powered by FreeFind

 


Original theatre programme cover1066 - and All That

A Comic History with Music in Three Acts

Book and Lyrics by REGINALD ARKELL; Music by ALFRED REYNOLDS
Based on the Memorable History of the Same Name by W. C. SELLAR and R. J. YEATMAN. The play produced by HERBERT M. PRENTICE in association with ARCHIBALD DE BEAR. The Orchestra under the direction of ALFRED REYNOLDS

Produced at the Strand Theatre, London, 1935

The complete programme and original cast members' names.

"What good did history ever do me?" moans the Common Man, settling down for a nap while his wife and son traipse round the waxworks. His dreams recall those items from long-ago school lessons most likely to stick, however imperfectly, in the non-historian's mind: Alfred burning the cakes; Canute inventing sea bathing; King John losing his washing, and Henry VI marrying VIII wives - or vice versa. From the Roman Conquest to the Space Age, history is hilariously proved to consist only of the bits you can vaguely remember. Each scene is complete in itself with linking comments from a Compère.

For the Chorus

Boundless opportunities for full employment, for Sir Francis Drake may have to be a Roman soldier in the first sketch, and a stage-door Johnnie by the Naughty Nineties; while Nell Gwynn might first have appeared as a Crusader's erring wife, and returns as a Gaiety Girl. The suggested doubling schedule calls for a minimum of eight girls and fifteen men but, obviously, the more the merrier. This history (!) is subject to infinite variety in the hands of an inventive producer.

The Roles

Apart from the Common Man and the Compère, few of the characters appear in more than one scene - but with almost a hundred characters to cover in the complete work there is plenty of scope

The Scenes

There are twenty-six scenes, nearly all played in curtains with a few properties to each sketch. One or two drop-cloths are suggested to give added interest to some episodes, but the Wardrobe Mistress is likely to be busier than the Stage Manager

Musical Numbers:

We're Going Home
When This Old War's Fini
Beards
The Four Georges
The Same Old Hat
The Puritan and the Cavalier
King Canute

The Complete Programme

The original cast members names are given against the character names.


PROLOGUE - THE HALL OF FAME

Guide - NAUNTON WAYNE
The Common Man - HUGH E. WRIGHT
Wife - CLARICE HARDWICKE
Girl - JASMINE SHUSHTARY

ACT I.

Scene I

A Bank on the side of a Roman Road newly carved in the Berkshire Downs

Roman Soldiers - MESSRS. GORDON, LEWIS, ROBERTSON, WEBB, LEVERS, WORSLEY, BUTT and BIGGS
The Common Man .- HUGH E. WRIGHT
Julius Casar - LAIDMAN BROWNE

Scene 2

St. Patrick - PHILLIP HOLLES
St. Pancras - WALTER FITZGERALD
St. Ives - BERTRAM HEYHOE

Scene 3 - ALFRED THE GRATE

Fairy - JOAN BUTTERFIELD
Alfred - RICHARD LITTLEDALE
Lovely Sister in Green - MOLLY RANKIN
Lovely Sister in Pink - YVETTE PIENNE
Baron de Broke - WARREN JENKINS
Baroness de Broke - CLARICE HARDWICKE
The Compere - NAUNTON WAYNE

Scene 4 - THE SEASIDE

Sunbathers - THE MISSES VERA ROBSON, GRACE NEVERN and HELEN CRERAR; MESSRS. GORDON, LEWIS and ROBERTSON
Bathing Girls - THE DANCERS
Balloon Man - HUGH E. WRIGHT
Policeman - JACK TRAIN
Hardlicanute - PHILLIP HOLLES
Quitecanute - WALTER FITZGERALD
King Canute - HENRY HEWITT
Mayor - BERTRAM HEYHOE
Scribe - WILLIAM BIGGS

Scene 5 - 1066

William the Conqueror - LAIDMAN BROWNE
Queen Matilda - MOLLY RANKIN
A Baron - RICHARD LITTLEDALE
Prisoner - HUGH E. WRIGHT
Three Barons - MESSRS. BUTT, LEVERS and WEBB

Scene 6 - THE CRUSADERS

Crusader's Wife - CLARICE HARDWICKE
Constance - YVETTE PIENNE
Blanche - JOAN BUTTERFIELD
Keeper of the Drawbridge - HUGH E. WRIGHT
Troubadour - WILLIAM WORSLEY
Housekeeper - MOLLY RANKIN
Crusader - HENRY HEWITT

Scene 7 - KING JOHN

King John - WARREN JENKINS
Baron - SCOTT SUNDERLAND
Scroll Bearer - HUGH E. WRIGHT
Four Barons - MESSRS. GORDON, LEWIS, ROBERTSON WEBB
Four Pages - The MISSES WHEBLE, BRUCE, SHUSHTARY and DARRELL

Scene 8 - HUNDRED YEARS WAR

Sentry - HUGH E. WRIGHT
Sergeant - ALLAN BOURNE WEBB
Henry V - LAIDMAN BROWNE
Veterans - THE SINGERS
French Girls - THE MISSES CLARICE HARDWICKE, YVETTE PIENNE, JOAN BUTTERFIELD and the DANCERS

ACT II.

Scene 1 - BRUCE AND THE SPIDER

Robert the Bruce - WARREN JENKINS

Scene 2 - THE BALLET OF THE ROSES

Dancers - The Misses JASMINE SHUSHTARY, WINNIE WHEBLE, AMIE GILLESPIE, DOROTHY DOBSON, ROMA DARRELL, FRITZI GOOD, BRENDA BRUCE, MARGARET DANIELS, EVE MOORE, MARJORIE CHAPMAN, GLADYS LINCOLN, VERONICA TESTER
The Common Man - HUGH E. WRIGHT

Scene 3 - HENRY THE VIII

Henry VIII - HENRY HEWITT
Catharine of Aragon - HELEN CRERAR
Anne Boleyn - VERA ROBSON
Jane Seymour - JOAN BUTTERFIELD
Anne of Cleves - MOLLY RANKIN
Catharine Howard - BRENDA BRUCE
Catharine Parr - CLARICE HARDWICKE
Four Monks - MESSRS. GORDON, LEWIS, ROBERTSON and WORSLEY
Halberdier - HUGH E. WRIGHT
Queen Mary - MOLLY RANKIN
Queen Elizabeth - YVETTE PIENNE

Scene 4 - BEARDS

Drake - WALTER FITZGERALD
Raleigh - PHILLIP HOLLES
Essex - BERTRAM HEYHOE
Manicurists - THE MISSES DARRELL, CHAPMAN and SHUSTARY
Barbers - MESSRS. BIGGS, ROBERTSON, LEVERS
Halberdier - ALLAN BOURNE WEBB

Scene 5 - QUEEN ELIZABETH

Queen Elizabeth - YVETTE PIENNE
1st Girl - AMIE GILLESPIE
2nd Girl - JOAN BUTTERFIELD
Virginal Player - HELEN CRERAR
Ladies in Waiting - THE MISSES BRENDA BRUCE and GLADYS LINCOLN

Scene 6 - POLICE COURT

Magistrate - HENRY HEWITT
1st Policeman - LAIDMAN BROWNE
2nd Policeman - ALLAN BOURNE WEBB
Christopher Columbus - WARREN JENKINS
Guy Fawkes - RICHARD LITTLEDALE

Scene 7 - THE PURITAN AND THE CAVALIER

The Girl - VERA ROBSON
The Man - WILLIAM WORSLEY

Scene 8 - MERRIE ENGLAND

Revellers, Court Ladies and Gentlemen and Dancers - THE COMPANY
The Common Man - HUGH E. WRIGHT
Nell Gwyn - CLARICE HARDWICKE
Oliver Cromwell - HENRY HEWITT
Charles II - SCOTT SUNDERLAND
Puritan - WILLIAM WORSLEY
A Lady of Fashion - YVETTE PIENNE

ACT III.

The Compere - NAUNTON WAYNE.
The Common Man - HUGH E. WRIGHT

Scene I - WILLIAMANMARY

Mary - YVETTE PIENNE
William - ALLAN BOURNE WEBB
Marlborough - SCOTT SUNDERLAND
Wilhelmine - JOAN BUTTERFIELD
Peterkin - ROMA DARRELL
George Arliss - LAIDMAN BROWNE

Scene 2 - THE FOUR GEORGES

George I - CHARLES GORDON
George II - WILLIAM WORSLEY
George III - JAMES ROBERTSON
George IV - JOHN LEWIS

Scene 3 - THE NAPOLEONIC WARS

Nelson - WALTER FITZGERALD
Napoleon - PHILLIP HOLLES
Wellington - BERTRAM HEYHOE
The Common Man - HUGH E. WRIGHT

Scene 4 - SAILOR KING

William IV - WARREN JENKINS
Sailors - THE DANCERS

Scene 5 - VICTORIAN AGE

Colonel Bygadsby - HENRY HEWITT
Mrs. Bygadsby - CLARICE HARDWICKE
Mr. Rafflin - KENNETH FRASER
Soldiers Three - MESSRS. LITTLEDALE, LEVERS, BIGGS

Scene 6 - THE NAUGHTY NINETIES

Gaiety Dancers - THE DANCERS

Scene 7 - THE AGE OF INVENTION

The Safety Zone—The Last Pedestrian

The Last Pedestrian - HUGH E. WRIGHT
Policeman - ALLAN BOURNE WEBB
Taximan - JACK TRAIN

 Scene 8 - THE STRATOSPHERE

Passenger - HUGH E. WRIGHT
Navigator - NAUNTON WAYNE

Scene 9 - HALL OF FAME

Guide - NAUNTON WAYNE
The Common Man - HUGH E. WRIGHT

Scene 10 - FINALE - THE FULL COMPANY

Orchestration

1st and 2nd Violins, Viola, Cello, Double Bass, 2 Flutes, Oboe, 2 Clarinets, Bassoon, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Trombone, Drums.

A few alternative musical items mentioned in the script do not appear in the piano/vocal score, but copies may be borrowed without charge on request to the copyright holders.