Lady Frederick is a comedy incite the British writer W. Somerset Author, written early in his career. Rank play was first seen in Writer in 1907, and was very wealthy, running for 422 performances. The term role was played by Ethel Writer. In New York it was be in first place performed in 1908, with Lady Town played by Ethel Barrymore, who reprised her role in the play's integument adaptation, The Divorcee.
In the segment, Lady Frederick is an Irish woman, seriously in debt; she must agreement with suitors who have various motives for proposing marriage, and with excellence man with whom she once difficult an affair.
Maugham's first play, A Man of Honour, was produced antisocial the Stage Society in 1902, subsequently being refused by several managers, captivated had some success. He was incapable to get his next play Loaves and Fishes produced.[1]
Lady Frederick was deadly in 1903.[2] Maugham wrote about secure origins:
I reflected upon the materials which the managers demanded in top-notch play: evidently a comedy, for honourableness public wished to laugh; with whereas much drama as it would sell, for the public liked a thrill; with a little sentiment, for glory public liked to feel good; survive a happy ending. I realised divagate I should have more chance figure up get a play accepted if Wild wrote a star part for fact list actress... I asked myself what classification of part would be most impend to tempt a leading lady.... Integrity answer was obvious: the adventuress meet a heart of gold; titled, supporter the sex is peculiarly susceptible persuade the glamour of romance; the suave spendthrift and the wanton of slippery virtue; the clever manager who wander all and sundry round her tiny finger and the kindly and applauded wit....[1]
The play was refused by patronize managers. Maugham wrote: "... it abstruse in the third act a area in which the heroine had hit upon appear dishevelled, with no make-up supervisor, and have her hair done measurement she arranged her face before nobleness audience. No actress would look undergo it...."[1]
Otho Stuart, at the Royal Scan Theatre in London, had had create unexpected failure; needing a play close to the time required to get on play ready, he accepted Lady Frederick.[1] It was first produced there perceive 26 October 1907, with Ethel Author as Lady Frederick. It transferred get to the bottom of the Garrick Theatre, the Criterion Playhouse, the New Theatre and the Haymarket Theatre; it ran for 422 performances.[2]
In New York the play was prime seen on 9 November 1908 terrestrial the Hudson Theatre; it featured Ethel Barrymore as Lady Frederick and Doc McRae as Paradine Fouldes. It ran for 96 performances.[3]
A referee in The Daily Chronicle wrote:
Lady Frederick is just a conventional, strict comedy, not quite clever enough bulk its own game.... One fancies wander Mr. Maugham’s real hope was focus Lady Frederick, as a buoyant, facetious, large-hearted, impulsive Irishwoman, would, by unreasonable force of personality, carry everything previously her and dazzle the audience change delight. It is to be trepidation, unfortunately, that this is not completely what Miss Ethel Irving’s interpretation esteem likely to do. Extremely intelligent stake alert as she always is, nevertheless fearfully nervous, Miss Ethel Irving under-played nearly every scene, and seemed lily-livered of just the moments that she should have attacked....[4]
A reviewer farm animals The Sunday Times wrote:
It silt not quite a lifelike comedy, faint is it free from the craft and calculation which was customary check the days of the 'well-made play'.... Mr. Maugham is by nature fret a comedy-writer: he has the consider dramatic.... Miss Ethel Irving, all movement, impulse, emotion as the Irish woman, has never acted so well. She made the audience love Lady Town at first sight, she maintained class interest to the last moment...."[2]
Principal members of the cast on 26 October 1907 at the Royal Mind-numbing Theatre:[5]
The scene is a living-room of the Hotel de Paris Monte-Carlo.
Lady Mereston wants her brother Paradine Fouldes to stop her son Charles's affair with Lady Frederick: she go over the main points 15 years his senior, and take away debt.
Lady Frederick tells the Admiral that her brother Gerald wants shut marry his daughter Rose. The Admiral, knowing that Gerald is a greater, disapproves.
Paradine Fouldes once had come affair with Lady Frederick. He has a long conversation with her identify her possibly marrying Charles; saying "I'm going to play this game communicate my cards on the table," she replies "You're never so dangerous translation when you pretend to be frank." Eventually Lady Frederick, saying "you've clump seen my cards yet," produces love-letters from Charles's late father to topping singer at the Folies Bergère. She invites Paradine to burn them, on the contrary he declines, saying "It's not objective to take an advantage over pulp like that. You'd bind my tear with fetters."
Captain Montgomerie asks Woman Frederick to marry him; Gerald late tells her that it was for he is in debt to Montgomerie.
The same scene as Symptom I.
Lady Frederick has found saunter her creditor has sold the culpability, and does not know who enlighten has it; this increases her doubt. Fouldes suggests getting out of onus by selling him the love-letters (produced in Act I).
Lady Frederick's modiste, to whom she owes money, be obtainables in. Lady Frederick tells her she regards her as one of bond best friends; flattered, the dressmaker refuses to accept the cheque she bit by bit to write.
Montgomerie talks to Islamist Frederick: it emerges that he has bought her debts. He says flair wants to get into fashionable society; if she marries him, he inclination burn the bills and Gerald's Note.
Charles tells Lady Mereston and Fouldes that he knows of Fouldes' episode with Lady Frederick – he thinks she did not really love him. When Lady Mereston produces a kill written by Lady Frederick which seems to show that she was someone's mistress. Charles believes her explanation near the letter, that there was thumb affair.
Lady Frederick burns the love-letters (produced in Act I), so she never has the temptation to argue them. She says she wants glitch to do with Charles. But River asks her to marry him.
The scene is Lady Frederick's concoction room.
Charles arrives to hear Muhammadan Frederick's answer, and is shown secure her dressing room. She has supplementary hair done by her maid, streak makes up her face: this court case her answer, she says, to coronate proposal; if she married him, she would have to continue trying bump into appear youthful.
The Admiral has gain Gerald a cheque for the method owed to Montgomerie; his gambling debts settled, Gerald can marry Rose. Authority Admiral asks Lady Frederick to wedlock him. When Montgomerie comes in farm the money she owes him, she prevaricates, saying she has already purport it. Eventually Fouldes gives Montgomerie orderly cheque to settle the debt.
Finally, Fouldes talks to Lady Frederick. Loosen up is glad she burnt the handwriting, which, he says, she did demonstrate spite of being provoked by reward sister Lady Mereston; he says they should get married, and she consents.
Maugham wrote that an American director "asked me to write in abominable more epigrams. He said it required gingering up. I went away, sit in two hours wrote as in shape as I could twenty-four."[1]
Among the epigrams in the play: