Priestley Plays Four

BY TOM PRIESTLEY

T
hese two little-known plays illustrate beautifully my father’s love of experimenting and trying his hand at new types of drama, indeed new types of writing.

Both are totally different and yet both have key elements in common.
The Thirty-First of June
is a jolly, frolic of a play painted in broad strokes of vivid colour, with over-the-top characters who lurch between two time zones, contemporary and medieval, with characters from one stumbling into the other until triumphantly at the end both combine, and there is no longer ‘now’ or ‘then’.

This theme, quite differently handled, occurs too in
Jenny Villiers
. There, people from what seems to be the past inform and instruct characters in the present; but what is past and what is present? The two overlap becoming a whole, a uniform blend of time. The malaise of the contemporary dissolves into a continuum in which negativity disappears as a tired scum on the surface of experience, leaving the rich vigour of life blazing below, crossing the generations. What was good then is still good now, whereas what was bad was ephemeral and short-lived.

Once the classical unities dissolve, scenes can easily shift from place to place, and it is only a short step to scenes in different times, and ultimately scenes combining times. These now are commonplace with the newer media of film and television, but in the days of JBP they were revolutionary. In these two plays he uses the time shifts to suit his subjects; comic in one, tragic in the other, but the tragedy leads to redemption, death to renewed life.

But there is a further connection between the two plays. Beyond a first appearance on the stage, 1946 Theatre Royal Bristol
Jenny Villiers
and 1957 Old Theatre London School of Economics
The Thirty-First of June
, neither flourished in the theatre so my father rewrote them as novels, published in 1947 and 1961 respectively. However in the case of
Jenny Villiers
, the novel was based on the original version of the play, as performed in Bristol, but he rewrote the play to produce the version printed here. But even that was not performed, because JBP refused permission for repertory productions while negotiations failed for possible film versions. However it was serialised on
Woman’s Hour
in 1949, and broadcast in
Saturday Night Theatre
in 1954, following a TV production in 1948.

The Thirty-First of June
in turn was broadcast on
Afternoon Theatre
in 1983 and read as a
Book at Bedtime
in 2005. There was interest abroad especially in Russia. But it is still waiting to be performed. Interestingly both plays would benefit from the new technology in the Theatre, to present the effortless blending of time zones without obvious trickery, and of course they would work splendidly on film or television.

(Leading characters in CAPS)

PERADORE CHARACTERS

PRINCESS MELICENT

KING MELIOT
her father

MALAGRAM
An old enchanter

Malgrim
another enchanter, nephew of above

Ninette
Lady-in-waiting to the Princess

Alison

Master Jarvie
Doctor at King Meliot’s Court

Lamison
A musician

Grumet
A dwarf

First Soldier

Second Soldier

Herald

Some extras for end of Scene 4, Act 2
.

LONDON CHARACTERS

SAM PENTY
An artist employed by the advertising agency

CAPTAIN PLUNKET
An adventurer

DIMMOCK (‘D.D.’)
Director of an advertising agency

BARMAID
At The Black Horse

Anne Dutton-Swift
An assistant to Dimmock

Philip Spencer-Smith
An assistant to Dimmock

Peggy
Dimmock’s secretary

Dr Jarvis
Modern equivalent of Master Jarvie

Man
Regular customer at The Black Horse

Mrs Shiny
Important Housewife

Ted Gizzard
Trade Union Official

(NOTE: This play can be done fairly simply, according to the ingenuity of the director and the designer, against black drapes, using screens to suggest walls and with the essential minimum number of furnishings and props. Or comparatively simple sets can be used – none of them a box set – and the order of the scenes has been arranged to make the changes easy. LARGE means that the essential parts of the set are well upstage; MEDIUM that they are roughly about centre; SMALL that they are downstage, leaving plenty of room for changes behind them. ENTRANCE does not mean that a practicable door is necessary, only that access to the stage must be there. Right and Left are actors’ R. and L..)

Scene One:
The Castle. MEDIUM. Walls suggested by tapestry hangings. No doors or windows. Entrances R. and L.. A very fat stone pillar a little downstage L.C. for enchanters to make their magical appearances and disappearances. A few stools to sit on. Rich warm lighting, not too bright.

Scene Two:
Dimmock’s office. LARGE. Light and bright. Desk at back. Suggested window back L.. Further down L. a trick cupboard, with easy swinging doors for quick entrances and exits, with two doors behind, showing files and book backs, that are closed after exits to suggest cupboard is solidly full. One entrance R. – if possible a practicable door. A light chair behind desk, and possibly two in front of it. Powerful noise effect of electric drill just behind suggested window. Lighting should be clear, bright, hard.

Scene Three:
Castle, as before.

Scene Four:
Private Bar of The Black Horse. MEDIUM or SMALL. Counter and bar at back. Entrance R.. On wall down L. a hinged advertising mirror – or similar device – for magical exits. Warm and rather subdued lighting.

Scene Five:
Dimmock’s office, as before.

Scene Six:
Castle, as before.

Scene Seven:
Television Studio. SMALL. A backing with four chairs. Very hard bright light. One entrance R. or L..

Scene Eight:
Dungeon in the Castle. SMALL. Entrance from back, preferably with suggestion of steps coming down. Only tiny acting area given any light.

Scene One:
Private Bar, as before.

Scene Two:
Castle, as before, but some change in lighting.

Scene Three:
Dungeon, as before exactly.

Scene Four:
Pavilion at Tournament. MEDIUM. Suggesting a kind of marquee. Hangings for walls could be those of castle reversed. Entrance R. and at L. main entrance to Pavilion, with flaps that can be fastened. A bench or two or three stools. Lighting rather subdued with brilliant sunlight outside L. entrance, together with various noise effects there.

Scene Five:
Interior tent. SMALL. Tiny and set well downstage. One entrance either L. or R. Bench. Subdued lighting as in Scene 4.

Scene Six:
Dragon’s Lair. LARGE. A glade, so some suggestions of foliage at back and R. and L. a bush or rock coming some way downstage centre. In front is smaller rock for sitting on. Entrance upstage R. At L., not visible from entrance R., is enormous dragon’s head, with puffs of smoke coming out of its nostrils. Eyes are closed, but if possible they should be capable of being opened. Head is constructed so that it is easy for actor playing Dimmock to speak through it. Strong clear sunlight.

Scene Seven:
Enchanters Dining Room. SMALL. Table just big enough to seat four, and four stools. One Entrance either R. or L.. Strong focussed light on table, not spilling. Outside this a murky atmosphere. Table arranged for various trick effects.

Scene Eight:
Wedding Banquet. LARGE. This should suggest the Castle on one side and Dimmock’s office on the other, being a mixture of two worlds. Apparently a semi-circular table runs from downstage R. to upstage centre to downstage L.. (This can be suggested by a number of small tables with cloths over them. In R. half everything is medieval, the table crowded with immense prop. dishes and flagons etc. In L. half everything is modern and very meagre. Full company, either in medieval or modern costume, is seated behind table, with all chief characters upstage centre. Rich warm light. If seating is difficult, the people downstage at each side can be standing.

A short overture is played in front of curtain or on two rostrums at each end of orchestral pit – with a medieval musician – or musicians – at one, and a modern musician – or musicians – at the other. The music must be written so that the saxophone and/or trombone of the moderns does not drown the lighter playing of the medieval musicians. The latter must include an apparent lute-player (this could be recorded if necessary) who when others have finished and gone off, begins playing again and, after curtain rises, walks into set and sits down, still playing. (NOTE: all succeeding scenes can be introduced like this, the medieval with medieval musician, the modern with modern musician, but in later scenes they do not go into the set and the action but merely until the scene is lit and action ready to start.)