''The Watched Pot'' (alternative title ''The Mistress of Briony'') is a

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

play by

Saki Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), popularly known by his pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirise Edwardian society and ...

and Charles Maude published in 1924. The play, all three acts of which are set in the fictional

English country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

of Briony Manor, revolves around the search for a suitable bride for young Trevor Bavvel, who is the sole heir to the estate. The present owner is the widowed Hortensia Bavvel, his mother, who is a bossy and short-tempered woman. ''The Watched Pot'' had its professional premiere on July 14, 1930, during the third

summer stock In American theater, summer stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock ...

season of the University Players. It was directed by Bretaigne Windust. Among the cast were

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor whose career spanned five decades on Broadway theatre, Broadway and in Hollywood. On screen and stage, he often portrayed characters who embodied an everyman image. Bo ...

(William), Elizabeth Johnson (Sybil Bumont), Christine Ramsey (Agatha Clifford), Charles Leatherbee (Trevor Bavvel), Elizabeth Fenner (Hortensia Bavvel),

Kent Smith Frank Kent SmithGordon, Dr. Roger L. (2018). Supporting Actors in Motion Pictures: Volume II'. Pittsburgh, PA: Dorrance Publishing. pp. 130, 131. . "Kent Smith: Frank Kent Smith was born on March 19, 1907, in New York City. ..He was marrie ...

(Ludovic Bavvel), Aleta Freel (Clare Henessey), Bretaigne Windust (Rene St. Gall), Thomas Bartlett Quigley (Stephen Sparrowby), Robert C. Leatherbee (The Youngest Drummond Boy), Alfred Dalrymple (Col. Mutsome), and Nancy Sullivan (Mrs. Peter Vulpy).''See'' Houghton, Norris, ''But Not Forgotten: The Adventure of the University Players,'' William Sloane Associates (New York: 1951), p.135f; and Sweeney, Kevin, ''Henry Fonda: A Bio-Bibliography,'' Greenwood Press (New York: 1992), p. 172.

References

External links

* The full text of
The Watched Pot
' at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

1924 plays Plays by Saki {{1920s-play-stub