highly. When the play was staged in London in 1947, Philip Hope-Wallace commented in ''
The Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' that it had seemed a mystery why a serious play by so distinguished a writer as Coward had not been staged in London before, but although "on paper there seemed much virtue in this tale", it turned out to be "one of those plays which just fail for lack of essential eloquence .. a continuous misfire, in spite of some sharp sketches". The reviewer in ''The Times'' judged that "the simple story has the ring of truth, and its central character is portrayed full length, full depth … many passages are deeply moving." When the play was revived at the Chichester Festival in 1991, the reviewer in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' thought it "a theatrical bolt from the blue … a rare find". "Never before or after did owardwrite about sexual politics and of an erotic relationship which vaults the frontiers of class and rank with such power and such conviction".De Jongh, Nicholas. "Coward's brush with danger", ''The Guardian'', 7 June 1991, p. 36 In Hoare's view, the play is "an unsatisfactory piece which fails to explore the questions it raises". He finds a debt to
Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...
in the characters and milieu, and suggests that the character Mortimer Quinn is an evocation of Maugham, to whom the published text of the play is dedicated.


Revivals

The play was staged at the Chichester Festival in June 1991, with Sara Kestleman as Linda and
Jack Klaff Jack Klaff, born August 6, 1951, is a South African-born actor, writer and academic. He has held professorships at Princeton University and Starlab. Amongst his early screen roles were in ''Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'' (1977) as Red Four ...
as Stefan, and at the
Shaw Festival The Shaw Festival is a Charitable organization, Charitable theatre festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. It is the second largest repertory theatre company in North America, second only to Canada's Strat ...
in 1992.Portman, Jamie. "Raw emotions: Coward wit absent in Point Valaine", ''The Record'', 10 August 1992, p. D12


References and sources


References


Sources

* * {{Noël Coward musicals 1934 plays Plays by Noël Coward