1.
Order of the British Empire
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There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order. Recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire were at first made on the nomination of the United Kingdom, the self-governing Dominions of the Empire, nominations continue today from Commonwealth countries that participate in recommending British honours. Most members are citizens of the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth realms that use the Imperial system of honours and awards. Honorary knighthoods are appointed to citizens of nations where the Queen is not head of state, occasionally, honorary appointees are, incorrectly, referred to as Sir or Dame – Bill Gates or Bob Geldof, for example. In particular, King George V wished to create an Order to honour many thousands of those who had served in a variety of non-combatant roles during the First World War, when first established, the Order had only one division. However, in 1918, soon after its foundation, it was divided into Military. The Orders motto is For God and the Empire, at the foundation of the Order, the Medal of the Order of the British Empire was instituted, to serve as a lower award granting recipients affiliation but not membership. In 1922, this was renamed the British Empire Medal, in addition, the BEM is awarded by the Cook Islands and by some other Commonwealth nations. The British monarch is Sovereign of the Order, and appoints all members of the Order. The next most senior member is the Grand Master, of whom there have been three, Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales, Queen Mary, and the current Grand Master, the Duke of Edinburgh. The Order is limited to 300 Knights and Dames Grand Cross,845 Knights and Dames Commander, and 8,960 Commanders. There are no limits applied to the number of members of the fourth and fifth classes. Foreign recipients, as members, do not contribute to the numbers restricted to the Order as full members do. Though men can be knighted separately from an order of chivalry, women cannot, and so the rank of Knight/Dame Commander of the Order is the lowest rank of damehood, and second-lowest of knighthood. Because of this, Dame Commander is awarded in circumstances in which a man would be created a Knight Bachelor, for example, by convention, female judges of the High Court of Justice are created Dames Commander after appointment, while male judges become Knights Bachelor. The Order has six officials, the Prelate, the Dean, the Secretary, the Registrar, the King of Arms, the Bishop of London, a senior bishop in the Church of England, serves as the Orders Prelate. The Dean of St Pauls is ex officio the Dean of the Order, the Orders King of Arms is not a member of the College of Arms, as are many other heraldic officers. From time to time, individuals are appointed to a higher grade within the Order, thereby ceasing usage of the junior post-nominal letters
2.
Cheshire
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Cheshire is a county in North West England, bordering Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south and Wales to the west. Cheshires county town is Chester, the largest town is Warrington, other major towns include Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Macclesfield, Northwich, Runcorn, Widnes, Wilmslow, and Winsford. The county covers 905 square miles and has a population of around 1 million and it is mostly rural, with a number of small towns and villages supporting the agricultural and other industries which produce Cheshire cheese, salt, chemicals and silk. Cheshires name was derived from an early name for Chester. Although the name first appears in 980, it is thought that the county was created by Edward the Elder around 920, in the Domesday Book, Chester was recorded as having the name Cestrescir, derived from the name for Chester at the time. A series of changes occurred as English itself changed, together with some simplifications and elision, resulted in the name Cheshire. Because of the close links with the land bordering Cheshire to the west. The Domesday Book records Cheshire as having two complete Hundreds that later became the part of Flintshire. Additionally, another portion of the Duddestan Hundred later became known as Maelor Saesneg when it was transferred to North Wales. For this and other reasons, the Welsh name for Cheshire is sometimes used within Wales, after the Norman conquest of 1066 by William I, dissent and resistance continued for many years after the invasion. In 1069 local resistance in Cheshire was finally put down using draconian measures as part of the Harrying of the North, the ferocity of the campaign against the English populace was enough to end all future resistance. Examples were made of major landowners such as Earl Edwin of Mercia, William I made Cheshire a county palatine and gave Gerbod the Fleming the new title of Earl of Chester. When Gerbod returned to Normandy in about 1070, the king used his absence to declare the earldom forfeit, due to Cheshires strategic location on Welsh Marches, the Earl had complete autonomous powers to rule on behalf of the king in the county palatine. Cheshire in the Domesday Book is recorded as a larger county than it is today. It included two hundreds, Atiscross and Exestan, that became part of North Wales. At the time of the Domesday Book, it included as part of Duddestan Hundred the area of land later known as English Maelor in Wales. The area between the Mersey and Ribble formed part of the returns for Cheshire, an example is the barony of Halton. One of Hugh dAvranches barons has been identified as Robert Nicholls, Baron of Halton, in 1182 the land north of the Mersey became administered as part of the new county of Lancashire, thus resolving any uncertainty about the county in which the land Inter Ripam et Mersam was
3.
Beaconsfield
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Beaconsfield is a market town and civil parish within the South Bucks district in Buckinghamshire centred 23.6 miles WNW of London and 17 miles SSE of the countys administrative town, Aylesbury. Four towns are within five miles, Slough, Amersham, Gerrards Cross, the town is adjacent to the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has a wide area of Georgian, neo-Georgian and Tudor revival high street architecture, known as the Old Town. It is celebrated for the first model village in the world and, in education, a direction and technical production institute, the parish comprises Beaconsfield town and land mainly given over arable land. Some beech forest remains to supply an established beech furniture industry in High Wycombe, Beaconsfield is recorded in property returns of 1185 where it is spelt Bekenesfeld, literally beechen field which would less archaically be read as clearing in the beeches. Nearby Burnham Beeches is a forest named after the beech genus, the parish church at the crossroads of Old Beaconsfield is dedicated to St Mary, it was rebuilt of flint and bath stone by the Victorians in 1869. The United Reformed Church in Beaconsfield can trace its roots of non-conformist worship in the back to 1704. Old Beaconsfield has a number of old coaching inns along a street of red brick houses. It was the first stopping point on the road between London and Oxford, an annual fair is traditionally held on 10 May. In recent years residents have opposed the fair as a hindrance to the Old Town. In the Victorian era the town was the constituency of Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1868. In 1876 he was made the 1st Earl of Beaconsfield by Queen Victoria with whom he was very popular and it was due to this, that Beaconsfield became a popular road name in industrial cities across the country in the late Victorian era. It is the place of the author G. K. Chesterton, Edmund Burke. In 1624, Wallers family acquired Wilton Manor and Hall Barn in the town, the Wallers, who came from Speldhurst, Kent, says the Victoria County history of Buckinghamshire, were settled at Beaconsfield as early as the 14th century. Dominic Grieve is the Member of Parliament for Beaconsfield, first elected in 1997, and it is the birthplace of Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld series of fantasy novels. The exterior of the Royal Saracens Head Inn can be seen in the James Bond film Thunderball, the New Town also features in two other postwar colour films, John & Julie and The Fast Lady. Many other parts of the town have been used in due to the old film studio. More recently it has often used as a location for the TV murder mystery series, Midsomer Murders. The New Town was built 1 mile further to the north, the railway station is on the Chiltern Main Line out of Marylebone towards High Wycombe it then branches to Aylesbury, and Birmingham Snow Hill
4.
Buckinghamshire
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Development in this region is restricted by the Metropolitan Green Belt. Other large settlements include the county town of Aylesbury, Marlow in the south near the Thames and Princes Risborough in the west near Oxford. Some areas without rail links to London, such as around the old county town of Buckingham. The largest town is Milton Keynes in the northeast, which with the area is administered as a unitary authority separately to the rest of Buckinghamshire. The remainder of the county is administered by Buckinghamshire County Council as a non-metropolitan county, in national elections, Buckinghamshire is considered a reliable supporter of the Conservative Party. A large part of the Chiltern Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, runs through the south of the county and attracts many walkers, in this area older buildings are often made from local flint and red brick. Chequers, an estate owned by the government, is the country retreat of the incumbent Prime Minister. To the north of the county lies rolling countryside in the Vale of Aylesbury, the Thames forms part of the county’s southwestern boundary. Notable service amenities in the county are Pinewood Film Studios, Dorney rowing lake, many national companies have offices in Milton Keynes. Heavy industry and quarrying is limited, with agriculture predominating after service industries, the name Buckinghamshire is Anglo-Saxon in origin and means The district of Buccas home. Buccas home refers to Buckingham in the north of the county, the county has been so named since about the 12th century, however, the county has existed since it was a subdivision of the kingdom of Mercia. Historically, the biggest change to the county came in the 19th century, Buckinghamshire is a popular home for London commuters, leading to greater local affluence, however, some pockets of relative deprivation remain. As a result, most county institutions are now based in the south of the county or Milton Keynes, the county can be split into two sections geographically. The county includes parts of two of the four longest rivers in England, the River Thames forms the southern boundary with Berkshire, which has crept over the border at Eton and Slough so that the river is no longer the sole boundary between the two counties. The River Great Ouse rises just outside the county in Northamptonshire and flows east through Buckingham, Milton Keynes, the main branch of the Grand Union Canal passes through the county as do its arms to Slough, Aylesbury, Wendover and Buckingham. The canal has been incorporated into the landscaping of Milton Keynes, the southern part of the county is dominated by the Chiltern Hills. The two highest points in Buckinghamshire are Haddington Hill in Wendover Woods at 267 metres above sea level, quarrying has taken place for chalk, clay for brickmaking and gravel and sand in the river valleys. Flint, also extracted from quarries, was used to build older local buildings
5.
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
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The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is given in honor of an actress who has delivered a performance in a supporting role while working within the film industry. At the 9th Academy Awards ceremony held in 1937, Gale Sondergaard was the first winner of award for her role in Anthony Adverse. Initially, winners in both supporting acting categories were awarded instead of statuettes. Beginning with the 16th ceremony held in 1944, however, winners received full-sized statuettes, currently, nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the actors branch of AMPAS, winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the Academy. Since its inception, the award has given to 78 actresses. Dianne Wiest and Shelley Winters have received the most awards in this category with two awards each, despite winning no awards, Thelma Ritter was nominated on six occasions, more than any other actress. As of the 2017 ceremony, Viola Davis is the most recent winner in category for her role as Rose Maxson in Fences. In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of release in Los Angeles County. Toronto, Ontario, Canada, University of Toronto Press, inside Oscar, The Unofficial History of the Academy Awards. New York, United States, Ballantine Books, oscars. org Oscar. com The Academy Awards Database
6.
Separate Tables (film)
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Niven and Hiller won Academy Awards for their performances. The picture was directed by Delbert Mann and adapted for the screen by Rattigan, John Gay, mary Grant and Edith Head designed the films costumes. Major David Angus Pollock fails to steal an article about himself in the West Hampshire Weekly News, the two women read that Major Pollock has pleaded guilty to sexually harassing several young women in a theatre. However, the complaints are, in themselves, questionable. Mrs Railton-Bell wants Major Pollock expelled from the hotel and holds a meeting with other residents to decide the issue before presenting it to the manager. Mrs Railton-Bell leads the meeting arguing for the Majors expulsion, and despite the views of the other residents. Anne coolly teases John, informing him that she is engaged, John tells her he is engaged as well, but does not disclose that he is engaged to Miss Cooper. John claims that though Anne could have married other men who were wealthier and more important, she wanted to marry a man in an economic class in order to manipulate. Despite this, John and Anne admit they are attracted to each other. She asks him to come to her room, as they walk into the hotel, Miss Cooper tells Anne she has a phone call. Miss Cooper asks John, knowing Anne is his ex-wife, to reevaluate the real reason for Annes visit, John confronts Anne in her bedroom. She attempts to him, but he tells her that in the light, he can see that she has aged, without her physical beauty. She begs him to stay, but he runs out of the hotel after striking Anne at the top of the staircase, Anne has an emotional breakdown, and Miss Cooper comforts her. Anne reveals that she is not really engaged and has been abusing sleeping pills to ease her pain, the next morning, Mrs Railton-Bells daughter Sibyl tells Major Pollock that she knows what he did. He explains that he has always been fearful of people and that it is easier for him to be familiar with strangers, Major Pollock tells Sibyl that he and she get along well with each other because they are both afraid of life. As he returns to his room to pack, Sibyl worries he will not find a new home, Miss Cooper tells John, who returns in the morning, that Anne is emotionally unwell, and asks him to see her before she checks out of the hotel. After John leaves, Miss Cooper attempts to persuade Major Pollock to stay, the hotel residents eat their breakfast at separate tables in the dining room. John and Anne appear to reconcile, but do not know if they ever be happy
7.
Manchester
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Manchester is a major city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 514,414 as of 2013. It lies within the United Kingdoms second-most populous urban area, with a population of 2.55 million, Manchester is fringed by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east and an arc of towns with which it forms a continuous conurbation. The local authority is Manchester City Council and it was historically a part of Lancashire, although areas of Cheshire south of the River Mersey were incorporated during the 20th century. Throughout the Middle Ages Manchester remained a township but began to expand at an astonishing rate around the turn of the 19th century. Manchesters unplanned urbanisation was brought on by a boom in textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution, Manchester achieved city status in 1853. The Manchester Ship Canal opened in 1894, creating the Port of Manchester and its fortunes declined after the Second World War, owing to deindustrialisation. The city centre was devastated in a bombing in 1996, but it led to extensive investment, in 2014, the Globalization and World Cities Research Network ranked Manchester as a beta world city, the highest-ranked British city apart from London. Manchester is the third-most visited city in the UK and it is notable for its architecture, culture, musical exports, media links, scientific and engineering output, social impact, sports clubs and transport connections. Manchester Liverpool Road railway station was the worlds first inter-city passenger railway station and in the city scientists first split the atom, the name Manchester originates from the Latin name Mamucium or its variant Mancunium and the citizens are still referred to as Mancunians. These are generally thought to represent a Latinisation of an original Brittonic name, both meanings are preserved in languages derived from Common Brittonic, mam meaning breast in Irish and mother in Welsh. The suffix -chester is a survival of Old English ceaster and their territory extended across the fertile lowland of what is now Salford and Stretford. Central Manchester has been settled since this time. A stabilised fragment of foundations of the version of the Roman fort is visible in Castlefield. After the Roman withdrawal and Saxon conquest, the focus of settlement shifted to the confluence of the Irwell, much of the wider area was laid waste in the subsequent Harrying of the North. Thomas de la Warre, lord of the manor, founded and constructed a church for the parish in 1421. The church is now Manchester Cathedral, the premises of the college house Chethams School of Music. The library, which opened in 1653 and is open to the public today, is the oldest free public reference library in the United Kingdom. Manchester is mentioned as having a market in 1282, around the 14th century, Manchester received an influx of Flemish weavers, sometimes credited as the foundation of the regions textile industry
8.
Garrick Theatre
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The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named for the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with The Profligate, a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, in its early years, the Garrick appears to have specialised in the performance of melodrama. The theatre later became associated with comedies, including No Sex Please, Were British, there was previously another theatre that was sometimes called the Garrick in London, on Leman Street, opened in 1831 and demolished in 1881. The new Garrick Theatre was financed in 1889 by the playwright W. S. Gilbert, the author of over 75 plays, including the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas. It was designed by Walter Emden, with C. J. Phipps brought in as a consultant to help with the planning on the site after an underground river was discovered in the excavation. Originally the theatre had 800 seats on four levels, but the level has since been closed. The theatres first manager was Gilberts friend John Hare, the first play at the theatre, The Profligate, by Arthur Wing Pinero and starring Hare, opened on 24 April 1889. Sydney Grundys long-running French-style comedy A Pair of Spectacles opened here in February 1890, Mrs Patrick Campbell starred five years later in Pineros The Notorious Mrs. Ebbsmith. In 1900, the theatre hosted J. M. Barries The Wedding Guest, the only piece actually premiered by W. S. Gilbert here was Harlequin and the Fairys Dilemma, a Domestic Pantomime. In 1921, Basil Rathbone played Dr. Lawson in The Edge o Beyond at the Garrick, in 1925 Henry Daniell played there as Jack Race in Cobra and appeared there again as Paul Cortot in Marriage by Purchase in March 1932. A proposed redevelopment of Covent Garden by the GLC in 1968 saw the theatre under threat, together with the nearby Vaudeville, Adelphi, Lyceum and Duchess theatres. An active campaign by Equity, the Musicians Union, and theatre owners under the auspices of the Save London Theatres Campaign led to the abandonment of the scheme. The gold-leaf auditorium was restored in 1986 by the stage designer Carl Toms, the theatre has mostly been associated with comedies or comedy-dramas. More recent productions are listed below and include No Sex Please, Were British, in 1995, the Royal National Theatres multi-award winning production of J. B. Priestleys An Inspector Calls opened here, having played successful seasons at the Royal National Theatres Lyttelton and Olivier theatres as well as the Aldwych Theatre, the interior retains many of its original features, and was Grade II* listed by English Heritage in September 1960. 1972 – Anthony Shaffers Sleuth transferred 1977 – Side By Side By Sondheim transferred and was a continuing success,111 ISBN 0-7136-5688-3 Whos Who in the Theatre, edited by John Parker, tenth edition, revised, London,1947, pps, 477–478 and 1184. Official Garrick Theatre Website Article on Garrick Theatre Information about the Garrick and other Victorian theatres
9.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
10.
George Bernard Shaw
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He wrote more than sixty plays, including major works such as Man and Superman, Pygmalion and Saint Joan. With a range incorporating both contemporary satire and historical allegory, Shaw became the leading dramatist of his generation, born in Dublin, Shaw moved to London in 1873, where he established himself as a writer and novelist. By the mid-1880s he was a theatre and music critic. Following a political awakening, he joined the gradualist Fabian Society, Shaw had been writing plays for years before his first public success, 1894s Arms and the Man. Influenced by Henrik Ibsen, he sought to introduce a new realism into English-language drama, using his plays as vehicles to disseminate his political, social and religious ideas. By the early twentieth century his reputation as a dramatist was secured with a series of critical and popular successes that included Major Barbara, The Doctors Dilemma and Caesar, Shaws expressed views were often contentious, he promoted eugenics and alphabet reform while opposing vaccination and organised religion. He courted unpopularity by denouncing both sides in the First World War as equally culpable and he castigated British policy on Ireland in the postwar period, and became a citizen of the Irish Free State in 1934, maintaining dual citizenship. He was prolific, finishing during the years a series of often ambitious plays which achieved varying degrees of popular success. Since Shaws death, opinion has varied about his works and he has at times been rated as second only to William Shakespeare among English-language dramatists, analysts recognise his extensive influence on generations of playwrights. The word Shavian has entered the language as encapsulating Shaws ideas, Shaw was born at 3 Upper Synge Street in Portobello, a lower-middle-class part of Dublin. He was the youngest child and only son of George Carr Shaw and his elder siblings were Lucinda Frances and Elinor Agnes. The Shaw family was of English descent and belonged to the dominant Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland, George Carr Shaw and his relatives secured him a sinecure in the civil service, from which he was pensioned off in the early 1850s, thereafter he worked irregularly as a corn merchant. In 1852 he married Bessie Gurly, in the view of Shaws biographer Michael Holroyd she married to escape a tyrannical great-aunt, if, as Holroyd and others surmise, Georges motives were mercenary, then he was disappointed, as Bessie brought him little of her familys money. She came to despise her ineffectual and often drunken husband, with whom she shared what their son later described as a life of shabby-genteel poverty. By the time of Shaws birth, his mother had become close to George John Lee, Shaw retained a lifelong obsession that Lee might have been his biological father, there is no consensus among Shavian scholars on the likelihood of this. The young Shaw suffered no harshness from his mother, but he recalled that her indifference. He found solace in the music that abounded in the house, Lee was a conductor and teacher of singing, Bessie had a fine mezzo-soprano voice and was much influenced by Lees unorthodox method of vocal production. The Shaws house was filled with music, with frequent gatherings of singers and players
11.
Saint Joan (play)
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Saint Joan is a play by George Bernard Shaw about 15th Century French military figure Joan of Arc. Premiering in 1923, three years after her canonization by the Roman Catholic Church, the play dramatises what is known of her based on the substantial records of her trial. Shaw studied the transcripts and decided that the people acted in good faith according to their beliefs. He wrote in his preface to the play, There are no villains in the piece, crime, like disease, is not interesting, it is something to be done away with by general consent, and that is all about it. It is what men do at their best, with good intentions, and what men and women find that they must and will do in spite of their intentions. Michael Holroyd has characterised the play as a tragedy without villains, John Fielden has discussed further the appropriateness of characterising Saint Joan as a tragedy. The text of the play includes a long Preface by Shaw. Shaw characterised Saint Joan as A Chronicle Play in 6 Scenes, Joan, a simple peasant girl, claims to experience visions of Saint Margaret, Saint Catherine, and the archangel Michael, which she says were sent by God to guide her conduct. Scene 1, Robert de Baudricourt complains about the inability of the hens on his farm to produce eggs, Joan claims that her voices are telling her to lift the siege of Orléans, and to allow her several of his men for this purpose. Joan also says that she will crown the Dauphin in Reims Cathedral, de Baudricourt ridicules Joan, but his Steward feels inspired by her words. De Baudricourt eventually begins to feel the sense of inspiration. The Steward enters at the end of the scene to exclaim that the hens have begun to lay eggs again, de Baudricourt interprets this as a sign from God of Joans divine inspiration. Scene 2, Joan talks her way into being received at the court of the weak, There, she tells him that her voices have commanded her to help him become a true king by rallying his troops to drive out the English occupiers and restore France to greatness. Joan succeeds in doing this through her excellent powers of flattery, negotiation, leadership, scene 3, Dunois and his page are waiting for the wind to turn so that he and his forces can lay siege to Orléans. Joan and Dunois commiserate, and Dunois attempts to explain to her more pragmatic realities of an attack and her replies eventually inspire Dunois to rally the forces, and at the scenes end, the wind turns in their favour. Scene 4, Warwick and de Stogumber discuss Joans stunning series of victories, joined by the Bishop of Beauvais, they are at a loss to explain her success. De Stogumber decides Joan is a witch, Beauvais sees Joan as a threat to the Church, as she claims to receive instructions from God directly. He fears she wants to instill pride in the people
12.
Pygmalion (play)
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Pygmalion is a play by George Bernard Shaw, named after a Greek mythological figure. It was first presented on stage to the public in 1913, the play is a sharp lampoon of the rigid British class system of the day and a commentary on womens independence. In ancient Greek mythology, Pygmalion fell in love one of his sculptures. Shaw would also have been familiar with the version, Galatea. Shaws play has been adapted numerous times, most notably as the musical My Fair Lady, Shaw wrote the play in early 1912 and read it to famed actress Mrs. Patrick Campbell in June. She came on board almost immediately, but her mild nervous breakdown contributed to the delay of a London production, Pygmalion premiered at the Hofburg Theatre in Vienna on 16 October 1913, in a German translation by Shaws Viennese literary agent and acolyte, Siegfried Trebitsch. Its first New York production opened on 24 March 1914 at the German-language Irving Place Theatre and it opened in London on 11 April 1914, at Sir Herbert Beerbohm Trees His Majestys Theatre and starred Mrs. Campbell as Eliza and Tree as Higgins, running for 118 performances. Shaw directed the actors through tempestuous rehearsals often punctuated by at least one of the two storming out of the theatre in a rage, Shaw was conscious of the difficulties involved in staging a complete representation of the play. Of these, a scene at the end of Act One in which Eliza goes home. The others are the scene at the Embassy Ball in Act Three, neither the Gutenberg edition referenced throughout this page nor the Wikisource text linked below contain these sequences. Portico of Saint Pauls Church –11. 15p. m, a group of people are sheltering from the rain. Among them are the Eynsford-Hills, superficial social climbers eking out a living in poverty, consisting initially of Mrs. Eynsford-Hill. Claras brother Freddy enters having earlier been dispatched to them a cab. As he goes off again to find a cab, he bumps into a flower girl. Her flowers drop into the mud of Covent Garden, the flowers she needs to survive in her poverty-stricken world, shortly they are joined by a gentleman, Colonel Pickering. While Eliza tries to sell flowers to the Colonel, a bystander informs her that a man is writing down everything she says, the man is Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics. Eliza worries that Higgins is an officer and will not calm down until Higgins introduces himself. Higgins tells Pickering that he could pass off the girl as a duchess merely by teaching her to speak properly
13.
Major Barbara (play)
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Major Barbara is a three-act English play by George Bernard Shaw, written and premiered in 1905 and first published in 1907. The story concerns a young woman, Barbara Undershaft, who is engaged in helping the poor as a Major in the Salvation Army in London. For many years, Barbara and her siblings have been estranged from their father, Andrew Undershaft, Undershaft, the father, gives money to the Salvation Army, which offends Major Barbara, who does not want to be connected to his tainted wealth. Shaw wrote this play before society had experienced the vast human cost exacted by industrially produced weapons in modern warfare, in World Wars I. She eventually decides that bringing a message of salvation to people who have plenty will be more fulfilling, although Barbara initially regards the Salvation Armys acceptance of Undershafts money as hypocrisy, Shaw did not intend that it should be thought so by the audience. Shaw wrote a preface for the publication, in which he derided the idea that charities should only take money from morally pure sources. Lady Britomart leads Stephen to accept her decision that they must ask her husband, Andrew Undershaft. When their children were small, the Undershafts separated, now grown, the children have not seen their father since. During their reunion, Undershaft learns that Barbara is a major in The Salvation Army who works at their shelter in West Ham, Barbara and Mr. Undershaft agree that he will visit Barbaras Army shelter, if she will then visit his munitions factory. Undershaft and Cusins discuss the question of Barbaras commitment to The Salvation Army and he declares that he will therefore buy the Salvation Army. He makes a donation, matching another donation from a whisky distiller. Barbara wants the Salvation Army to refuse the money because it comes from the armaments and alcohol industries, Barbara sadly leaves the shelter in disillusionment. According to tradition, the heir to the Undershaft fortune must be an orphan who can be groomed to run the factory, Lady Britomart tries to convince Undershaft to bequeath the business to his son Stephen, but he will not. He says that the best way to keep the factory in the family is to find a foundling, later, Barbara and the rest of her family accompany her father to his munitions factory. They are all impressed by its size and organisation, Cusins declares that he is a foundling, and is thus eligible to inherit the business. Undershaft eventually overcomes Cusins moral scruples about the nature of the business, the play was first produced at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1905 by J. E. Vedrenne and Harley Granville-Barker. Barker also played Cusins, alongside Louis Calvert, Clare Greet, Edmund Gwenn, Oswald Yorke, the Broadway premiere in the USA was at the Playhouse Theatre on December 9,1915. A film adaptation of 1941 was produced by Gabriel Pascal, and starred Wendy Hiller, Rex Harrison, Andrew Undershaft was loosely inspired by a number of figures, including the arms dealer Basil Zaharoff, and German armanents family Krupp
14.
Henrik Ibsen
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Henrik Johan Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as the father of realism and is one of the founders of Modernism in theatre and he is the most frequently performed dramatist in the world after Shakespeare, and A Dolls House became the worlds most performed play by the early 20th century. Several of his dramas were considered scandalous to many of his era. Ibsens later work examined the realities that lay behind many façades and it utilized a critical eye and free inquiry into the conditions of life and issues of morality. The poetic and cinematic early play Peer Gynt, however, has strong surreal elements, Ibsen is often ranked as one of the most distinguished playwrights in the European tradition. Richard Hornby describes him as a profound poetic dramatist—the best since Shakespeare and he is widely regarded as the most important playwright since Shakespeare. He influenced other playwrights and novelists such as George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Miller, James Joyce, Eugene ONeill, Ibsen was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1902,1903, and 1904. Ibsen wrote his plays in Danish and they were published by the Danish publisher Gyldendal, born into a merchant family connected to the patriciate of Skien, Ibsen shaped his dramas according to his family background. He was the father of Prime Minister Sigurd Ibsen, Ibsens dramas continue in their influence upon contemporary culture and film with notable film productions including A Dolls House featuring Jane Fonda and A Master Builder featuring Wallace Shawn. Ibsen was born to Knud Ibsen and Marichen Altenburg, in a merchant family, in the small port town of Skien in Telemark county. Ibsens grandfather, ship captain Henrich Ibsen, had died at sea in 1797, Knud Ibsens paternal ancestors were ship captains of Danish origin, but he decided to become a merchant, having initial success. His marriage to Marichen Altenburg, a daughter of ship-owner Johan Andreas Altenburg, theodore Jorgenson points out that Henriks ancestry reached back into the important Telemark family of Paus both on the fathers and on the mothers side. Hedvig Paus must have well known to the young dramatist. Henrik Ibsen was fascinated by his parents strange, almost incestuous marriage, Henriks sister Hedvig would write about their mother, She was a quiet, lovable woman, the soul of the house, everything to her husband and children. She sacrificed herself time and time again, There was no bitterness or reproach in her. The Ibsen family eventually moved to a city house, Snipetorp, owned by Knud Ibsens half-brother, Ibsen would both model and name characters in his plays after his own family. At fifteen, Ibsen was forced to leave school and he moved to the small town of Grimstad to become an apprentice pharmacist and began writing plays. In 1846, when Ibsen was age 18, a liaison with a servant produced a child, whose upbringing Ibsen had to pay for until the boy was in his teens
15.
Henry James
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Henry James, OM was an American-born British writer. He is regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism and he was the son of Henry James, Sr. and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James. He is best known for a number of novels showing Americans encountering Europe and his method of writing from a characters point of view allowed him to explore issues related to consciousness and perception, and his style in later works has been compared to impressionist painting. His imaginative use of point of view, interior monologue and unreliable narrators brought a new depth to narrative fiction, James contributed significantly to literary criticism, particularly in his insistence that writers be allowed the greatest possible freedom in presenting their view of the world. James claimed that a text must first and foremost be realistic, good novels, to James, show life in action and are, most importantly, interesting. In addition to his voluminous works of fiction he published articles and books of travel, biography, autobiography, and criticism, and wrote plays. James alternated between America and Europe for the first twenty years of his life, eventually he settled in England, becoming a British subject in 1915, James was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911,1912, and 1916. James was born at 2 Washington Place in New York City on 15 April 1843 and his parents were Mary Walsh and Henry James Sr. His father was intelligent, steadfastly congenial, and a lecturer and philosopher who had inherited independent means from his father, Mary came from a wealthy family long settled in New York City, and her sister Katherine lived with the family for an extended period of time. Henry, Jr. had three brothers, William who was one year his senior and younger brothers Wilkinson and Robertson, the family first lived in Albany and then moved to Fourteenth Street in New York City when James was still a young boy. His education was calculated by his father to him to many influences, primarily scientific and philosophical, it was described as extraordinarily haphazard. James did not share the usual education in Latin and Greek classics, Henry studied primarily with tutors and briefly attended a few schools while the family traveled in Europe. Their longest stays were in France, where Henry began to feel at home and became fluent in French, in 1860 the family returned to Newport. There Henry became a friend of the painter John La Farge, who introduced him to French literature, James later called Balzac his greatest master, and said that he had learned more about the craft of fiction from him than from anyone else. In the autumn of 1861 Henry received an injury, probably to his back and this injury, which resurfaced at times throughout his life, made him unfit for military service in the American Civil War. In 1864 the James family moved to Boston, Massachusetts to be near William, in 1862 Henry attended Harvard Law School, but realized that he was not interested in studying law. The future Supreme Court Justice, and with James and Annie Fields and his first published work was a review of a stage performance, Miss Maggie Mitchell in Fanchon the Cricket, published in 1863. About a year later, A Tragedy of Error, his first short story, was published, Jamess first payment was for an appreciation of Sir Walter Scotts novels, written for the North American Review
16.
Thomas Hardy
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Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, especially William Wordsworth. He was highly critical of much in Victorian society, especially on the status of rural people in Britain. While Hardy wrote poetry throughout his life and regarded himself primarily as a poet, initially, therefore, he gained fame as the author of such novels as Far from the Madding Crowd, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of the dUrbervilles, and Jude the Obscure. During his lifetime, Hardys poetry was acclaimed by poets who viewed him as a mentor. After his death his poems were lauded by Ezra Pound, W. H. Auden, Two of his novels, Tess of the dUrbervilles and Far from the Madding Crowd, were listed in the top 50 on the BBCs survey The Big Read. Jemima was well-read, and she educated Thomas until he went to his first school at Bockhampton at the age of eight, for several years he attended Mr. Lasts Academy for Young Gentlemen in Dorchester, where he learned Latin and demonstrated academic potential. Because Hardys family lacked the means for a university education, his formal education ended at the age of sixteen, when he apprenticed to James Hicks. Hardy trained as an architect in Dorchester before moving to London in 1862 and he won prizes from the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Architectural Association. He joined Arthur Blomfields practice as assistant architect in April 1862 and worked with Blomfield on All Saints parish church in Windsor, a reredos, possibly designed by Hardy, was discovered behind panelling at All Saints in August 2016. Hardy never felt at home in London, because he was conscious of class divisions. During this time he became interested in reform and the works of John Stuart Mill. He was also introduced by his Dorset friend Horace Moule to the works of Charles Fourier, after five years, concerned about his health, he returned to Dorset, settling in Weymouth, and decided to dedicate himself to writing. In 1870, while on a mission to restore the parish church of St Juliot in Cornwall, Hardy met and fell in love with Emma Gifford. In 1885 Thomas and his wife moved into Max Gate, a designed by Hardy. In 1914, Hardy married his secretary Florence Emily Dugdale, who was 39 years his junior, however, he remained preoccupied with his first wifes death and tried to overcome his remorse by writing poetry. In 1910, Hardy had been awarded the Order of Merit and was also for the first time nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature and he would be nominated for the prize eleven years later. His funeral was on 16 January at Westminster Abbey, and it proved a controversial occasion because Hardy had wished for his body to be interred at Stinsford in the grave as his first wife
17.
Twelfth Night
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Twelfth Night, or What You Will is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–02 as a Twelfth Nights entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck, Viola falls in love with Duke Orsino, who in turn is in love with the Countess Olivia. Upon meeting Viola, Countess Olivia falls in love with her thinking she is a man, the first recorded performance was on 2 February 1602, at Candlemas, the formal end of Christmastide in the years calendar. The play was not published until its inclusion in the 1623 First Folio, Illyria, the setting of Twelfth Night, is important to the plays romantic atmosphere. Illyria was an ancient region of the Western Balkans whose coast covered the coasts of modern-day Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and it included the city state of the Republic of Ragusa which has been proposed as the setting. Illyria may have suggested by the Roman comedy Menaechmi, the plot of which also involves twins who are mistaken for each other. Illyria is also referred to as a site of pirates in Shakespeares earlier play, Henry VI, the names of most of the characters are Italian but some of the comic characters have English names. Oddly, the Illyrian lady Olivia has an English uncle, Sir Toby Belch and it has been noted that the plays setting also has other English allusions such as Violas use of Westward ho. Viola is shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria and she comes ashore with the help of a captain and she loses contact with her twin brother, Sebastian, whom she believes to be drowned. Disguising herself as a man under the name Cesario, she enters the service of Duke Orsino through the help of the sea captain who rescues her. Duke Orsino then uses Cesario as an intermediary to profess his love before Olivia. Olivia, however, forgetting about the seven years in his case, falls in love with Cesario, in the comic subplot, several characters conspire to make Olivias pompous steward, Malvolio, believe that Olivia has fallen for him. This involves Olivias uncle, Sir Toby Belch, another suitor, a silly squire named Sir Andrew Aguecheek, her servants Maria and Fabian. Sir Toby and Sir Andrew engage themselves in drinking and revelry, thus disturbing the peace of Olivias house until late into the night, Sir Toby famously retorts, Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale. Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Maria are urged to plan revenge on Malvolio and they convince Malvolio that Olivia is secretly in love with him by planting a love letter, written by Maria in Olivias handwriting. It asks Malvolio to wear yellow stockings cross-gartered, to be rude to the rest of the servants, Malvolio finds the letter and reacts in surprised delight. He starts acting out the contents of the letter to show Olivia his positive response, Olivia is shocked by the changes in Malvolio and leaves him to the contrivances of his tormentors. Pretending that Malvolio is insane, they lock him up in a dark chamber, Feste visits him to mock his insanity, both disguised as a priest and as himself
18.
John Gielgud
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Sir Arthur John Gielgud OM CH was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trio of actors who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. A member of the Terry family theatrical dynasty, he gained his first paid acting work as a member of his cousin Phyllis Neilson-Terrys company in 1922. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art he worked in repertory theatre, during the 1930s Gielgud was a stage star in the West End and on Broadway, appearing in new works and classics. He began a career as a director, and set up his own company at the Queens Theatre. He was regarded by many as the finest Hamlet of his era, in the 1950s Gielgud feared that his career was threatened when he was convicted and fined for a homosexual offence, but his colleagues and the public supported him loyally. From the late 1960s he found new plays that suited him, by authors including Alan Bennett, David Storey, during the first half of his career, Gielgud did not take the cinema seriously. Though he made his first film in 1924, and had successes with The Good Companions and Julius Caesar, Gielgud appeared in more than sixty films between Becket, for which he received his first Academy Award nomination, and Elizabeth. As the acid-tongued Hobson in Arthur he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and his film work further earned him a Golden Globe Award and two BAFTAs. Although largely indifferent to awards, Gielgud had the distinction of winning an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy. He was famous from the start of his career for his voice and he broadcast more than a hundred radio and television dramas, between 1929 and 1994, and made commercial recordings of many plays, including ten of Shakespeares. Among his honours, he was knighted in 1953 and the Gielgud Theatre was named after him, from 1977 to 1989, he was president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Gielgud was born in South Kensington, London, the third of the four children and youngest of three sons of Frank Henry Gielgud and his second wife, Kate Terry-Gielgud, née Terry-Lewis. The two elder boys were Lewis, who became an official of the Red Cross and UNESCO. On his fathers side, Gielgud was of Lithuanian and Polish descent, the surname derives from Gelgaudiškis, a village in Lithuania. The Counts Gielgud had owned the Gielgudziszki Castle on the River Niemen, jan Gielgud took refuge in England with his family, one of his grandchildren was Frank Gielgud, whose maternal grandmother was a famous Polish actress, Aniela Aszpergerowa. Frank married into a family with wide theatrical connections, Frank had no theatrical ambitions and worked all his life as a stockbroker in the City of London. In 1912, aged eight, Gielgud went to Hillside preparatory school in Surrey as his brothers had done
19.
Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales
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Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales was the only child of George, Prince of Wales and Caroline of Brunswick. Had she outlived both her grandfather King George III and her father, she would have become Queen of the United Kingdom, Charlottes parents disliked each other from before their arranged marriage and soon separated. The Prince of Wales left most of Charlottes care to governesses and servants, but only allowed her limited contact with the Princess of Wales, who eventually left the country. As Charlotte grew to adulthood, her father pressured her to marry William, Hereditary Prince of Orange and this resulted in an extended contest of wills between her and her father, and finally the Prince of Wales permitted her to marry Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After a year and a half of marriage, Charlotte died after delivering a stillborn son. Charlottes death set off tremendous mourning among the British, who had seen her as a sign of hope, as she had been King George IIIs only legitimate grandchild, there was considerable pressure on the Kings unmarried sons to find wives. King George IIIs fourth son, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, fathered the eventual heir, Victoria, in 1794, George, Prince of Wales, sought a suitable bride. He did not do so out of any desire to secure the succession. George, despite receiving large incomes as Prince of Wales and as Duke of Cornwall, lived well beyond his means, George had attempted marriage once, to his mistress, Maria Fitzherbert. The attempted marriage was invalid as no attempt had been made to obtain the consent of King George III, the Princes father. Nevertheless, the Prince kept Fitzherbert as his mistress, that is, George considered two German princesses as possible brides, both of whom were his first cousins. Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was the daughter of Georges mothers brother, while Caroline of Brunswick was his fathers sisters daughter. Princess Caroline had, it was said, behaved improperly with an Irish officer in her fathers army, Harris found the Princess dressed in a dishevelled manner, and it was obvious that she had not washed in several days. He found her conversation coarse and overly familiar, the diplomat brought Caroline to St. Jamess Palace, on first sight of his bride, the Prince stated, Harris, I am not well, pray get me a glass of brandy. After the Prince had left, Caroline said, I think he is very fat and nothing like as handsome as his portrait. Before the wedding on 8 April 1795, George sent his brother William, Duke of Clarence, to tell Fitzherbert that she was the woman he would ever love, then went to the ceremony. Caroline on the other hand later hinted that the Prince was impotent, the royal couple separated within weeks, though they remained under the same roof. One day short of nine months after the wedding, Caroline gave birth to a daughter, Charlotte was born at the Princes residence, Carlton House, London, on 7 January 1796
20.
Robert Morley
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Robert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE was an English actor who was usually cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment, often in supporting roles. More politely, Ephraim Katz in his International Film Encyclopaedia describes Morley as a rotund, triple-chinned, delightful character player of the British and American stage and screen. Morley was born in Semley, Wiltshire, England, the son of Gertrude Emily and Robert Wilton Morley and his mother came from a German family that had emigrated to South Africa. Morley attended Wellington College, Berkshire, which he hated, followed by RADA, as he was a famous Old Wellingtonian, generations of headmasters tried to contact him, without success, with Morley stating the only reason for me visiting Wellington would be to burn it down. Morley made his West End stage debut in 1929 in Treasure Island at the Strand Theatre, although soon won over to the big screen, Morley remained both a busy West End star and successful author, as well as appearing in touring productions. A versatile actor, especially in his years, he played Louis XVI in Marie Antoinette. As a playwright he co-wrote several plays for the stage and his 1937 play Goodness, How Sad was turned into a Ealing Studios film Return to Yesterday directed by Robert Stevenson. Later, he had outstanding success in London and New York with Edward, My Son, Edward, My Son was directed by George Cukor for MGM-British. His acting career continued with roles as a missionary in The African Queen, The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan, as W. S. Gilbert, and in Oscar Wilde. Baby boomers will remember with fondness, Morleys 1959 performance in an Alfred Hitchcock Presents adaptation of a Stanley Ellin short story entitled. Morley also personified the conservative Englishman in many comedy and caper films and he was the face of BOAC as the merry television commercial spokesman of the 1970s with Well take good care of you for British Airways. Later in his career, he received acclaim and numerous accolades for his performance in Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe. During the 1980s, Morley hosted a celebrity cooking show on Cable TV and he also hosted the Granada Television series Ladykillers. He was renowned as a witty raconteur and for being an eloquent conversationalist, Morley was honoured by being the first King of Moomba appointed by the Melbourne Moomba festival committee and, in typical humility, he accepted the crown in bare feet. Morley was in Australia touring his show, The Sound of Morley. He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1974 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews, Robert Morley married Joan Buckmaster, a daughter of Dame Gladys Cooper. Their elder son, Sheridan Morley, became a writer and critic and they also had a daughter, Annabel, and another son, Wilton. Morley was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1957 and was offered a knighthood in 1975
21.
Playboy of the Western World
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The Playboy of the Western World is a three-act play written by Irish playwright John Millington Synge and first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on 26 January 1907. It is set in Michael James Flahertys public house in County Mayo during the early 1900s and it tells the story of Christy Mahon, a young man running away from his farm, claiming he killed his father. The play is best known for its use of the poetic, evocative language of Hiberno-English, heavily influenced by the Irish language, there he claims that he is on the run because he killed his own father by driving a loy into his head. Flaherty praises Christy for his boldness, and Flahertys daughter, Pegeen, falls in love with Christy, to the dismay of her betrothed, because of the novelty of Christys exploits and the skill with which he tells his own story, he becomes something of a town hero. Many other women also become attracted to him, including the Widow Quin, Christy also impresses the village women by his victory in a donkey race, using the slowest beast. Eventually Christys father, Mahon, who was wounded, tracks him to the tavern. When the townsfolk realize that Christys father is alive, everyone, including Pegeen, shuns him as a liar, to regain Pegeens love and the respect of the town, Christy attacks his father a second time. This time it seems that Old Mahon really is dead, but instead of praising Christy, Christys life is saved when his father, beaten and bloodied, crawls back onto the scene, having improbably survived his sons second attack. As Christy and his leave to wander the world, Shawn suggests he and Pegeen get married soon. Pegeen laments betraying and losing Christy, Ive lost the only playboy of the western world, the Playboy Riots occurred in January 1907 during and following the opening performance of the play. The riots were stirred up by Irish nationalists who viewed the contents of the play as an offence to public morals, the riots took place in Dublin, spreading out from the Abbey Theatre and finally being quelled by the actions of the Dublin Metropolitan Police. The fact that the play was based on a story of apparent patricide also attracted a hostile public reaction, nevertheless, press opinion soon turned against the rioters and the protests petered out. Yeats declared to rioters against Seán OCaseys pacifist drama The Plough, is this to be the recurring celebration of the arrival of Irish genius. The production of Synges play met with more disturbances in the United States in 1911, on opening night in New York, hecklers booed, hissed and threw vegetables and stink bombs while men scuffled in the aisles. The company was arrested in Philadelphia and charged with putting on an immoral performance. In September 2007, the returned to the Abbey in a modern adaptation by Bisi Adigun. Set in a suburb of West Dublin, it tells the story of Christopher Malomo, in 2011, The Old Vic in London, UK, played host to a classic adaptation directed by John Crowley starring Robert Sheehan, Niamh Cusack and Ruth Negga. Theatrical In 1912 Sil-Vara and Charles H, in 1973 the Irish language national theatre group Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe produced an adaptation in the Irish language by Seán Ó Carra entitled Buachaill Báire an Domhain Thiar
22.
Tess of the d'Urbervilles
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Tess of the dUrbervilles, A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented is a novel by Thomas Hardy. It initially appeared in a censored and serialised version, published by the British illustrated newspaper The Graphic in 1891, the novel is set in impoverished rural England, Thomas Hardys fictional Wessex, during the Long Depression of the 1870s. Tess is the oldest child of John and Joan Durbeyfield, uneducated peasants, however, John is given the impression by Parson Tringham that he may have noble blood, as Durbeyfield is a corruption of DUrberville, the surname of an extinct noble Norman family. Knowledge of this goes to Johns head. That same day, Tess participates in the village May Dance, where she meets Angel Clare, youngest son of Reverend James Clare and he stops to join the dance and partners several other girls. Angel notices Tess too late to dance with her, as he is late for a promised meeting with his brothers. Tesss father gets too drunk to drive to the market that night, however, she falls asleep at the reins, and the familys only horse encounters a speeding wagon and is fatally wounded. She is unaware that, in reality, Mrs dUrbervilles husband Simon Stoke adopted the surname even though he was unrelated to the real dUrbervilles. Tess does not succeed in meeting Mrs dUrberville, but chances to meet her son, Alec. Although Tess tells them about her fear that he try to seduce her, her parents encourage her to accept the job. Tess dislikes Alec but endures his persistent unwanted attention to earn enough to replace her familys horse, late one night, walking home from town with some other Trantridge villagers, Tess inadvertently antagonizes Car Darch, Alecs most recently discarded favourite, and finds herself in physical danger. When Alec rides up and offers to rescue her from the situation, Alec returns to find Tess asleep, and it is implied that he rapes her, although there remains a degree of ambiguity. Mary Jacobus, a commentator on Hardys works, speculates that the ambiguity may have forced on the author to meet the requirements of his publisher. Tess goes home to her fathers cottage, where she keeps almost entirely to her room, the following summer, she gives birth to a sickly boy who lives only a few weeks. On his last night alive, Tess baptises him herself, because her father would not allow the parson to visit, the child is given the name Sorrow, but despite the baptism Tess can only arrange his burial in the shabby corner of the churchyard reserved for unbaptised infants. Tess adds a cross to the grave with flowers in an empty marmalade jar. More than two years after the Trantridge debacle, Tess, now twenty, has found employment outside the village and she works for Mr. and Mrs. Crick as a milkmaid at Talbothays Dairy. There, she befriends three of her fellow milkmaids, Izz, Retty, and Marian, and meets again Angel Clare, although the other milkmaids are in love with him, Angel singles out Tess, and the two fall in love
23.
Piccadilly Theatre
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The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, England. Gold and green are the dominant colours in the bars and foyer, upon its opening on 27 April 1928, the theatres souvenir brochure claimed, If all the bricks used in the building were laid in a straight line, they would stretch from London to Paris. The opening production, Jerome Kerns musical Blue Eyes, starred Evelyn Laye, the theatre reopened in November 1929, with a production of The Student Prince, having a success in January 1931 with Folly to be Wise, running for 257 performances. Following a conversion into a restaurant, the theatre reopened in April 1936 as the London Casino. The building sustained damage when it was hit by a stray German bomb during World War II. After renovations in the early 1950s, it returned to its name and became a venue for plays, revues. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Piccadilly improved its reputation with a series of transfers from Broadway. A Streetcar Named Desire and Man of La Mancha made their London debuts at the theatre, the Beatles recorded a number of songs at the Piccadilly on 28 February 1964 for the BBC Radio show, From Us to You. In 1976, the Jerome Kern and Guy Bolton musical Very Good Eddie ran for 411 performances at the theatre, in 1986, the venue was the setting for ITVs popular Sunday evening variety show, Live From the Piccadilly, hosted by Jimmy Tarbuck. The 1990s witnessed an expansion in ballet and dance, notably the most successful commercial ballet season ever to play in the West End, including Matthew Bournes acclaimed production of Swan Lake. The Piccadilly has played host to such renowned stars as Henry Fonda, Ian McKellen, Judi Dench, Michael Pennington, Barbara Dickson, Lynn Redgrave, Julia McKenzie, Eric Sykes, and Dame Edna. Its productions have run the gamut from Wish You Were Here to Edward II to Spend Spend Spend to Noises Off to Blues in the Night to a season of plays directed by Sir Peter Hall. The Donmar Warehouse production of Guys and Dolls ran at the Piccadilly from 19 May 2005 to 14 April 2007, jersey Boys based on the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Guide to British Theatres 1750-1950, John Earl and Michael Sell pp.131 ISBN 0-7136-5688-3
24.
Washington Square (novel)
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Washington Square is a short novel by Henry James. The plot of the novel is based upon a story told to James by his close friend. The book is often compared with Jane Austens work for the clarity and grace of its prose, James was not a great fan of Washington Square itself. He tried to read it over for inclusion in the New York Edition of his fiction but found that he could not, other readers, though, have sufficiently enjoyed the book to make it one of the more popular works of the Jamesian canon. The novel is told from an omniscient point of view. The narrator often offers his comments directly to the reader The novella begins at a distance from the characters and it then recounts in detail the story of Catherines romance with Morris Townsend. When Morris jilts her, the focus back to a long view. As James puts it, Our story has moved with very short steps. The final few chapters are taken more in short steps. The bitterest irony in the story is that Dr. Sloper, a brilliant and successful physician, is right about Morris Townsend. If the doctor had been incorrect in his appraisal of the worthless Townsend, as it is, the doctors head functions perfectly but his heart has grown cold after the death of his beautiful and gifted wife. Catherine gradually grows throughout the story, ultimately gaining the ability to judge her situation accurately, as James puts it, From her point of view the great facts of her career were that Morris Townsend had trifled with her affection, and that her father had broken its spring. Nothing could ever alter these facts, they were there, like her name, her age. Nothing could ever undo the wrong or cure the pain that Morris had inflicted on her, Catherine will never be brilliant, but she learns to be clear-sighted. Everybody likes Washington Square, even the denigrators of Henry James, wrote critic Donald Hall, even the rusty plot revolving around the will has charmed many critics with its old-fashioned simplicity. Catherines slow but unmistakable development into independence and wisdom is a success for James and has been much appreciated by critics. The play was adapted for film in 1949, and starred Olivia de Havilland as Catherine, Ralph Richardson as Dr. Sloper and it was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won four. Both play and movie hewed closely to the novel and cribbed many of the best lines directly from James dialogue, in 1972 Mexican director Jose Luis Ibañez made a movie version of this novel called Victoria and starred Julissa, Enrique Alvarez Félix, Guillermo Murray and Rita Macedo
25.
Basil Rathbone
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Philip St. John Basil Rathbone was a South African-born English actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers and, occasionally, horror films. Rathbone frequently portrayed suave villains or morally ambiguous characters, such as Mr. Murdstone in David Copperfield and his most famous role, however, was heroic — that of Sherlock Holmes in fourteen Hollywood films made between 1939 and 1946 and in a radio series. His later career included roles on Broadway, as well as self-ironic film and he received a Tony Award in 1948 as Best Actor in a Play. He was also nominated for two Academy Awards and won three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Rathbone was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, to British parents. His mother, Anna Barbara, was a violinist, and his father, Edgar Philip Rathbone, was a mining engineer and he had two older half-brothers, Harold and Horace, as well as two younger siblings, Beatrice and John. Basil was the great-grandson of the noted Victorian philanthropist, William Rathbone V, the Rathbones fled to Britain when Basil was three years old after his father was accused by the Boers of being a spy after the Jameson Raid. He was a distant cousin of Major Henry Rathbone, who was present at the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and was wounded trying to stop John Wilkes Booth. Rathbone attended Repton School in Derbyshire from 1906–1910, where he excelled at sports. Thereafter, he was employed by the Liverpool and Globe Insurance Companies. In October 1912, he went to the United States with Bensons company, playing such parts as Paris in Romeo and Juliet, Fenton in The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Silvius in As You Like It. Returning to Britain, he made his first appearance in London at the Savoy Theatre on 9 July 1914 and that December, he appeared at the Shaftesbury Theatre as the Dauphin in Henry V. During 1915, he toured with Benson and appeared with him at Londons Court Theatre in December as Lysander in A Midsummer Nights Dream, Rathbones younger brother John was killed in action on 4 June 1918. It was after this that Rathbone convinced his superiors to him to scout enemy positions during daylight rather than at night. Rathbone describes it thus in his autobiography Camouflage suits had been made for us to resemble trees, on our heads were wreaths of freshly plucked foliage, our faces and hands were blackened with burnt cork. As a result of highly dangerous daylight reconnaissance patrols in September 1918, he was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous daring. Richard Van Emden in his book Famous 1914-18 speculates that this extreme bravery may have been a form of guilt or a need for following his brothers death. Two letters written by Rathbone to his family serving in the war have recently come to light
26.
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
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The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 261 West 47th Street in Midtown Manhattan. Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp for impresario Irwin Chanin, with a seating capacity of 903, it was one of Broadways smaller venues. The theatre was used by Federal Theatres Living Newspaper project in the 1930s, CBS leased it for use as a radio and television studio from 1952 until 1961. The producer David Cogan acquired the Biltmore in 1958, in 1968, the groundbreaking rock musical Hair opened at the theatre. In 1986, Cogan sold the Biltmore to developer Samuel Pfeiffer in 1986, in 1987, a fire struck the Biltmore. The blaze, which was determined to be an act of arson. After the fire, the building sat vacant for fourteen years, suffering more structural damage from water and vandals. In 1993, the Nederlander Organization and Stewart F. Lane acquired the Biltmore, after being unable to secure a deal with theatre unions, in 2001, the theatre was assumed by the Manhattan Theatre Club as a permanent home for its productions. Surviving sections of the theatre were restored by Polshek Partnership Architects. With 622 seats the new Biltmore has about two-thirds of the capacity of the old, although it now boasts modern conveniences such as elevators, the Biltmores landmarked features, such as the proscenium arch, dome, staircases and a vaulted second-floor gallery, were restored or replicated. The theatre was renamed the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in a ceremony held on September 4,2008. The new name honors Broadway publicist Samuel J. Friedman, the Manhattan Theatre Club took ownership of the Samuel J. Friedman in October 2008. The Biltmore Theatre is prominently featured in The Muppets Take Manhattan as the location of the Broadway show that the Muppets put on in the finale of the film
27.
Ann Veronica
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Ann Veronica is a New Woman novel by H. G. Wells published in 1909. Ann Veronica describes the rebellion of Ann Veronica Stanley, a lady of nearly two-and-twenty. The novel dramatizes the contemporary problem of the New Woman and it is set in Victorian era London and environs, except for an Alpine excursion. Ann Veronica offers vignettes of the Womens suffrage movement in Great Britain, Mr. Stanley forbids his adult daughter, a biology student at Tredgold Womens College and the youngest of his five children, to attend a fancy dress ball in London, causing a crisis. Ann Veronica is planning to attend the dance with friends of an artistic family living nearby and has been chafing at other restrictions imposed for no apparent reason on her. Unable to find employment, she borrows forty pounds from Mr. Ramage. But Mr. Ramage loses little time in trying to take advantage of the situation, sobered by the experience, Ann Veronica convinces herself of the necessity of compromise. She returns to her fathers home and engages herself to marry an admirer she does not love, but she soon changes her mind, renounces the engagement, and boldly tells Capes she loves him. They can only be friends, he declares, but Ann Veronica is undeterred by his confession and his prudence, and finally Capess resistance buckles, She stood up and held her arms toward him. I want you to me, she said. I want you to be my lover, I want to give myself to you. I want to be whatever I can to you, Capes decides to throw over his employment at the college in order to live with Ann Veronica, and they enjoy a glorious honeymoon in the Alps. A final chapter shows the couple four years and four months later living in London. Capes has become a playwright, and Ann Veronica is pregnant and has reconciled with her family. Although the novel now seems very tame, Ann Veronica was considered a work by many in its day and was denounced as capable of poisoning the minds of those who read it by The Spectator. Ann Veronica was included in the Modern Library in 1917, the year the company was founded. Subsequent Modern Library editions were published in 1926,1928, and 1933, Ann Veronica was made into a musical in 1969, both the musical and one of the numbers within are titled Ann Veronica. Roman à clef Ann Veronica, a love story at Project Gutenberg Ann Veronica for the Tomeraider ebook reader Ann Veronica public domain audiobook at LibriVox
28.
H. G. Wells
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Herbert George H. G. Wells was an English writer. He was prolific in many genres, including the novel, history, politics, social commentary, Wells is now best remembered for his science fiction novels and is called a father of science fiction, along with Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback. His most notable science fiction works include The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man and he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times. Wellss earliest specialised training was in biology, and his thinking on ethical matters took place in a specifically and fundamentally Darwinian context and he was also from an early date an outspoken socialist, often sympathising with pacifist views. His later works became increasingly political and didactic, and he wrote science fiction. A diabetic, in 1934, Wells co-founded the charity The Diabetic Association, Herbert George Wells was born at Atlas House,46 High Street in Bromley, Kent, on 21 September 1866. Called Bertie in the family, he was the fourth and last child of Joseph Wells and his wife, Sarah Neal. An inheritance had allowed the family to acquire a shop in which they sold china and sporting goods, although it failed to prosper, the stock was old and worn out, and the location was poor. Joseph Wells managed to earn an income, but little of it came from the shop. Payment for skilled bowlers and batsmen came from voluntary donations afterwards, a defining incident of young Wellss life was an accident in 1874 that left him bedridden with a broken leg. To pass the time he started reading books from the local library and he soon became devoted to the other worlds and lives to which books gave him access, they also stimulated his desire to write. Later that year he entered Thomas Morleys Commercial Academy, a school founded in 1849 following the bankruptcy of Morleys earlier school. The teaching was erratic, the curriculum mostly focused, Wells later said, Wells continued at Morleys Academy until 1880. In 1877, his father, Joseph Wells, fractured his thigh, the accident effectively put an end to Josephs career as a cricketer, and his subsequent earnings as a shopkeeper were not enough to compensate for the loss of the primary source of family income. No longer able to support financially, the family instead sought to place their sons as apprentices in various occupations. From 1880 to 1883, Wells had an apprenticeship as a draper at the Southsea Drapery Emporium. Wellss parents had a turbulent marriage, owing primarily to his mother being a Protestant, when his mother returned to work as a ladys maid, one of the conditions of work was that she would not be permitted to have living space for her husband and children. Thereafter, she and Joseph lived separate lives, though they never divorced and remained faithful to each other, as a consequence, Herberts personal troubles increased as he subsequently failed as a draper and also, later, as a chemists assistant
29.
Sybil Thorndike
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Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike CH DBE was an English actress who toured internationally in Shakespearean productions, often appearing with her husband Lewis Casson. Bernard Shaw wrote Saint Joan specially for her, and she starred in it with great success and she was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1931, and Companion of Honour in 1970. Thorndike was born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, to Arthur Thorndike and her father was a canon of Rochester Cathedral. She was educated at Rochester Grammar School for Girls, and first trained as a classical pianist, making visits to London for music lessons at the Guildhall School of Music. Her childhood home in Rochester has been renamed after her and she gave her first public performance as a pianist at the age of 11, but in 1899 was forced to give up playing owing to piano cramp. At the age of 21 she was offered her first professional contract and she made her first stage appearance in Greets 1904 production of Shakespeares The Merry Wives of Windsor. She went on to tour the U. S. in Shakespearean repertory for four years, in 1908, she was spotted by the playwright George Bernard Shaw when she understudied the leading role of Candida in a tour directed by Shaw himself. There she also met her husband, Lewis Casson. They were married in December 1908, and had four children, John, Christopher, Mary and she was survived by four children and a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren when she died. She joined Annie Hornimans company in Manchester, went to Broadway in 1910, after the war, she played Hecuba in Euripides The Trojan Women, then from 1920–22 Thorndike and her husband starred in a British version of Frances Grand Guignol directed by Jose Levy. She returned to the stage in the role of George Bernard Shaws Saint Joan in 1924. The production was a success, and was revived repeatedly until her final performance in the role in 1941. In 1927, Thorndike appeared in a film of the cathedral scene from Saint Joan made in the DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process. Both Thorndike and Casson were active members of the Labour Party, even when the 1926 General Strike stopped the first run of Saint Joan, they both still supported the strikers. She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1931, as a pacifist, Thorndike was a member of the Peace Pledge Union and gave readings for its benefit. She continued to have success in such plays as N. C, hunters Waters of the Moon at the Haymarket in 1951–52. She also undertook tours of Australia and South Africa, before playing again with Olivier in Uncle Vanya at Chichester in 1962 and she made her farewell appearance with her husband in a London revival of Arsenic and Old Lace at the Vaudeville Theatre in 1966. Her last stage performance was at the Thorndike Theatre in Leatherhead, Surrey, in There Was an Old Woman in 1969 and her final acting appearance was in a TV drama The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens, with Anthony Hopkins in 1970
30.
Edith Evans
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Dame Edith Mary Evans, DBE was an English actress. She was best known for her work on the stage, but also appeared in films at the beginning, between 1964 and 1968, she was nominated for three Academy Awards. She created roles in two of Shaws plays, Orinthia in The Apple Cart, and Epifania in The Millionairess and was in the British premières of two others, Heartbreak House and Back to Methuselah. Evans was born in Pimlico, London, the daughter of Edward Evans, a civil servant in the General Post Office. She had one sibling, a brother who died at the age of four and she was educated at St Michaels Church of England School, Pimlico, before being apprenticed at the age of 15 in 1903 as a milliner. She commented in later years that she loved the rich and beautiful materials of the craft, poel then cast her as Cressida in Troilus and Cressida in London and subsequently at Stratford-upon-Avon. The critic of The Manchester Guardian found her diction inadequate, but otherwise approved, Miss Edith Evans, Evanss West End debut was in George Moores Elizabeth Cooper in 1913. The play received poor notices, but Evans was praised, In the very part of a maid Miss Edith Evans made the success of the afternoon. She put more into her few minutes than most of our approved stars can suggest in leading parts, in January 1914 she made her professional Shakespearian debut as Gertrude in Hamlet. In 1914, at Moores instigation, Evans was given a contract by the Royalty Theatre in Soho. She played character roles in comedies, as a member of casts that included Gladys Cooper. Over the next ten years she polished her craft in a range of parts. She played in a silent film called A Welsh Singer, directed by, for the same director she acted in East is East in 1917, but thereafter made no more films for over thirty years. In 1922 she made what J T Grein in The Illustrated London News called a triumph in Alfred Sutros comedy The Laughing Lady. Nigel Playfair cast her as the strong-willed and witty heroine in his revival of Congreves Restoration comedy at the Lyric Hammersmith, the critics resorted to superlatives, he main pleasure of the evening is due to Miss Edith Evanss Millamant, a part in which she definitely arrives. This actress imposes herself upon the audience first of all by her Rubens-like vitality and we have always known that she can fill the stage. It was delicious to hear her demand to be sole empress of her tea-table, James Agate wrote, Let me not mince matters. Miss Edith Evans is the most accomplished of living and practising English actresses, arnold Bennett noted in his journals that this Millamant was the finest comedy performance he had ever seen
31.
Old Vic
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The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre, in 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal Victoria Palace. It was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 and formally named the Royal Victoria Hall, in 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian Baylis assumed management and began a series of Shakespeare productions in 1914. The building was damaged in 1940 during air raids and it became a Grade II* listed building in 1951 after it reopened. It was also the name of a company that was based at the theatre and formed the core of the National Theatre of Great Britain on its formation in 1963. The National Theatre remained at the Old Vic until new premises were constructed on the South Bank, the Old Vic then became the home of Prospect Theatre Company, at that time a highly successful touring company which staged such acclaimed productions as Derek Jacobis Hamlet. However, with the withdrawal of funding for the company by the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1980 for breaching its touring obligations, the theatre underwent complete refurbishment in 1985. In 2003, Kevin Spacey was appointed as new director of the Old Vic Theatre Company which received considerable media attention. In 2015, Matthew Warchus succeeded Spacey as artistic director, the theatre was a minor theatre and was thus technically forbidden to show serious drama. Nevertheless, when the theatre passed to George Bolwell Davidge in 1824 he succeeded in bringing legendary actor Edmund Kean south of the river to play six Shakespeare plays in six nights. More popular staples in the repertoire were sensational and violent melodramas demonstrating the evils of drink, churned out by the house dramatist, confirmed teetotaller Douglas Jerrold. On 1 July 1833, the theatre was renamed the Royal Victoria Theatre, under the protection and patronage of Victoria, Duchess of Kent, mother to Princess Victoria, the 14-year-old heir presumptive. The duchess and the princess visited only once, on 28 November of that year, the single visit scarcely justified the Old Vic its later billing as Queen Victorias Own Theayter. By 1835, the theatre was advertising itself simply as the Victoria Theatre, in 1841, David Osbaldiston took over as lessee, succeeded on his death in 1850 by his lover and the theatres leading lady, Eliza Vincent, until her death in 1856. Under their management, the theatre remained devoted to melodrama, in 1867, Joseph Arnold Cave took over as lessee. In 1871 he transferred the lease to Romaine Delatorre, who raised funds for the theatre to be rebuilt in the style of the Alhambra Music Hall, jethro Thomas Robinson was engaged as the architect. In September 1871 the old theatre closed, and the new building opened as the Royal Victoria Palace in December of the same year, by 1873, however, Cave had left and Delatorres venture failed. The penny lectures given in the led to the foundation of Morley College, an adult education college
32.
Julius Caesar (play)
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The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It is one of plays written by Shakespeare based on true events from Roman history. The play opens with the commoners of Rome celebrating Caesars triumphant return from defeating Pompeys sons at the battle of Munda, two tribunes, Flavius and Marrullus, discover the commoners celebrating, insult them for their change in loyalty from Pompey to Caesar, and break up the crowd. There are some made by the commoners, who insult them back. They also plan on removing all decorations from Caesars statues and ending any other festivities, in the next scene, during Caesars parade on the feast of Lupercal, a soothsayer warns Caesar to Beware the ides of March, a warning he disregards. The action then turns to the discussion between Brutus and Cassius, in this conversation, Cassius attempts to influence Brutus opinions into believing Caesar should be killed, preparing to have Brutus join his conspiracy to kill Caesar. They then hear from Casca that Mark Antony has offered Caesar the crown of Rome three times and that each time Caesar refused it, fainting after the last refusal. He compares Caesar to A serpents egg/ which hatchd, would, as his kind, grow mischievous, / and kill him in the shell. Caesars assassination is one of the most famous scenes of the play, occurring in Act 3, scene 1. After ignoring the soothsayer, as well as his wifes own premonitions, the conspirators create a superficial motive for coming close enough to assassinate Caesar by means of a petition brought by Metellus Cimber, pleading on behalf of his banished brother. As Caesar, predictably, rejects the petition, Casca grazes Caesar in the back of his neck, at this point, Shakespeare makes Caesar utter the famous line Et tu, Brute. Shakespeare has him add, Then fall, Caesar, suggesting that such treachery destroyed Caesars will to live, the conspirators make clear that they committed this act for Rome, not for their own purposes, and do not attempt to flee the scene. After Caesar is killed, Brutus delivers an oration defending his actions, and for the moment, Antony, even as he states his intentions against it, rouses the mob to drive the conspirators from Rome. Amid the violence, an innocent poet, Cinna, is confused with the conspirator Lucius Cinna and is taken by the mob and that night, Caesars ghost appears to Brutus with a warning of defeat. At the battle, Cassius and Brutus, knowing that they will both die, smile their last smiles to each other and hold hands. During the battle, Cassius has his servant Pindarus kill him after hearing of the capture of his best friend, after Titinius, who was not really captured, sees Cassiuss corpse, he commits suicide. However, Brutus wins that stage of the battle—but his victory is not conclusive, with a heavy heart, Brutus battles again the next day. He loses and commits suicide by running on his own sword, there is then a small hint at the friction between Mark Antony and Octavius which characterizes another of Shakespeares Roman plays, Antony and Cleopatra. The main source of the play is Thomas Norths translation of Plutarchs Lives, Shakespeare makes Caesars triumph take place on the day of Lupercalia instead of six months earlier
33.
Toys in the Attic (play)
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Toys in the Attic is a 1960 play by Lillian Hellman. It took Hellman three years to complete the play, which evolved from a plot suggested by her lover Dashiell Hammett. Julian is based on Hellman’s father Max, who was adored by his two sisters and became a salesman after his first business failed. The original Broadway production was directed by Arthur Penn, who recalled the rehearsal period was difficult. The playwright would sit in the theater, coughing whenever she disapproved of something. Penn finally told her, Go home and fire us all if you don’t like it and it scares the hell out of them. Not helping the situation was the fact both Jason Robards and Maureen Stapleton were drinking considerably, produced by Kermit Bloomgarden, the play opened at the Hudson Theatre on February 25,1960 and closed on April 8,1961 after 456 performances. The production included French Lessons in Songs and Bernier Day by Marc Blitzstein, the play won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play. It was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play but lost to The Miracle Worker by William Gibson, Jason Robards was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play but lost to Melvyn Douglas in The Best Man. Both Maureen Stapleton and Irene Worth were nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play but lost to Anne Bancroft in The Miracle Worker. Anne Revere won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play, james Poe adapted the play for a 1963 film directed by George Roy Hill. In 2007, Austin Pendleton directed a revival of the play for a limited run mounted by the off-Broadway Pearl Theater Company in the East Village. Ginia Bellafante of the New York Times said the play has no patience for nostalgia and nothing and it yearns, remarkably, for room and reason. Toys in the Attic at the Internet Broadway Database Toys in the Attic at the Internet off-Broadway Database
34.
The Wings of the Dove
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The Wings of the Dove is a 1902 novel by Henry James. This novel tells the story of Milly Theale, an American heiress stricken with a serious disease, some of these people befriend Milly with honorable motives, while others are more self-interested. Kate Croy and Merton Densher are two betrothed Londoners who desperately want to marry but have little money. Kate is constantly put upon by family troubles, and is now living with her domineering aunt, into their world comes Milly Theale, an enormously rich young American woman who had previously met and fallen in love with Densher, although she has never revealed her feelings. Her travelling companion and confidante, Mrs. Stringham, is an old friend of Maud, Kate and Aunt Maud welcome Milly to London, and the American heiress enjoys great social success. With Kate as a companion, Milly goes to see an eminent physician, Sir Luke Strett, the doctor is noncommittal but Milly fears the worst. Kate suspects that Milly is deathly ill, after the trip to America where he had met Milly, Densher returns to find the heiress in London. Kate wants Densher to pay as much attention as possible to Milly, Kate has been careful to conceal from Milly that she and Densher are engaged. With the threat of serious illness hanging over her, Milly decides to travel to Venice with Mrs. Stringham, Aunt Maud, Kate and Densher follow her. Densher had suspected this was Kates idea, and he demands that she consummate their affair before he will go along with her plan, Aunt Maud and Kate return to London while Densher remains with Milly. Unfortunately, the girl learns from a former suitor of Kates about the plot to get her money. She withdraws from Densher and her condition deteriorates, Densher sees her one last time before he leaves for London, where he eventually receives news of Millys death. Milly does leave him an amount of money despite everything. But Densher does not accept the money, and he not marry Kate unless she also refuses the bequest. Conversely, if Kate chooses the money instead of him, Densher offers to make the bequest over to her in full, the lovers part on the novels final page with a cryptic exclamation from Kate, We shall never be again as we were. Kate Croy Merton Densher Milly Theale Aunt Maud Susan Stringham Milly is based on Minny Temple, in his autobiography James said that The Wings of the Dove was his attempt to wrap her memory in the beauty and dignity of art. But as he said in the preface to the New York Edition text of the novel. He established the background of Kate and Denshers inability to marry because of a lack of money, the Wings of the Dove has one of the strongest critical positions of any of James works, although James himself sometimes expressed dissatisfaction with it
35.
Edinburgh
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Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 local government council areas. Located in Lothian on the Firth of Forths southern shore, it is Scotlands second most populous city and the seventh most populous in the United Kingdom. The 2014 official population estimates are 464,990 for the city of Edinburgh,492,680 for the authority area. Recognised as the capital of Scotland since at least the 15th century, Edinburgh is home to the Scottish Parliament and it is the largest financial centre in the UK after London. Historically part of Midlothian, the city has long been a centre of education, particularly in the fields of medicine, Scots law, literature, the sciences and engineering. The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582 and now one of four in the city, was placed 17th in the QS World University Rankings in 2013 and 2014. The city is famous for the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe. The citys historical and cultural attractions have made it the United Kingdoms second most popular tourist destination after London, attracting over one million overseas visitors each year. Historic sites in Edinburgh include Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace, the churches of St. Giles, Greyfriars and the Canongate, Edinburghs Old Town and New Town together are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has been managed by Edinburgh World Heritage since 1999. It appears to derive from the place name Eidyn mentioned in the Old Welsh epic poem Y Gododdin, the poem names Din Eidyn as a hill fort in the territory of the Gododdin. The Celtic element din was dropped and replaced by the Old English burh, the first documentary evidence of the medieval burgh is a royal charter, c. 1124–1127, by King David I granting a toft in burgo meo de Edenesburg to the Priory of Dunfermline. In modern Gaelic, the city is called Dùn Èideann, the earliest known human habitation in the Edinburgh area was at Cramond, where evidence was found of a Mesolithic camp site dated to c.8500 BC. Traces of later Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements have found on Castle Rock, Arthurs Seat, Craiglockhart Hill. When the Romans arrived in Lothian at the end of the 1st century AD, at some point before the 7th century AD, the Gododdin, who were presumably descendants of the Votadini, built the hill fort of Din Eidyn or Etin. Although its location has not been identified, it likely they would have chosen a commanding position like the Castle Rock, Arthurs Seat. In 638, the Gododdin stronghold was besieged by forces loyal to King Oswald of Northumbria and it thenceforth remained under their jurisdiction. The royal burgh was founded by King David I in the early 12th century on land belonging to the Crown, in 1638, King Charles Is attempt to introduce Anglican church forms in Scotland encountered stiff Presbyterian opposition culminating in the conflicts of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. In the 17th century, Edinburghs boundaries were defined by the citys defensive town walls
36.
The Sacred Flame (play)
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The Sacred Flame is William Somerset Maughams 21st play, written at the age of 54. Maugham dedicated the publication to his friend Messmore Kendall, despite being a commercial success, Maugham did not repeat the experiment of literary dialogue again in any of his future plays. The Sacred Flame is the story about the misfortune of Maurice Tabret, unfortunately, after only a year of marriage, Maurice is involved in a plane crash and left crippled from the waist down. The play commences some years later in Gatley House near London, home of Maurices mother, Mrs. Tabrets home has been set up to care for her son and a young Nurse Wayland has been Maurices constant aid throughout. She is extremely professional and devoted to her job, Maurices wife Stella lives with them also and remains his cheerful companion and support. Maurices brother Colin Tabret has returned from a time in Guatemala to spend the previous 11 months before the start with his brother. The local practitioner Dr. Harvester visits frequently to check on Maurices condition, Mrs. Tabrets own husband has passed on some time ago and whilst she does not have a close relationship with anyone else, her old friend retired Major Liconda visits often. All is as well as can be expected until Maurice is found dead in his bed one morning, for the majority of the second and third act the main suspect is Stella, who it transpires is having an affair with Colin and is pregnant by him. It looks as if the matter will be brought to the coroner and the police, at the end of the third act, Mrs. Tabret reveals that it was she that killed Maurice. She had realised that Stella was pregnant, and because Stellas love was all that Maurice lived for, Mrs. Tabret therefore sees her act as a mercy killing. After this revelation, the ends as Nurse Wayland asks Dr. Harvester to sign the death certificate indicating that Maurice died of natural causes. In 1966 a major production was presented in the West End starring Gladys Cooper, there were no major productions between 1967 and 2012, when English Touring Theatre presented a new production for a UK tour. The Sacred Flame, on Broadway, IBDb. com
37.
Duke of York's Theatre
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The Duke of Yorks Theatre is a West End Theatre in St Martins Lane, in the City of Westminster, London. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte and it opened on 10 September 1892 as the Trafalgar Square Theatre, with Wedding Eve. The theatre, designed by architect Walter Emden became known as the Trafalgar Theatre in 1894, one of the earliest musical comedies, Go-Bang, was a success at the theatre in 1894. In 1900, Jerome K. Jeromes Miss Hobbs was staged as well as David Belascos Madame Butterfly, which was seen by Puccini and this was also the theatre where J. M. Barries Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldnt Grow Up debuted on 27 December 1904. The theatre was Grade II listed by English Heritage in September 1960, in the late 1970s the freehold of the theatre was purchased by Capital Radio and it closed in 1979 for refurbishment. It reopened in February 1980 and the first production under the patronage of Capital Radio was Rose, in 1991 comedian Pat Condell performed sketches at the theatre which were later released onto DVD. The Ambassador Theatre Group bought the theatre in 1992, this coincided with the successful Royal Court production of Ariel Dorfmans Death, a host of successes followed including the 21st anniversary performance of Richard OBriens The Rocky Horror Show and the Royal Court Classics Season in 1995. After Mrs Rochester by Polly Teale Sweet Panic by Stephen Poliakoff Calico by Michael Hastings The Holy Terror by Simon Gray Dirty Blonde by Claudia Shear Journeys End by R. C. Sherriff, directed by David Grindley Backbeat, co-written by Iain Softley and Stephen Jeffreys, musical direction by Paul Stacey, all New People by Zach Braff, directed by Peter DuBois, starring Zach Braff, Eve Myles, Paul Hilton and Susannah Fielding. Guide to British Theatres 1750–1950, John Earl and Michael Sell pp. 108–9 ISBN 0-7136-5688-3
38.
Gladys Cooper
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Dame Gladys Constance Cooper, DBE was an English actress whose career spanned seven decades on stage, in films and on television. Beginning on the stage as a teenager in Edwardian musical comedy and pantomime, she was starring in dramatic roles and she also became a manager of the Playhouse Theatre from 1917 to 1933, where she played many roles. Beginning in the early 1920s, Cooper was winning praise in plays by W. Somerset Maugham, in the 1930s, she was starring steadily both in the West End and on Broadway. Moving to Hollywood in 1940, Cooper found success in a variety of character roles, throughout the 1950s and 1960s, she mixed her stage and film careers, continuing to star on stage until her last year. Cooper was born at 23 Ennersdale Road, Hither Green, Lewisham, London and her two younger sisters were Doris Mabel and Grace Muriel. Gladys Cooper spent most of her childhood in Chiswick, where her family moved when she was an infant and she made her stage debut in 1905 touring with Seymour Hicks in his musical Bluebell in Fairyland. The young beauty was also a photographic model. In 1906, she appeared as Lady Swan in London in The Belle of Mayfair, the following year she became a chorus girl at the Gaiety Theatre, creating the small role of Eva in The Girls of Gottenberg. That Christmas, she was Molly in Babes in the Wood, in 1911, she appeared in a production of The Importance of Being Earnest and in Man and Superman. Among several other plays, the year she was Muriel Pym in Milestones at the Royalty Theatre. A highlight of 1913 was Dora in Diplomacy at Wyndhams Theatre and that year she also played the title role in The Pursuit of Pamela at the Royalty. In 1913 Cooper appeared in her first film, The Eleventh Commandment, going on to several more silent films during the First World War. She continued full-time stage work, however, including appearances as Lady Agatha Lazenby in The Admirable Crichton in 1916, in addition, in 1917, Cooper became co-manager, with Frank Curzon, of the Playhouse Theatre, taking over sole control from 1927 until she left in 1933. During these years, she starred several times in My Ladys Dress and she appeared in W. Somerset Maughams Home and Beauty in 1919, repeated Dora at His Majestys Theatre in 1920 and elsewhere thereafter, and played numerous roles at the Playhouse Theatre. It was not until 1922, however, now in her mid thirties, early in her stage career, she was criticised for being too stiff. Evidently, her acting improved during this period, as Maugham praised her for turning herself from an indifferent actress to a competent one through her common sense. For both the 1923 and 1924 Christmas shows at the Adelphi Theatre, Cooper played the character in Peter Pan. She appeared in Maughams The Letter in London and on tour in 1927 and 1928, in Excelsior in 1928 and she was Dorothy Hilton in Call it a Day, again in both London and New York, from 1935 to 1936
39.
Eugene O'Neill
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Eugene Gladstone ONeill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. ONeills plays were among the first to include speeches in American vernacular and they struggle to maintain their hopes and aspirations, but ultimately slide into disillusionment and despair. Of his very few comedies, only one is well-known, nearly all of his other plays involve some degree of tragedy and personal pessimism. ONeill was born in a hotel, the Barrett House, at Broadway and 43rd Street, a commemorative plaque was first dedicated there in 1957. The site is now occupied by 1500 Broadway, which offices, retail. He was the son of Irish immigrant actor James ONeill and Mary Ellen Quinlan and his father suffered from alcoholism, his mother from an addiction to morphine, prescribed to relieve the pains of the difficult birth of her third son, Eugene. ONeill spent his summers at the Monte Cristo Cottage in New London and he attended Princeton University for one year. Accounts vary as to why he left, ONeill spent several years at sea, during which he suffered from depression and alcoholism. Despite this, he had a love for the sea and it became a prominent theme in many of his plays. ONeill joined the Marine Transport Workers Union of the Industrial Workers of the World, ONeills parents and elder brother Jamie died within three years of one another, not long after he had begun to make his mark in the theater. After his experience in 1912–13 at a sanatorium where he was recovering from tuberculosis, ONeill had previously been employed by the New London Telegraph, writing poetry as well as reporting. In the fall of 1914, he entered Harvard University to attend a course in dramatic technique given by Professor George Baker and he left after one year and did not complete the course. During the 1910s ONeill was a regular on the Greenwich Village literary scene, ONeill also had a brief romantic relationship with Reeds wife, writer Louise Bryant. ONeill was portrayed by Jack Nicholson in the 1981 film Reds and his involvement with the Provincetown Players began in mid-1916. ONeill is said to have arrived for the summer in Provincetown with a full of plays. He was not left alone in the dining-room when the reading had finished, the Provincetown Players performed many of ONeills early works in their theaters both in Provincetown and on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village. Some of these early plays began downtown and then moved to Broadway, ONeills first published play, Beyond the Horizon, opened on Broadway in 1920 to great acclaim, and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. His first major hit was The Emperor Jones, which ran on Broadway in 1920 and his best-known plays include Anna Christie, Desire Under the Elms, Strange Interlude, Mourning Becomes Electra, and his only well-known comedy, Ah, Wilderness
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A Moon for the Misbegotten
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A Moon for the Misbegotten is a play by Eugene ONeill. The play is a sequel to ONeills Long Days Journey into Night, the play premiered on Broadway in 1957 and has had four Broadway revivals, plus a West End engagement. Hogans landlord and drinking companion, a cynical alcoholic haunted by the death of his mother, the play begins with Mike, the last of Hogans three sons, leaving the farm. As a joke during one of their bouts, Tyrone threatens to sell his land to his hated neighbor, T. Steadman Harder. Hogan creates a scheme in which Josie will get Tyrone drunk, seduce him, Josie and Tyrone court in the moonlight. The scheme falls through when Josie finds out that Tyrone isnt going to sell the land to Harder after all. Tyrone tells Josie the story of how, after his mother died, he traveled back East on the train, Tyrone leaves for New York to handle his mothers estate, apparently to die soon of complications from alcoholism. As in Journey, the Tyrone character is based on Eugene ONeills older brother, Jamie ONeill. A Moon for the Misbegotten was produced by the Theatre Guild, which had produced many of ONeills, plays including Strange Interlude in 1928, The Iceman Cometh in 1946, and this play, because ONeill was unhappy with progress in rehearsals. Demanded out-of-town tryouts in a series of Midwestern cities, the play had its world premiere at the Hartman Theatre in Columbus, Ohio in 1947. The play has been produced five times on Broadway, the original production opened on May 2,1957 at the now-demolished Bijou Theatre, where it ran for 68 performances. Directed by Carmen Capalbo, the cast included Cyril Cusack, Franchot Tone, scenic design was by William Pitkin, Lighting Design by Lee Watson, and Costume Design by Ruth Morley. Wendy Hiller was nominated for the Tony Award, Actress in a Play, the play was presented Off-Broadway by Circle in the Square Theatre, opening on June 12,1968. Directed by Theodore Mann, the cast featured Salome Jens as Josie, Mitchell Ryan as James Tyrone, Jr. Garry Mitchell as T. Stedman Harder, brydon as Phil and Jack Kehoe as Mike. Both production casts included Colleen Dewhurst who won a Tony Award, Jason Robards, the cast again resurrected their roles in a Quintero-directed production for television, broadcast by ABC on May 27,1975. One of their affiliates in the state of Florida pre-empted the film controversially because it contained adult language, after nineteen previews, the second revival, directed by David Leveaux, opened on May 1,1984 at the Cort Theatre, where it ran for 40 performances. The cast included Ian Bannen, Jerome Kilty, and Kate Nelligan and this production was nominated for the Tony Award for, Actress in a Play, Director of a Play, Lighting Design, and Revival. After fifteen previews, the revival, directed by Daniel Sullivan, opened on March 19,2000 at the Walter Kerr Theatre
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Tony Award
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The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at a ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway productions and performances, and an award is given for regional theatre, several discretionary non-competitive awards are also given, including a Special Tony Award, the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, and the Isabelle Stevenson Award. The awards are named after Antoinette Tony Perry, co-founder of the American Theatre Wing, the rules for the Tony Awards are set forth in the official document Rules and Regulations of The American Theatre Wings Tony Awards, which applies for that season only. It also forms the fourth spoke in the EGOT, that is someone who has won all four awards, the Tony Awards are also considered the equivalent of the Laurence Olivier Award in the United Kingdom and the Molière Award of France. From 1997 to 2010, the Tony Awards ceremony was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City in June and broadcast live on CBS television, except in 1999, in 2011 and 2012, the ceremony was held at the Beacon Theatre. From 2013 to 2015, the 67th, 68th, and 69th ceremonies returned to Radio City Music Hall, the 70th Tony Awards were held on June 12,2016 at the Beacon Theatre. The 71st Tony Awards will be held on June 11,2017, as of 2014, there are 24 categories of awards, plus several special awards. Starting with 11 awards in 1947, the names and number of categories have changed over the years, some examples, the category Best Book of a Musical was originally called Best Author. The category of Best Costume Design was one of the original awards, for two years, in 1960 and 1961, this category was split into Best Costume Designer and Best Costume Designer. It then went to a category, but in 2005 it was divided again. For the category of Best Director of a Play, a category was for directors of plays. A newly established non-competitive award, The Isabelle Stevenson Award, was given for the first time at the ceremony in 2009. The award is for an individual who has made a contribution of volunteered time and effort on behalf of one or more humanitarian. The category of Best Special Theatrical Event was retired as of the 2009–2010 season, the categories of Best Sound Design of a Play and Best Sound Design of a Musical were retired as of the 2014-2015 season. Performance categories Show and technical categories Special awards Retired awards The award was founded in 1947 by a committee of the American Theatre Wing headed by Brock Pemberton. The award is named after Antoinette Perry, nicknamed Tony, an actress, director, producer and co-founder of the American Theatre Wing, who died in 1946. As her official biography at the Tony Awards website states, At Jacob Wilks suggestion, proposed an award in her honor for distinguished stage acting, at the initial event in 1947, as he handed out an award, he called it a Tony
