Yours Unfaithfully by Miles Malleson Directed by Jonathan Bank The Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row (410 W. 42nd Street) December 27, 2016 through February 18, 2017 Performances: Tue - Sat 7:30PM Wed, Sat, & Sun 2:30PM No matinee on 12/28
Tickets on sale now to First Priority Club Members. To order tickets, call the FPC Hotline at: (212) 315-0231.
Yours Unfaithfully by Miles Malleson is an “un-
romantic comedy” about the price of free love. It is a remarkably bold play about a married couple trying to live up to their ideals of freedom, generosity, and independence.
Spring Raffle Malleson’s 1933 comedy was published but never produced, making Mint’s production a very belated World Premiere. A handful of papers reviewed the published play in 1933. The Spectator described it as “vivacious and intelligent, as you would expect from Mr. Malleson.” Renowned philosopher Bertrand Russell, who’s own provocative and controversial Marriage and Morals came out in 1929, wrote a critique for the Observer: Mr. Malleson’s play deals with the adventures of a married couple who have decided, as many do nowadays, that their relation to each other is sufficiently stable to withstand the shock of an occasional infidelity, openly confessed and not regarded as a ground of reproach. The subject is treated delightfully, with humour and kindliness and without any dogmatic conclusion. The characters behave as real people do behave, and not according to some convention of the theatre. What Russell declined to mention was that the play takes his own marriage as inspiration. It’s no wonder that he writes, “I suppose the troubles of the principal characters might be regarded as amusing, although from their own point of view they are very uncomfortable.” The long delayed premiere of Yours Unfaithfully is not the only instance in Malleson’s playwriting career. The first plays he wrote, in 1916, two one-acts about soldiers fighting the Great War called Black ‘ell and Company D, were seized by the police and described as a calumny on the British soldier. It wasn’t until 1925 that they were published and produced. Malleson’s most successful play, The Fanatics, was published in 1924, but not produced until 1927, when it played both London and New York. The Fanatics was also a bold and outspoken play on the subject of sex, in this case, before marriage. Brooks Atkinson wrote, “The Fanatics of the title are those who have the courage to live their lives as they think proper. Rightly or wrongly, Mr. Malleson offers the rebellious young people as the products of the war. Whatever the reason may be for their intellectual ruthlessness, you must respect their courage and sincerity.” Please join us for the world premiere of Yours Unfaithfully this winter!
(William) Miles Malleson, by Clara Klinghoffer, 1946 - © National Portrait Gallery, London
Coming Up
CASTING NEWS YOURS UNFAITHFULLY by Miles Malleson directed by Jonathan Bank MAX VON ESSEN
An American in Paris (Tony nomination), Evita (Broadway), Death Takes a Holiday (Roundabout)
ELISABETH GRAY
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Broadway), Wish I Had a Sylvia Plath (Off-Broadway and Internationally), The Voorman Problem (BAFTA and Oscar nominated film).
TODD CERVERIS
South Pacific (Broadway), War Horse (National Tour), The Booth Variations (Off-Broadway).
MIKAELA IZQUIERDO
Cyrano de Bergerac (Roundabout), The New York Idea (Atlantic Theater) West Lethargy (Off-Broadway).
JOHN HUTTON
Lincoln (Spielberg), Twelfth Night (Hudson Valley Shakes), The Winters Tale (The Goodman)
MILES MALLESON Today
Actor and Playwright
Miles Malleson is remembered, if at all, for a handful of film appearances, where he specialized in comic character parts, such as the Sultan in The Thief of Bagdad (which he also wrote), the hangman in Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949, with Sir Alec Guinness) and Rev. Chasuble in The Importance of Being Earnest (1952, Edith Evans). But he was also a writer with courage, passion and talent in spades. The Stage and Television Today offered a warm testimonial on the occasion of his death in 1969: Malleson was an actor of distinction, an artist of imagination and depth, whose best characterizations, especially in Shakespeare, were among the treasures of our theatre for many years…He excelled in comedy that came from guileless but not silly men. His nit-wits had souls as well as stupidities. What might have been merely grotesque was never so, it was lit by human feeling.
His work in the theatre spanned nearly sixty years, from the time he made his debut at Liverpool Playhouse under Basil Dean in 1911, in Justice. He worked with Granville Barker and J.B. Fagan, with Playfair, Gielgud and Olivier, at the Old Vic in London and Bristol; in the West End and in the provinces. His acting, within its range, was unrivaled for effect, interest and significance, and he contributed valuable work as a translator of Moliere, as a writer, notably with The Fanatics and Six Men of Dorset—with H. Brooks— and as an influence for all that was intended to be of value to the theatre, irrespective of profit or fame.
Malleson in 1964
Stage Fright, dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1950
The Importance of Being Earnest, 1952
Dates
The Inside Scoop
HOW DID YOU FIND THIS ONE? by Jonathan Bank
That’s
the question I’m asked most often, by audience members, by my friends, by the press. I can be grumpy about that sometimes, because the question suggests that finding good lost plays is a matter of detective work. As if I know just where to look, and that anyone else who looked in the same place would find good plays too! You can hear me getting grumpy, so I’d better stop. In the case of Yours Unfaithfully, there really wasn’t any detective work at all, at least not until I had decided to produce the play. But there is a story about how I came to be introduced to the author, Miles Malleson. In April 2004, the theme of our annual benefit was the friendship between A.A. Milne and J.M. Barrie. Included in the evening’s entertainment was Barrie’s one-act, The Old Lady Shows Her Medals. On that evening in April, the reading of that play just ignited, especially the magical chemistry between Frances Sternhagen and Gareth Saxe in the leading roles. It was obvious that I had to produce that play, but I needed to pair it with something else, Frances Sternhagen and Gareth Saxe in Echoes of War something that would be a great complement and make for a satisfying evening. As I began searching for the right companion piece, I discovered that in London in 2003 there had been an evening of one-acts called Forgotten Voices of the Great War that featured two one act plays by Miles Malleson, and a third play by a German author. This production emboldened me to pursue an idea with a similar theme, which was Echoes of the War, Two Plays by J.M Barrie, named after the book in which they first appeared. Malleson’s plays were written in 1916—and then seized by the police, described as a calumny on the British soldier. It wasn’t until 1925 that they were published and produced. I read those plays and knew that Malleson was worth more of my time. His play The Fanatics further whetted my appetite, but somehow it took another twelve years before I got around to following up.
SAVE THE DATE! Mint Theater Company Spring Benefit.
Monday April 24, 2017
A Day by the Sea Come Again! A Day by the Sea has been extended through October 30! See it again for only $22.50*! FPC Hotline: (212) 315-0231
New Theater - New Seating!
“The Mint has outdone itself...A forgotten masterpiece acted by the best ensemble cast I’ve seen in recent seasons and staged with taut vitality by Austin Pendleton.” —Terry Teachout, The Wall Street Journal “There’s so much to like about The Mint Theater Company’s revisiting of A Day by the Sea that it’s hard to know what to single out...A beautiful study in conversations never had, or had too late.” —Neil Genzlinger, NYTimes (Critics’ Pick!) “A glowing revival!” —The New Yorker * Special price only available to FPC members who have already purchased one or more tickets at the standard FPC price.
Dear Friends, We’ve managed to start Act II of the Mint Theater Company off with a bang. A Day by the Sea, our first production as one of the Resident Companies at Theatre Row, is destined to become one of our most successful productions ever. When we close on October 30th, we’ll have played for 14 weeks! Only one production of ours has ever played longer, and that was The Daughter-inLaw by D.H. Lawrence back in 2003. That production ran for an amazing 19 weeks. I wonder how many of you were coming to the Mint back then? Many of you have asked me if Theatre Row will be our permanent home. My answer is usually: “Permanent is a long time!” But the fact is, we’re very happy at Theatre Row and we expect to be there for a long time, if not forever. A line from Schnitzler comes to mind—if you remember The Daughter-in-Law, you may remember Far and Wide, which also played in 2003— “Don’t predict the future, child. Not for yourself or for others—not even for the next minute, believe me.” Our next play, Yours Unfaithfully features a quote from Schnitzler in a key moment (more on that later). In fact, it was the connection to Schnitzler that helped to convince me to do the play. I can’t wait to share it with you. Happy fall!
FIRST PRIORITY CLUB NEWS A Day by the Sea by N.C. Hunter Directed by Austin Pendleton EXTENDED through Oct. 30 Theatre Row 410 W. 42nd Street Yours Unfaithfully by Miles Malleson Directed by Jonathan Bank December 27 - February 18 Theatre Row Reserve your FPC Tickets now! FPC Hotline: (212) 315-0231
Jonathan
from your friends at Mint Theater
Happy Fall!
www.minttheater.org (212) 315-0231 330 West 42nd Street, Suite # 1210 New York, NY 10036