''The Composite Man'' is a 1935
comedy play
Comedy is a genre of dramatic performance having a light or humorous tone that depicts amusing incidents and in which the characters ultimately triumph over adversity. For ancient Greeks and Romans, a comedy was a stage-play with a happy endi ...
by the British writer
Ronald Jeans
Ronald Jeans (10 May 1887 – 16 May 1973) was a British playwright with a career spanning nearly 50 years.
Early life
Ronald Jeans was born in Oxton, Merseyside, the younger son of Sir Alexander Grigor Jeans (1849–1924), the founder and ma ...
. The lead character is a successful
athlete
An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...
who is assumed to be a genius in everything else, which is far from the case.
It premiered at the
Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre ...
before transferring to
Daly's Theatre
Daly's Theatre was a theatre in the City of Westminster. It was located at 2 Cranbourn Street, just off Leicester Square. It opened on 27 June 1893, and was demolished in 1937.
The theatre was built for and named after the American impresa ...
in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
's
West End where it ran for 70 performances between 8 September and 7 November 1936. The original London cast included
Richard Bird,
James Hayter,
Max Adrian,
Anthony Holles,
Michael Dyne,
Hayley Bell,
Elspeth Duxbury and
Diana Churchill.
[Wearing p.543]
References
Bibliography
* Wearing, J.P. ''The London Stage 1930-1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel''. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.
1935 plays
Plays by Ronald Jeans
Comedy plays
West End plays
Plays set in London
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