Beau Brummel

Beau Brummel by Bertram P. Matthews.

The love of Beau Brummel for Mary Mayne, a passion which flared up suddenly when the Beau rescued Lady Mary from highwaymen. Malice and slander divides the lovers, but in a manner which takes us from the beaten track, Lady Mary gives her hand to another aspirant, and Beau Brummel, in ignorance of what has happened, is left convinced that woman’s name is frailty. When it is too late the fraud is discovered and the two lovers have the tragic satisfaction of dreaming together of what might have been. The villain of the piece, Lord Harding, who is himself in love with Lady Mary, attempts an abduction, which is only foiled by the prompt strategy of Beau Brummel, who again rescues the lady and challenges Harding to mortal combat. In the duel which follows he is successful in wounding his adversary, but, surprised by a party of gentlemen headed by the Regent, he is condemned to banishment.

The original text

The play was first staged at the Theatre Royal, Birmingham in November 1928, with Edgar Elgar conducting the orchestra on the first night in a performance of the incidental music he composed for the play.

The play was never published and has disappeared from memory, with only a single script surviving in the British Library. This was the Lord Chamberlain's (official censor) copy.

The Elgar score too has remained unpublished, and - with the exception of the Minuet which alone has outlived the play - the composer's manuscript (hence the music itself), has vanished without trace.

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

In 1929 a West End theatre company from London toured South Africa putting on a portfolio of plays, including Beau Brummel. The tour played invenues owned by African Theatres Ltd, and was headed by an actor-manager called Gerald Lawrence. They started in Johannesburg on 1st April 1929 and finished in Cape Town on 3rd October.

The section of the tour in which Beau Brummel was performed commenced in Johannesburg on 19th August at His Majesty's Theatre, played a few days in Pretoria, and ended up in Cape Town. The theatre company's itinerary apparently also included three-day (four performances) visits to Bloemfontein (14-17 September) and Port Elizabeth (September 19-21 September) respectively. Some cast members were Gerald Lawrence as Beau Brummel, Madge Compton as Miss Mary Mayne, John Lancaster as the villain, William Devereux, Wilson Coleman, May Pemberton, Dennis Roberts, Alan Sawford Dye.