#began to lose favour to the first signs of true modern theatre; the era of Ibsen and Shaw was approaching and soon theatre

[mariocki]

Play 19: Granny by Lucy Whitehead

First published: c. 1890

Quote: "Oscar! What does this mean? Why are you an old woman? Oh whatever are you doing?" (Maud)

Notes: one of hundreds of single-act plays, farces, and melodramas published by Abel Heywood & Son's in the late 19th and early 20th century, intended for amateur production or for entertainment in the home. There's precious little information available about the works or authors of these plays, but I found a single academic reference suggesting an 1890 publication for Granny. That fits with the style and the tone of this brief comedy, a predictable tale of young lovers and miscommunication, crossdressing, and potatoes. There isn't much here, though it is valuable as an artefact of its time and as a comparatively rare example of women's writing for the stage in this era (albeit not the professional stage). With its blustering, bellowing colonel and complaining, busybody 'country woman', this was almost certainly written with a middle class audience in mind.

Read: for the first time.

#100plays #granny #lucy whitehead #1890 #victorian theatre #amateur dramatics #abel heywood and son's #i own a couple of the Heywood pamphlets (they're not really long enough to be called books) #and they're all fairly similar; silly little vignettes that may clumsily attempt to teach a moral lesson (Heywood snr had been a radical #and later a liberal with largely failed political ambitions‚ who turned instead to publishing) but are generally more concerned with #providing a brief farce that can end in (presumed) bouts of laughter. 1890 was a real Moment in theatre history as the well made play #began to lose favour to the first signs of true modern theatre; the era of Ibsen and Shaw was approaching and soon theatre #audiences would demand a lot more from their shows than a little silliness and perhaps a song. #am dram would keep works like these in business however‚ and there would always be a home for short asides in the music halls and #vaudeville. and it's not like vaudeville was going anywhere... aheh...hrm