Dandy Dick Part 1

Dandy d.i.c.k.

by Arthur Pinero.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

"Dandy d.i.c.k" was the third of the farces which Mr. Pinero wrote for the old Court Theatre--a series of plays which, besides giving playgoers a fresh source of laughter, and the English stage a new order of comic play, brought plentiful prosperity to the joint management of Mr. Arthur Cecil and the late Mr. John Clayton. But a kind of melancholy interest attaches to "Dandy d.i.c.k," for this play was, as it were, the swan-song of the old theatre and of the Clayton and Cecil partners.h.i.+p; and it was the piece in which Mr. Clayton was acting when death overtook him, to the general grief.

The production of "Dandy d.i.c.k" may be considered as something of a _tour de force_ in its way. "The Schoolmistress" was at the end of its successful run, and Mr. Pinero was under contract to supply its successor by a certain date, when Mr. Clayton one day went down to Brighton, where the dramatist was then at work, to hear him read the two completed acts of the new play. To Mr. Clayton's consternation, however, Mr. Pinero announced that he was dissatisfied with his work, and proposed to begin an entirely new play, as he had a more promising idea. But time was pressing, and a successor to "The Schoolmistress"

was an immediate necessity. However, Mr. Pinero's idea of writing a play round a dean, who, while being a paragon of dignity and decorum, should be driven by an indiscreet act into a most undignified dilemma, appealed to Mr. Clayton, and hastening back to London with the sketches for the requisite scenes, he left Mr. Pinero to set to work at once upon the new scheme. And within a few weeks, indeed by the time the scenery was ready, the new play was completed, the rural constable of a village adjacent to Brighton having suggested the character of Noah Topping.

"Dandy d.i.c.k" was produced at the Court Theatre on January 27th, 1887, and, meeting with a most favorable initial reception, it settled down immediately into a complete success. The following is a copy of the first-night programme:--

ROYAL COURT THEATRE,

SLOANE SQUARE, S.W.

_Lessees and Managers:_

Mr. John Clayton and Mr. Arthur Cecil.

Programme

THIS EVENING, THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, _At_ 8.30 _punctually_,

DANDY d.i.c.k.

AN ORIGINAL FARCE, IN THREE ACTS,

BY

A. W. PINERO.

THE VERY REV. AUGUSTIN JEDD, D.D. MR. JOHN CLAYTON.

(Dean of St. Marvell's)

SIR TRISTRAM MARDON, Bart MR. EDMUND MAURICE.

--th Hussars, MAJOR TARVER { quartered at } MR. F. KERR.

MR. DARBEY { Durnstone, near } MR. H. EVERSFIELD.

St. Marvell's

BLORE (Butler at the Deanery) MR. ARTHUR CECIL.

NOAH TOPPING (Constable at MR. W. H. DENNY.

St. Marvell's)

HATCHAM (Sir Tristram's groom) MR. W. LUGG.

GEORGIANA TIDMAN (a Widow, MRS. JOHN WOOD.

the Dean's sister)

SALOME } the Dean's Daughters { MISS MARIE LEWES.

SHEBA } { MISS NORREYS.

HANNAH TOPPING (formerly in MISS LAURA LINDEN.

Service at the Deanery)

ACT I.

AT THE DEANERY, ST. MARVELL'S.

(Morning.)

ACT II.

THE SAME PLACE.

(Evening.)

ACT III.--The Next Day. Scene 1:--"_The Strong Box,_" _St. Marvell's.

Scene 2.--The Deanery again._

The curtain will be lowered for a few minutes between the two scenes.

New Scenery by Mr. T. W. Hall.

Preceded, at Eight o'clock, by

"THE NETTLE."

An Original Comedietta by ERNEST WARREN.

"Dandy d.i.c.k" was performed 171 times between the first night and the 22d of July, when, the old theatre being demolished, Mr. Clayton took a temporary lease of Toole's Theatre, and transferred the play thither, where it ran 75 nights more.

A company had already been sent out, under the auspices of the Court management, to perform "Dandy d.i.c.k" in the provinces; but, when the play was withdrawn from the London boards, Mr. Clayton set out himself with a company, and it was during this tour that he died at Liverpool.

In America Mr. Daly produced "Dandy d.i.c.k" with Miss Ada Rehan in Mrs.

John Wood's part, but no very great success was achieved; whereas in Australia its reception was so enthusiastic that it ran for quite an unusual time both in Melbourne and Sydney. In the character of the Dean, Mr. G. W. Anson achieved perhaps the greatest of his Australian successes, and Mr. Robert Brough made his mark as the policeman.

MALCOLM C. SALAMAK.

_December_, 1892.