Among the Missing

Examiner of Plays' Summary:

A dream play. A man wakes up (apparently) to be confronted by his old friend who was reported dead four years ago but was not really killed; the time is 1918 and his long absence is not explained. It appears that the man had married his supposed widow six months ago. There is a painful scene in which the wife states the hardship of her position and proposes to live alone in future, while the returned soldier denounces his friend and leaves the room. The man soliloquises bitterly and goes to sleep again. Then lo! The husband really returns not in khaki as before but in mufti and with his wife (who has not really married the other man) rejoicing. They wake up the man and he, after a minute's bewilderment, realizes that the other scene was a dream and congratulate the pair. The dialogue hardly rises to the strength of the supposed situation, but there is certainly no harm in any of it. Recommended for license. G. S. Street

Researcher's Summary:

1. Twelve performances are now included in the database. Ten are fully documented and the source material is included in the narrative. Of the remaining two, one is the original entry identified as a performance at the Empire, Dudley, Worcestershire on 14 January 1915. No other record has been found for this performance. However, the information relating to the performance at the Olympia, West Bromwich on 4 January 1915 includes a contact address for the production company at 111A, Queens Cross, Dudley, Worcs, which is a residential address, not the address of the Empire. A performance is included at the Lyceum Theatre, Govan on 14 June 1915 based on a notice from the production company at the time of a confirmed performance the previous week in Barnsley that they would appear “next week” at the Lyceum, Govan. 2. From January to April 1915 the production company was described as Blair, Fay and Turner’s Sketch Co., comprising David Blair, Gaby Fay, often parenthesised as “Mrs D.B.” and Reginald J. Turner. From October 1915 the company was known as David Clyde & Co. David Blair seems to have been the stage name adopted by David Clyde until the middle of 1915 and who was the husband of Gaby Fay. The third cast member is not mentioned after the change of production company. 3. The performance gap between June and October could suggest missing performances but the evidence indicates that Gaby Fay was active during this interval and from 1916 onwards in a variety of other performances. 4. In the late twenties David Clyde and Gaby Fay set up a theatre company in Vancouver and subsequently moved to Hollywood to pursue film careers. Gaby Fay changed her stage name to Fay Holden. 5. A comprehensive review of “Among the Missing” appeared in The Stage for the performance at the Bedford Theatre on 22 February 1915 and is included in its entirety in the narrative for that occasion. It probably infuriated anyone contemplating buying a ticket by including a detailed synopsis of the plot, including the surprise twist at the end. The reviewer also castigated the cast for daring to suggest that the war could last for another three years! He also commented that the first performance in London had taken place a couple of weeks earlier in Islington. No record of a performance in Islington has been found but there was a performance at the Hippodrome in Balham on 1 February, which according to “The Stage” was the first performance in London.