Quality Street: Australia Revivals

Brian Aherne as Captain Valentine Brown, with Joan Radford and Betty Schuster. The HOME, 2 August 1926, p.34.

Quality Street. Comedy in four acts by J.M. Barrie. J.C. Williamson Ltd presents Dion Boucicault’s Specially Organised London Company. Play produced by Dion Boucicault. Scenery by George Upward. The dances by Minnie Everett. All the costumes from the designs of Percy Anderson, made by Messrs R.J. Simmons, King Street, Covent Garden, London.

In 1926, Dion Boucicault, who had been Robert Brough’s business and acting partner from 1886-1896, during the glory days of the Brough-Boucicault Comedy Company, made a return visit to Australia. Boucicault had previously toured Australia in 1923, accompanied by his actress wife Irene Vanbrugh. As Irene recalled in her memoirs:

In January 1926 Dot took an interesting company headed by Angela Baddeley and Brian Aherne and introduced the Barrie plays to Australia, and had as great effect on the public there as we associated with them here. Meanwhile, he left me in London in an amusing play called All the King’s Horses.

Irene Vanbrugh, To Tell My Story, p.134

Ahead of the arrival of Boucicault and his company, The Sydney Morning Herald informed playgoers:

THE BARRIE PLAYS.

One of the most attractive and interesting features of the dramatic year will be the production of several of the Barrie plays by Mr. Dion Boucicault and the new company which he has assembled In England, under the management of J.C. Williamson, Ltd. The company will derive increased importance from the engagement of the well-known actress, Miss Mary Jerrold, who has had a notable career on the British stage in an extensive range of characters, in drama and modern comedy, as well as in the repertory season at the Duke of York’s Theatre in 1910. One of her roles is that of Susan Throssell, in “Quality Street”. Mr. Hubert Harben, who was also in these repertory productions, and has had considerable experience on the stage in England and America, will be another of the principals of the new company. The list of artists engaged by Mr. Boucicault also includes the names of Miss Angela Baddeley, Miss Sara Dartrey, Miss Betty Schuster, and Messrs. Norman MacOwan and Stephen Thomas. It has already been announced that Miss Mary Hinton (Mrs. Pitt-Rivers) is to be one of the principals; and the fact that Mr. Brian Aherne, an English actor whose work has attracted wide attention, is to be in the cast, was stated in this column some weeks ago. Mr. Boucicault and the new artists are now on their way to Australia. They will begin this eventful series of performances in Melbourne on March 20 with “Quality Street”.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 30 January 1926, p.10

NEW PLAYERS.

DION BOUCICAULT RETURNS

Mr. Dion Boucicault, who left for England in July last in search of new plays for Australia, returned last night on the R.M.S. Comorin.

In a short interview on board, Mr. Boucicault said that he had secured several of J. M. Barrie’s plays, which will be presented in Australia, in conjunction with the J.C. Williamson Co., opening in Melbourne on March 20. The repertoire includes “Quality Street”, “The Admirable Crichton”, “What Every Woman Knows”, and “Mary Rose”. If other plays are wanted there are “Dear Brutus” and “A Kiss for Cinderella”. The company comprises 12 artists, all of whom are new to Australia, most of them having been associated in one way or another with the production of Barrie’s plays in England, some of them in the original productions in London. The principals are Miss Mary Jerrold, who is a granddaughter of Douglas Jerrold, one-time editor of London “Punch”; Miss Angela Baddeley, who was playing up to the night before the ship left London as Anne Boleyn in a revival of “Henry VIII”; and Mr. Brian Aherne, who plays the juvenile leading parts.

Discussing general theatrical topics, Mr. Boucicault mentioned that he produced in London on the Monday before leaving England a new play by a new author for Miss Irene Vanbrugh (Mrs. Boucicault). The greatest theatrical success of the year financially in England was “The Last of Mrs. Cheney”, in which Miss Gladys Cooper and Gerald Du Maurier played the principal parts.

Referring to “Quality Street”, he said that this being a costume play of 1815 he had brought with him from England costumes, furniture, and everything connected with the production. It would have been practically impossible to reproduce the costumes in Australia. He produced the play in England about 18 years ago, and fortunately, the original designs were available, with the result that the costumes are absolutely of the period. The most promising of the newer playwrights is Mr. Noel Coward, whose striking play, “The Vortex” is a great success. The Hon. Mrs. Pitt Rivers (daughter of Lord Forster) is to join Mr. Boucicault’s company at Melbourne.

The Daily News (Perth), 2 March 1926, p.8

Lord Forster served as Governor-General of Australia from 1920 to 1925 based at Government House in Melbourne (the temporary Federal Capital of Australia, until its relocation to Canberra in 1927). Mrs Pitt Rivers was an acomplished amateur actress who performed in many plays during her time in Australia, especially playing lead roles with the Sydney Repertory Theatre Society under the direction of Gregan McMahon, before making her professional debut (just prior to the commencement of the Barrie tour) as Lady Mary Carlyle in a revival of Monsieur Beaucaire at the Sydney Theatre Royal in January 1926.

Angela Baddeley as Phoebe Throssel

The HOME, 2 August 1926, p.34 

The HOME, 2 August 1926, p.34 

In his autobiography, A Proper Job, Brian Aherne devotes two chapters to the Australian tour. His memories of the visit are very vivid and provide an insight into not only life in the theatre, but the autocratic methods of Dion Boucicault, and what Australia was like in the 1920s. Curiously, he talks about Mary Rose and The Admirable Crichton at length, but not Quality Street. The following is a few choice extracts:

One day Violet Vanbrugh asked me to lunch and introduced me to Dion Boucicault, the famous director, actor, and manager, who was also the husband of her sister Irene. It was he who staged all the first productions of the plays of Barrie and Pinero, and he had guided his wife to a great career. He was one of the greatest names in the theater, but surely one of its smallest men, for he scarcely came up to my elbow. Neat, dignified, and precise, he had a small, cold voice and a tremendous air of authority. During lunch I was tongue-tied as he put a series of searching questions to me and looked at me steadily. Finally, as the coffee was served in Miss Vanbrugh’s drawing room, he said coolly, “I am taking a company to Australia for eighteen months, which will play a season of Sir James Barrie’s plays. I invite you to come as my leading man. You would play Valentine Brown in Quality Street, John Shand in What Every Woman Knows, Simon and Harry in Mary Rose, and Crichton in The Admirable Crichton.” I was dumfounded. These were the greatest parts written in the last thirty years, in plays which had all been triumphant successes, and I was only twenty-three. Miss Vanbrugh, who had been watching me, smiled and patted my hand. I knew that I owed this wonderful offer to her. ...

Dion Boucicault assembled a wonderful company including Angela Baddeley for the feminine lead, Mary Jerrold, Hubert Harben, and Norman Macowan. All the costumes and most of the furniture and props were carefully made or bought in London, and no expense or trouble was spared over any detail. Each member of the company was called to the office where “the Governor” went over every line of the contract, saying “Now, do you understand that and is it agreeable to you?” before ticking it and passing to the next. Sir James Barrie was introduced to us, and he and Boucicault sat like two little gnomes, wreathed in the pipe smoke, chatting about old days in the theatre, until Barrie suddenly turned to me with a twinkle in his eyes. “Now you say something,” he said.

Excited as I was at the prospect before me, I doubt if I fully realised how lucky I was to secure such an engagement. ...

It was an idyllic voyage, six weeks from London to Melbourme, calling at Algiers, Port Said, through the Suez Canal, and down the Red Sea to Port Sudan, and on to Colombo, where we had a weekend to drive through the tea plantations up to Kandy. Two weeks slow steaming across the vast expance of the Indian Ocean brought us to Fremantle, the port of Perth, West Australia, and thence we crossed the Australian Bight to Adelaide, and so finally to Melbourne. Glorious weather and smooth seas, endless deck games, swims in a canvas bath rigged on the foredeck, siestas in a deck chair, dancing on deck under the brilliant tropical stars, ship’s concerts at which we performed—I sang “Tea for Two” and did a dance with one of the girls—and trips ashore in strange ports, combined to pass the halcyon days. In the afternoons we rehearsed on the upper deck, and I was introduced to the autocratic methods of Dion Boucicault.

Taking me by the writst and turning his head sideways to look up at me like a little bird, he would lead me gently from place to place, pausing to read the lines for me. “Now may I hear you say that please? No, no, my boy, not like that, like this,” and he would repeat them again. “There, that’s better! Now we come over here ... ” and the process would be repeated. Everything, every word and gesture, he taught us by rote, and there was no question of discussion. It was wonderful training for us young ones, but must have been hard on the more experienced. ...

At the close of the Australian tour, Brian Aherne returned to London, but by 1930 he was in America, where he spent much of the next forty years, principally as a leading actor in Hollywood. In 1934, he played John Shand in a film version of What Every Woman Knows, and in 1950, his first TV appearance, in an adaptation of Dear Brutus, playing Mr. Dearth, a role he had also played on stage in Boston.

The cast for the 1926 Australian revival of Quality Street was:

The Reviews

On Saturday evening in an atmosphere which was charged with elements of literary excitement, there was begun at the King’s Theatre a gallant adventure which every lover of the best in English comedy must pray will be crowned with enduring success. The adventure is the presentation by Mr. Dion Boucicault, through a talented company of London and Melbourne artists, of a series of plays by that wizard of the pen, Sir James Barrie, and the initial encounter, the staging of the delicate, lavender-wrapped four-act comedy, Quality Street. It may be said at once that the encounter was with one minor defect, to which allusion will be made later, a complete success. A crowded house gave the play a reception of unmistakable warmth and enthusiasm, and the three principals, Miss Angela Baddeley (Phoebe of the ringlets), Miss Mary Jerrold (demure Aunt Susan, who “cannot believe” algebra), and the tall and graceful Mr. Brian Aherne (the dashing Captain Valentine Brown of the Napoleonic wars) received ovations and oft repeated curtain calls, which must have banished every fear as to the nature of Melbourne’s welcome to these bright young players. The adventure begun well, and all concerned may take heart of courage.

The impact of the play on the audience is seldom through action, though in the school, ball-tent and final “blue and white room” scenes, there is plenty of action. It is mainly through conversations, and the effect of words spoken on the emotions of Phoebe and Susan. If a few sentences be missed the whole thing flags, and the play ceases to hold attention. Some of the speeches and dialogues are long—the play is full of dangers. Most of them were overcome, but it is evident that some of Mr. Boucicault’s company are used to a smaller theatre; they must raise their voices if the full quality of the bright and whimsical things they say is to reach everybody. The honors of the performance rest with Miss Angela Baddeley and Miss Mary Jerrold. One can understand why Barrie himself is proud of them as interpreters of his work. Dainty in figure, pure of profile, flashing of eye, clear of speech and fascinating in her mingling of tremulous modesty, with sheer pluck and melting womanliness, Miss Baddeley captured her audience as much by her personality as by her complete identification with her part. Flawless was Miss Mary Jerrold as Susan Throssell, revealing an argosy of deft touches of humor and tenderness in scenes which without them would have been of little savor. In the third and fourth acts Miss Jerrold scaled the heights of pure comedy. As Valentine Brown, Mr. Aherne looked the part, and in the climax of the fourth act played it with vigor and manly sincerity. The first act dragged a little owing to his voice being pitched too low, but this fault will disappear; Mr. Ronald Ward, as the lisping Ensign Blades, was excellent, and Mr. Stephen Thomas, as the determined Lieutenant Spicer, did good work. Miss Mary Macgregor was a bright and cheeky Patty, the maid, and Miss Violet Sterne, as Miss Willoughby, presented the eighteenth century “sticky-beak” with convincing art. Other parts were well taken by Mr. Hubert Harben, Mr. Norman MacOwan, the Misses Betty Schuster, Joan Radford, Sara Dartrey, Monica Meehan and Peggy Willoughby. Master George Devlin, as Arthur Thomson, and the other young people in the school scenes, deserve praise. Mr. George Upward’s scenery faithfully visualised the spirit of Quality-street.

At the close of a notable performance, Mr. Boucicault returned thanks, and read affectionate cablegrams of good wishes from Sir James Barrie, the veteran playwright; A.W. Pinero, Miss Irene Vanbrugh and A.A. Milne. Sir James Barrie thanked Mr. Boucicault and his company for “all that you have done, and are doing, for me and my plays”, and the other messages showed how sympathetically and closely the “Gods of Modern Grub-street” are following the Melbourne adventure.

A matinee of Quality Street will be given on Wednesday and Saturday. During the season, which will be characterised by short runs and quick changes, the following plays will be produced: What Every Woman Knows. Mary Rose, Dear Brutus. The Admirable Crichton, The Little Minister and A Kiss for Cinderella.

The Age (Melbourne), 22 March 1926, p.11

As well as reviewing the play and outlining the story, the Argus also provided a detailed description of the costumes:

It would be as difficult to define the atmosphere of a Barrie play as to imagine Miss Susan or Miss Phoebe or any of the other ladies who grace Quality Street dressed in anything but the high-waisted, long skirted gowns, and the low-cut, low-heeled shoes laced around their ankles, which become them all so admirably and are so much a part of their charm. And the great poke bonnets, trimmed with flowers or feathers or ribbon bows, and lined with rucked net finishing in a close little frill that outlines the face, and adds to the demure coquetry of the ringlets that peep above the strings that tie the bonnet under the chin, or are partly hidden by a lace veil strung like a curtain across the bonnets encircling brim are just as expressively feminine. While there is a certain uniformity of style, there are always little touches to give individuality to the different frocks. For instance, the ball gown worn by Miss Susan in the third act, of lavender grey silk, patterned with a posy of purple flowers, would not be quite so typical of Miss Susan were it not for the lace scarf which she wears so gracefully about her shoulders. At all times a shawl or a scarf forms part of Miss Susan’s attire, whether with the soft grey frock she wears in the first act, with her ball gown, or with the gown of black alpaca which she wears during school hours. Miss Phoebe makes a very smart appearance in the first act in the caped coat of royal blue cashmere, and the tall pillbox hat of white silk, tied with pale blue ribbon bows, which she wears with a dainty gown of sprigged white and blue silk. But she is most adorable in her ball gown of ivory satin, with its low-cut high-waisted bodice and short puffed sleeves, with a frill of lace at the hem of the long skirt caught at intervals with sprays of lily of the valley, which make a filet for her hair, and is again set in a spray on the bodice of her gown. Delightful, too, are her cape of briar-rose pink satin, bordered with a leaf design in dull gold, and her coal scuttle bonnet of white satin with its gathered veil of beautiful lace. The scene in the pavilion at the ball, with the ladies in their satin gowns is of pale pink, faint blue, or soft gold, and the officers in their gorgeous uniforms, most gorgeous of all the gallant Captain Brown, has an old world charm that the modern ball room could never equal.

The Argus (Melbourne), 22 March 1926, p.14

Quality Street—set for Acts 1, 2 and 4—The Blue and White Room in the house of Miss Susan and Miss Phoebe in Quality Street—scenery by George Upward based on the original design by Sir Edwin Lutyens—JCW Scene Book 1 (THA) 

In addition, a paragraph in the Herald’s “In Town and Out” column provided some further information concerning the properties and furniture:

One thing that struck me at the King’s on Saturday night was the attention that had been given to the details of the “properties” in “Quality Street” that charming Barrie play. It was a triumph of period furnishing.

It was not till the end of the play that I learned from Mr Dion Boucicault that every bit of it, to the smallest cup on the shelf, had been brough by him from England. It was the largest consignment of period furniture, it is believed, that has ever come to Australia.

Not an article was allowed in the play that was not used at the time of the Napoleonic wars. Those beautiful pieces of Chippendale must be worth a small fortune.

The Herald (Melbourne), 22 March 1926, p.6

Quality Street—Act 3 set—A Tent Pavilion used as a card and refreshment rooom at the Officer’s Ball—scenery by George Upward—JCW Scene Book 8 (THA) 

At the King’s Theatre, Quality Street was followed by The Admirable Crichton (24 April) and What Every Woman Knows (5 June).

The company then took Quality Street to Adelaide, opening there on 26 June, with What Every Woman Knows and The Admirable Crichton to follow.

Thereafter, Quality Street initiated the company’s Sydney season at the Theatre Royal on 17 July, with What Every Woman Knows and The Admirable Crichton to follow. In Sydney, Mary Rose and Aren’t We All (by Frederick Lonsdale) were also staged, and these two plays were also the feature of a return season at the Melbourne King’s in October/November 1926. A promised Brisbane season was not forthcoming.

With the close of their second Melbourne season, Boucicault and his company returned to London. The success of the tour was such that Sir George Tallis, managing director of J.C. Williamson Ltd., announced that the Firm would soon be constructing a new theatre on the corner of Exhibition and Lonsdale Streets. “The wonderful success of the Boucicault company has been a factor in our decision, which has also been helped by the remarkable success of ‘Mary Rose’ at the King’s Theatre … The building will take about nine months to complete, and we hope to celebrate its opening by the return of Miss Irene Vanbrugh and Mr Dion Boucicault in a series of new plays.” (Recorder (Port Pirie), 16 November 1926, p.3)

When Boucicault and his wife returned to Australia in December 1927, for a year-long tour (their final Australian visit), the Comedy Theatre was still not complete, and their initial Melbourne appearances were made at the King’s. The Comedy duly opened April 1928 with a company headed by Margaret Bannerman, and in July, when Boucicault and Vanbrugh were back in Melbourne, they played for four months at the new theatre.

The Bulletin, 1 April 1926, p.34

The Bulletin, 25 March 1926, p.34

Bibliography

Brian Aherne, A Proper Job, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1969

Irene Vanbrugh, To Tell My Story, Hutchinson, London, 1948

Further Resources

Brian Aherne may be heard as ‘Valentine Brown’ in the Lux Radio Theatre presentation of Quality Street, starring Ruth Chatterton as ‘Phoebe Throssel’, first broadcast in the U.S. on 14 September 1936.