Empress, Brixton

(The Stage - Thursday 20 May 1915)

Book and lyrics by Arthur Cleveland. Music by Napoleon Lambert. Cast includes Mr. Albert H. Groves as Thomas Fleming, Miss Wilmot Karkeek as Norah and Mr. Frank Cochrane as Jack Roebusk. Reviewed by the "The Stage" on 20 May 1915.

The Era, 9 June 1915, reviewed ‘Sham’, a dramatic sketch by Preston Lockwood and Lincoln Eyre produced at The Empress, Brixton on Monday 7 June. The review continued: ‘The action of this present-day dramatic sketch, which was successfully produced at the Empress, Brixton, on Monday, is supposed to take place in Phyllis Knight’s flat. She and her friend Doris Scott (both of the theatrical profession), on the curtain rising, are discovered talking, Phyllis complaining that for lack of advertisement she cannot get an engagement. Their mutual friend, Guy Armstead, a young journalist, comes in, and he proposes to boom Phyllis, which he does, by getting her photographs inserted in the Press and other means and contracts roll in. But Phyllis Knight has character. She scorns to profit by such means, refuses the contracts, and joins the Red Cross brigade, not, however, before she has given Guy Armstead “a piece of her mind,” with the result that as the curtain falls he says, “I wonder how I should look in khaki?” The sketch is well conceived, and not badly constructed, and it has many excellent lines; but it is disfigured by cheap gibes at the Press. Miss Janice Deane was most successful as Phyllis Knight, and Mr. F. G. Knott scored as Guy Armstead. Miss Irene Stuart as Doris Scott did well in a small part. The scenery and appointments alike were excellent. Mr Pierre de Reeder, who has pioneered the company, deceives praise for his courage in submitting to the music hall public a play of this calibre’ (The Era, 9 June 1915). The Stage, 10 June 1915, reviewed Sham, a dramatic sketch in one scene by Preston Lockwood and Lincoln Eyre, produced at The Empress, Brixton on Monday evening 7 June 1915. The cast was: Phyllis Knight, Janice Deane; Doris Scott, Irene Stuart; Guy Armstead, F. G. Knott. The scene was the dining room in Phyllis Knight’s flat, and the times was the present. The review continued: ‘Sham starts out by being a play with purpose – and a very good purpose, too – but the authors have so over-stated and mis-presented their case that they succeed only in being ludicrous. The rise of the curtain discovers Phyllis Knight and Doris Scott bewailing their fate as two actresses who have been hard hit by the War. The fiancé of the first-named lady is a journalist and press-agent – the two do not always go together – and it occurs to her that possibly he could do some good by booming her in the papers. Whereupon Guy Armstead, the young journalist in question, hits upon the amiable idea of setting her to do little acts of kindness to wounded Tommies in hospitals, and having her photographed during the process. The scheme works so well that within a week not is the lady’s photograph, with or without other descriptive matter, in all the papers, from the Times down to the Mirror, as the young gentleman puts it, but she is the holder of many contracts, of which the lowest is for £50 a week! To do her justice she is heartily ashamed of her success; and to do her justice a second time, she evidently confounds the lowest and most dishonest type of press-agency flapdoodle with journalism when she tells her lover, during far too wordy a scene, that in such times as these journalism should be left to the aged and feeble – a statement which, in the light of recent journalistic events, is delightfully refreshing! There is nothing else to say about this would-be recruiting sketch beyond the fact that the press-agent, hearing a battalion of Territorials pass along the street below, puts himself right again in the young lady’s affections by wondering how he will look in khaki. The three players in the cast do all that is possible with the poor material at their command’ (The Stage, 10 June 1915).

Hillier and Haynes Twa Draps O Scotch Duncan and Godfrey in a Cockney conversation concerning, "A Soldier, a Girl and a Jolly Jack Tar." (The Era - Wednesday 6 September 1916)

(The Stage - Thursday 01 March 1917)

Performed by Mary Mayfren and company. Acts on the same bill were: Sam Barton, Rosie Lloyd, The Carlton Trio, Five Keith Proctors, Frank Maura, The Mervan Girls, Fatty Roma.

‘The right to kill, of which we are accustomed to speak euphemistically as the unwritten law, is the subject of a strong little sketch at the Brixton Empire this week. Why it is billed as a "timely one-act play” I am not quite sure; perhaps we are expected to recall a certain recent much-discussed criminal case, or perhaps we are meant to understand that the protracted absence of husbands in this war may lead to many tragedies for which forgiveness is the only healing balm. “A Moral of the Moment,” further announces the programme. But morals apart, Miss Laura Leycester may be congratulated on having written an effective little stage drama, and on having obtained an admirable little company to interpret it’. The review mentions ‘an excellently acted scene between Miss Laura Leycester and Mr. Percy Rhodes. There is also a very accomplished little performance by Miss Mildred Cotell as the wife’s girl pal, and altogether the sketch is worth its hire (whatever the hire may be)’. The Era, 23 January 1918.

The Era, 20 March 1918, included Kelson Trueman’s company in A Gold Stripe among the turns listed in Next Week’s Calls at the Brixton Empress. Also The Stage, 21 March 1918.

The Era, 17 April 1918, listed ‘Mary Neil and Co. in “Nell’s Luck”’ in Next Week’s Calls, Monday 22 April, at the Empress, Brixton (one of London’s syndicate halls). ‘Managers and Agents, See Mary Neil in her latest comedy study “Nell’s Luck.” “Is a brief, almost too brief, little play – sans sensationalism and minus morbidity – acted with true humour by Miss Mary Neil.” – Vide Referee. “An amusing little piece followed with intense interest, punctuated with hearty laughter and applause.” – Stage. This week, East Ham (7.20 and 9.30); next week, Brixton’. The Stage, 18 April 1918.

The Era, 19 June 1918, reviewed ‘“The Hon. Gertrude” in One Act, by Henry Seton, Produced at the Empress Theatre, Brixton, on Monday, June 17, 1918’. The cast was: Mrs Briggs … Miss Mary Brough; Lady Fateborham … Miss [May] Holford; Private Briggs, V.C. … Mr Gerald Valentine; ad The Hon. Gertrude … Miss Esmé Beringer. The review continued [sometimes illegibly in the British Newspaper Archive]: ‘A distinctly amusing little piece of nonsense far-fetched, maybe. It tells of a shellshocked private soldier, so shellshocked that he recovers to find himself engaged to the titled V.AD. who pulled him through, for she loves every soldier she sees, and would marry them all, she says, if she could - but it “gets the laugh,” thanks to Mary Brough and some quaint lines here and there, and that should be all that matters. The situation develops with the arrival of Lady Fateborham. The V.A.D.’s mother, with nose exalted aristocratically at the perfect angle She scorns the idea of a marriage with such a “common man,” and brings out a very torrent of […] protest from her daughter that makes the gallery “polio” cheer right lustily and the stalls smile. Then comes ‘Erb’s mother, a shade (if Miss Brough can be called a shade) of Fred Emney. One can imagine it all from this point – that East is East and West is West is proved in the best of burlesque; there is more jingo from Sister […] on to a very disappointing and sudden end, when the engagement is called a mistake, and everybody seems as happy as if there hadn’t been one. A dismal curtain; but Miss Brough “bags” the last line […]. For sheer dramatic skill, Miss Holford’s performance is quite the best. With a bit more(?) of the Cockney, Miss Brough’s Mrs Briggs would have the requisite amount of low comedy contrast and get even more laughs; but she’s wonderful as she is and without her the sketch would have been a very poor affair. Miss Beringer is strong with the wrong sort of strength, lacking that feminine “softness” that(?) we expect from the shell-shock […]. She shouts her patriotism to the […] rafters; but for that, at Brixton, she is applauded. Mr Gerald Valentine’s [...] marionette sort of part, V.C. or no V.C., but he does what he can with it’ (The Era, 19 June 1918). The Stage, 20 June 1918, also reviewed the production: ‘There is a wholly delightful touch of human interest about Vera Beringer’s latest effort, which was favourably received at the Empress, Brixton, on Monday evening. It is a rather light and amusing little piece, which depends more on character than plot, and provides abundant opportunities for some highly effective playing. Private Herbert Briggs, V.C., an inmate at a V.A.D. hospital, has become so much attached to the Hon. Gertrude, his zealous and painstaking nurse, that he is confident of complete recovery from a precarious condition if only the titled sister will consent to marry him. Upon hearing the news of the engagement of the Hon. Gertrude to the V.C. hero, Lady Fatiborham hastens to the hospital and agitatedly upbraids her daughter for consenting to marry a man who, though a good soldier, is so much inferior in social standing. At the same time, Herbert’s mother arrives on the scene, and, presumably flushed by the military prestige of her son, declares that declares her surprise that he should lower himself by an alliance with the aristocracy. The two parents eventually meet and engage in a rather acrimonious discussion regarding the merits of their respective classes. Ultimately Herbert confesses that he has mistaken his gratitude to the Hon. Gertrude for love, and that he would be happier with a “humble” sweetheart, who has already won his affections, and whose charms his mother has aggressively advocated against the pretensions of the Hon. Gertrude. The story has been cleverly written, and its many humorous situations are well defined(?). Esmé Beringer in the character of the Hon. Gertrude gives a natural and forcible representation. Mary Brough, always excellent in her low comedy studies, invests the part of Mrs. Briggs with much facetiousness, which is not without its due effect, while Gerald Valentine, though perhaps accustomed to a different class of work, does well as the rough and ready soldier-hero. May Holford was announced as being responsible for Lady Fatiborham, but on Monday evening this part was undertaken by a deputy whose identity was not disclosed, and whose performance was very effective and capable. The Hon. Gertrude should come in for sustained favour’.

The Era, 14 August 1918, listed Harry Thurston and Co. in “The Johnson ‘Ole” among calls for Monday 19 August at the Empress, Brixton.

At the Empress, Brixton, ‘Constance Drever was heard in splendid voice in the course of a “dream” sketch, “A Wife’s Dilemma,” and strong individual work was put in by the three artists engaged’. The Era, 11 September 1918.

Performed by: George Pickett (Richard Brunner), Dorothy Wilmer (Dr Madge Verrinder), Phyllis Manners (Mrs Garritt), Edith Madelle (A Poor Woman), Harry Gilbey (Sergeant Mardon): 'from the title, one might reasonably presume Mr Brandon's latest contribution to be a treatise founded upon the pacifist "question." The piece, which came in for a fair share of favour on Monday evening, is, however, yet another addition to the long list of spy plays already before the public ... The finale is distinctly good, but the author should have something more convincing to lead up to it. Several of the situations are rather threadbare and stand in need of strengthening' (The Stage, 31 October 1918). Other acts on the same bill were: Lockhart's Elephants, Will Lacey, Caron Troupe, Laura Novea, Irene May, Divina, Foot-Gers.

‘Written by Mr. Charles Austin and Mr. Charles Ridgewell and produced by Mr. Charles Henry, this show is full of good things. When you get a series of those excellent episodes so beloved of music-hall audiences formed together in one composite production, the result is a foregone conclusion. Yes, the ingredients are there all right, and Charlie Austin and the capable company assisting him see that they are put over in good style. There are three episodes. The first, “Parker’s Wedding,” is in three scenes, “A Matrimonial Agency,” “ Outside the Church” and “The Wedding Breakfast.” The second, “Parker’s Appeal,” also has three scenes, “Parker’s Home,” “Outside the Town Hall” and “The Tribunal.” “Parker, P.C.,” has a trio of scenes, “Holdham-street Police Station,” “Outside Parker’s Police Station” and “Parker’s Lawcourts.” The fun in all these is fast and furious. Mr. Austin himself is on the stage most of the time, and his brilliant comedy style, unique and inimitable as it is, kept the audience on Monday in roars of laughter. His impromptu gags as well as all his other funny business represents humour at its best. It is a wonderful performance of Mr. Austin’s, well conceived and sustained'. The Era, 20 November 1929.