His Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen

‘If all of us had the same excellent reasons for staying at home as had Mr Christopher Brent, in the spy-play presented at His Majesty’s Theatre last night, a troubled Cabinet would been relieved of much embarrassment. “The Man who Stayed Home” comes from the Royalty, London, and its fine record there, and in the provinces more recently, was splendidly sustained last night, when a bumper holiday audience gave it rapt attention and enthusiastic appreciation. Thrilling and amusing from start to end, the play owes its popularity, no less to its cleverly conceived characters and humorous dialogue, than to the ingeniously topical theme around which they are strung'. The cast included George Tully, C. Haviland-Burke, J. Augustus Keogh, Ernest Cox, Laurie Flockton, Eugenie Vernie, Gladys Hamilton, Valerie Richards, Esty Marsh (Aberdeen Press and Journal, 28 September 1915; the actors were members of the Vedrenne and Eadie company). ‘In these enervating times the presentation of a play which, far from distracting us from our daily anxieties, actually familiarises us with war’s alarums and excursions would seem to be a somewhat foolhardy experiment. In reality, however, if the play be such a one as “The Man Who Stayed at Home,” which was staged at His Majesty’s Theatre last night, a very cordial and even enthusiastic reception cannot be gainsaid. What may be termed the academic side of war - relating to spies, who are a sort of half-brothers to diplomatists - is perfectly innocuous, and certainly last night’s audience enjoyed the three-act spy-play with the utmost heartiness. The action is quite engrossing with a delightfully romantic infusion, and the clever little parodies of melodrama are peculiarly entertaining ... In short, the production is war-proof’ (Aberdeen Evening Express, 28 September 1915).

Performed Friday and Saturday matinee. ' The house was equally appreciative of the merits of the revue " and the power of the acting, and at the close the curtain had to be raised again and again amid enthusiastic cheering.' 'it is profoundly impressive, and in many passages positively thrilling...The brutality and mendacity of the Germans were vividly presented in two of the scenes, and nothing could have boon more diverting than the glimpse of the methods the official German Press Bureau...The house laughed as one of the reporters read his "copy" which described the panic in London, the people huddling in cellars, and the Royal Family, all in a tremor, being conveyed in a furniture van from Buckingham Palace to Sandringham' (Aberdeen Evening Express, 18 March 1916)

Performed from 22 to 27 May 1916 by Billy Bernhardt, Florence Smithers, Nelly Turner, Iris Belshaw, Andy Clark, Phil Lester, Jimmy Hooper, and Annie Hill's dancers. Other acts on the same bill were Beano the Tramp (violinist), Mr. Lawson (dancing equilibrist), and Gaumont Graphic Pictures in a film showing how post gets to the Front

The Aberdeen Evening Express, 2 October 1916, advertised Hilda Trevelyan in A Kiss for Cinderella at His Majesty’s Theatre in the following week. The Aberdeen Evening Express, 10 October 1916, published a review of the production.

'The play gives a faithful picture of German life just previous to the war, and reveals, amusingly to British eyes, the arrogant bombast and conceit of the Prussian military caste. It unveils, too, the real Germany, not so much the Germany that the British tourist used to see who spent a week on the Rhine, but the Germany of the garrison towns where the “invincible army” has been for forty years in relentless preparation, and where the gospel of “Der Tag” was preached daily. The play, besides being entertaining and enlightening, has many dramatic scenes, and a thrilling denouement at the outbreak of war’. Aberdeen Press and Journal, 25 November 1916. 'If the performance last night at His Majesty’s Theatre was given a hearty applause that seemed the setting of a premium upon bestial German ideals, let us at least remember that Britishers can laugh at our own follies and tolerate - to a limit -the criminal follies of others. What was shown last night was good-humoured contempt for the innermost conceptions of a militarist Germany - a laugh at what they hold most sacred. So much we can afford. But the piece brings home deeper thoughts, and among must be the stupid reverence at one time dominating Britain in all things German. We had warnings enough. The delightful author of “Elizabeth in her German Garden,” for example, had shown us much - and she a German wife - of what the military caste meant ["Elizabeth in her German Garden" by Elizabeth von Arnim was first published in 1898]. Yet we neglected all of it. Now, in what was conceived in farce and wrought out in tragedy, we begin to appreciate the real value of the Hun … The officers of the Prince Oscar Wilhelm Infantry were the type we have read of not only in Gorman official orders but in German confessions from prisoners captured at the front - the arrogant lot whose excess of fortitude in driving their troops to sure destruction was only equalled by their weak despair when the British bayonet was met'. Aberdeen Press and Journal, 28 November 1916. Mr. Otho Stuart’s company appearing in “Kultur at Home” at His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen includes Messrs. Edward Bonfield, Richard Norton, Charles B. Vaughan, Frederick Burtwell, Alexander Begbie, R. Norton, Basil Bowen, J. C. Woodiwiss, Fred Scace, Frank Allen, Misses Elspeth Dudgeon, Beatrice Smith, Aileen Wyse, Sinna St Clair, Henzie Raeburn, Gladys St. Clair, Marjorie Foy and Patricia Nicholson. The Era, 29 November 1916.

"It is axiomatic that the mime seldom possesses the gift of song, and that the singer is rarely an actor. The really notable exceptions could almost be counted upon the fingers. Mr E. C. Hedmont, the famous Irish- American tenor, who for many years has been ornament British operatic stage. Next week this talented vocalist will appear at His Majesty's Theatre in two plays of widely different calibre. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday’s matinee, is a musical romance the Napoleonic wars, entitled "Arms and the Lady," will given. This play is William Boyle and Gil with musical numbers Mozart, W. H. Squire, and Riddell Hunter. (Aberdeen Press and Journal 14/9/17)

Performed for the week by Will Hay (actor), Dorothy Frostick (actress), Ethel Arden (actress), Nat Lewis (actor). ‘The productions of Fred Carno (sic - Karno) have attained a high pitch of popularity in Aberdeen, and those who have laughed merrily over The Hydro, The Mumming Birds, and Phew will find Nosey Knows, presented at His Majesty’s Theatre last night, as enjoyable as the best. It is as ingenious as it is mirthful, and the characters are marked, amid all their delicious absurdities, by a consistency rare in a farcical sketch. For example, Will Hay, in the title part, appears in many droll guises, but he preserves throughout the distinctive quality of a Paul Pry, sparing no effort to know all that is to be known about the business of other people, and turning that knowledge to his own profit without any qualms of conscience. Mr. Hay is a comedian of equal vivacity and versatility, and he actually contrived to spring several perfectly fresh jokes upon a delighted audience. It is perhaps the most rare of all experiences, and the house was warmly appreciative of the novelty! A host in himself, Mr Hay was efficiently supported by a clever company, and the jests at the vagaries of Government control lost nothing of their piquancy as they were delivered by Mr Jack Mann, Mr Nat Lewis, and the other comedians ... The diverting farce, into which the element of burlesque enters strongly, was preceded by two capital “turns” …’ (Aberdeen Evening Express, 9 April 1918)

Allan Jeayes (actor), Gilbert Heron (actor), Reginald J. Turner (actor), Haviland Burke (actor), St.John Medley (actor), Florence Helm (actress), Goodie Willis (actress), Fred Norman (actor), Florence Burns (actress) ''By Pigeon Post' had a big job to tackle...last night, coming as it did to a public sated with the humour of Gilbert and Sullivan. But though enthusiasm was less buoyant, it was none the less constantly evidenced, and if the house was not packed from floor to ceiling, it was at least well filled, and interest in the play, with its emotionally dramatic situations, was deepened by the very contrast with the delightful make-believe of the preceding fortnight...The play was well staged and had a gratifying reception from the audience. As has been said, the task was hard but it was more than modestly fulfilled.' (Aberdeen Press and Journal, 22 October 1918).

Previewed in the Aberdeen Press and Journal, 2 November 1918. ‘The theatre-going public of to-day like the unexpected, with a dash of the farcical and a pretty wit, light music and catchy lyrics, and a sensation of realism - in short, artistic potpourri. “Bubbly,” which was produced in His Majesty’s Theatre last night, is a combination of all these desiderata, untrammelled by considerations of a plot; in fact, it is difficult to assign to it a definition that will adequately express its dramatic status. It consists of a series of ideas presented in concentrated form, and strung together by totally irrelevant interludes … [One delightful cameo is] the “Comforts of Home,” wherein the Major, back from the war, settles down for the night in his “fleabag” on the drawing-room floor, and produces the atmosphere of slumber (as he has known it for four years) by means of fireworks and imitation gun- and rifle-fire. The burlesque on “Old Bill,” also after the war, marks the climax of the entertainment … Mr Edmund Russell played Bairnsfather’s very human hero, or rather his equally human prototype, with realistic comic art … The librettist … is Mr J. Hastings Turner, the husband of Miss Laura Cowie, who herself bails from Aberdeenshire’ (Aberdeen Press and Journal, Tuesday 5 November 1918). ‘… [The] burlesque passages - in “Bubbly” there is no plot, and each episode stands “in splendid isolation” - include a scene in which “Old Bill” is presented as he will feel after the war when “Othello’s occupation’s gone.” Distracted by the demand of a reporter for an interview, by the appeal of a vaudeville artiste that he will join her as a partner, by another appeal from a duchess to marry her, the veteran is driven fervently to wish for “a nice quiet war.” The exasperated warrior was effectively impersonated by Mr Edmund Russell, and that versatile artiste was equally happy in his sketch of a major who, unable to reconcile himself to the conditions of peace, demands his “flea-bag” and has to be “soothed” to sleep by fireworks and diabolical sounds as of rifle and shell fire!’ (Aberdeen Evening Press, 5 November 1918). ‘On Saturday afternoon [9 November] a large party of sick and wounded soldiers were admitted to witness “Bubbly” at His Majesty’s Theatre. They greatly enjoyed the performance’ (Aberdeen Press and Journal and Aberdeen Evening Express, 11 November 1918).

Performed for the week at 7.30pm with matinee Saturday at 2.15pm.

Performer: Fred Kitchen

Performed for one night.

Performed on the Friday only by Martin Harvey. Other plays performed this week by Harvey include 'Via Crucis' (Mon-Thurs) and 'David Garrick' (Saturday).