When Knights were Bold

When Knights were Bold is a comedy by Charles Marlowe (pseudonym of Harriett Jay (1853-1932)[1])

The original text

The play tells of Guy De Vere, a British officer who has returned from service in India after inheriting an estate and a baronetcy in the village of Little Twittering. There he finds a number of eccentrics and his cousin Rowena, who falls in love with him.

Originally written by Robert Buchanan and Charles Marlowe (Harriett Jay) circa 1896 and called Good Old Times, the play was not produced until 1906 when done under the title When Knights were Bold and credited to "Charles Marlowe" only.

It opened in the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, on 17 September, 1906, produced by James Welch and featuring James Bromley-Challenor (1884–1935)[2] in the leading role of "Sir Guy de Vere" and his wife, Marjorie Bellairs, in the role of "Lady Rowena Eggington". It then moved to Wyndham's Theatre, London, on 29 January, 1907 and played till 22 August, 1908 (its 579th performance).

It was also performed in New York (Garrick Theatre, 20 August to 19 November, 1907), Sydney (Criterion Theatre. 21 December, 1907), Cape Town (Opera House, 1909).

The play became the author's greatest known success and the one regular and lucrative source of income for the Bromley-Challenors, particularly after he had purchased the rights to the play outright in 1915. He and his wife performed it throughout the UK and other countries and are claimed to have produced and/or performed in it more than 6000 times over the course of James's lifetime, doing well out of it throughout.

Translations and adaptations

The play was translated into German as Die goldene Ritterzeit (lit "the golden time of knights") performed in Vienna in 1910 and Berlin 1920 respectively); into Dutch as De gulden riddertijd (performed in Amsterdam 1915), and into Norwegian as Blandt bolde riddere (performed in Oslo, 1923).

The play was filmed four times, as a silent British film by Maurice Elvey (1916), an Italian adaptation by Aquila Films (1916), a third silent film by Tim Whelan (1929) and a sound version by Jack Raymond (1936).

Performance history in South Africa

1909: Performed in February by Leonard Rayne and his company in the Opera House, Cape Town, with Charles Howitt in the role of "Sir Guy de Vere". Probably also played in Johannesburg.

1915/1916(?): Probably performed as an inevitable part of the repertoire of the James Bromley-Challenor company while on a tour of South Africa, the cast naturally including his wife, Marjorie Bellairs and possibly Norah Sturdee.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Knights_Were_Bold_(play)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Knights_Were_Bold

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriett_Jay

http://www.robertbuchanan.co.uk/html/knights.html

Obituary, The Argus, Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, 19 Dec 1935: p.12

J.P. Wearing. 2014. The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel, Rowman & Littlefield: p.5 [3]

D.C. Boonzaier, 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1932. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp.429, 430

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