Picture House, West Calder

The Midlothian Advertiser, 6 December 1918, advertised at the People’s Picture Palace, West Calder, in the week commencing 9 December, variety acts on Monday-Wednesday; on Thursday, ‘secured at Enormous Expense’, Cissie Langley & No. 1 Coy. ‘in the Great War Sketch, as toured by her in all the Principal Theatres of the United Kingdom, “Nurse and Martyr”; on Friday, The Tainted Woman; and on Saturday, For King and Country. Also: 'At the Picture House next week ‘On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday the services have been secured, at great expense, of Miss Cissy Langley & No. 1 Coy. in the great war sketch – “Nurse Cavell, Martyr.” This Coy. have scored a big success in all the leading theatres, and should attract large audiences’ (Midlothian Advertiser, 6 December 1918).

The Picture House, West Calder, West Lothian, 3 May 1924 The Midlothian Advertiser, 25 April 1924, reported that ‘Miss Emily Florence’s Dramatic Repertory Company’ would stage a different play at the Picture House [in West Calder, the newspaper’s address?] each night in the following week, including ‘the popular stage success’ The Black Sheep of the Family on Saturday. An advertisement in the same issue of the newspaper describe the play as a ‘A splendid Up-to-date Play, full of Comedy and Sensational Interest’. And the Midlothian Advertiser, 2 May 1924, referred to the play as ‘well-known and ever-popular’. See under the performance at the Empire Picture and Variety Theatre, Montrose, 7 July 1923, for uncertainty about the authorship of the play performed by this company.

The Midlothian Advertiser, Friday 31 May 1929, reported that next week the Nance Holland Dramatic Comedy [sic – Company?] was engaged to present a different play each night at the Picture House. On Friday The Black Sheep of the Family would be produced. The author of the play is not named, so there is no certainty that it was Gladys Hastings Walton, but no other play with the same title was licensed by the Lord Chamberlain’s Office.