Woman and Whiskey
Examiner of Plays' Summary:
[The Examiner's notes for this script are missing from the file at the British Library]
Researcher's Summary:
The play served as a curtain raiser to Cyril Harcourt’s comedy ‘A Pair of Silk Stockings’ at Wimbledon and Blackpool in January and February 1918. It may have served the same function at other performances of Harcourt’s play without being noticed in newspapers. There is general agreement in contemporary newspapers that the play was a collaboration between Esmé Wynne and Noel Coward, as noted also in Allardyce Nicoll’s ‘English Drama 1900-1930’ and in the list of Noel Coward’s plays on the Noel Coward Society’s website. However, it is not included in Raymond Mander and Joe Mitchenson’s ‘Theatrical Companion to Coward’ (London, Rockliff, 1957). The title is given as ‘Woman and Whisky’ in reviews in The Era and The Stage in January 1918, in a review of Harcourt’s play in the Blackpool Gazette & Herald in February, and on the Noel Coward Society’s website. Advertisements for the Blackpool production name the play ‘Women and Whisky’, as does Esmé Wynne’s Wikipedia entry (as Esmé Wynne-Tyson). Allardyce Nicoll lists the play as ‘Woman and Whiskey’.
Licensed On: 17 Jan 1918
License Number: 1348
Genre(s):
Keyword(s):
British Library Reference: LCP1918/2
British Library Classmark: Add MS 66184 C
Performances
| Date | Theatre | Type | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 Jan 1918 | Wimbledon Theatre, Wimbledon, London | Unknown | Licensed Performance |
| 21 Jan 1918 | Wimbledon Theatre, Wimbledon, London | Professional |
Read Narrative
The Era, 23 January 1918, reviewed ‘Woman and Whisky’, a play in one act by Esme Wynee [sic] and Noel Coward, produced at the Wimbledon Theatre on Monday, 21 January. The cast was: Major Curtis, Cyril Melton; Mr. Loner, Kenneth Black; Norah, Nancy Bevill; Mrs. Vandeleur, Aistrie Pharall. The review continued: ‘The motive of this new curtain raiser is slight, dealing with a wealthy major, who seeks solitude from a ballroom to enjoy undisturbed a ”drop of scotch,” but he is interrupted by, first, a demure woman of the world, and then by an ingenue, both of whom are on matrimonial thoughts intent. To circumvent their attentions and so secure quiet and his refreshment, the wily major invents an imaginary wife supposed to be at Brighton, and they both believe the story and quickly leave him to solitude. Incidentally, he relates a thrilling adventure in India to his audience of two, who interrupt him repeatedly with amusing comments. At last, free to enjoy his glass, the military gent. encounters a male friend, whom he requests not to give him away to either of his fair admirers. This little piece was brightly acted ..'. The Stage, 24 January 1918, reviewed ‘Woman and Whisky’ by Esme Wynee [sic] and Noel Coward at Wimbledon, which ‘forms the curtain raiser to Cyril Harcourt’s comedy ‘A Pair of Silk Stockings’. Much of the review is illegible on the British Newspaper Archive. It describes the play as ‘quite interesting and entertaining up to a point, but its(?) central idea is somewhat weak. It is rather difficult, in fact, to discover any ingenuity of purpose in the story, and one is inclined to suggest the adoption of a more applicable title than the rather melodramatic appellation used at present’.
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| 18 Feb 1918 | Grand, Blackpool | Professional |
Read Narrative
Advertised as ‘Women and Whisky’ by Esmee Wyynne and Noel Coward, preceding Cyril Harcourt’s ‘A Pair of Silk Stockings’ at the Grand Theatre, in the Blackpool Gazette & Herald, the Fleetwood Chronicle and the Fleetwood Express, 19 February 1918 etc. Mentioned as ‘Woman and Whisky’, preceding Cyril Harcourt’s comedy ‘A Pair of Silk Stockings’ at the Grand Theatre, Blackpool, in reviews of the latter play in the Blackpool Gazette & Herald, 19 February 1918.
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