7 February - The Hollow

First of all, once again my thanks for your lovely Christmas gift, which I know that Tim and I will enjoy!  And for understanding why we can't have a meeting in January.

After a bit of thought I thought we would start 2018 off with an Agatha Christie: there's just one left in my book of selected plays, and I shall enjoy looking for another compilation for us to work through!

The Hollow is a typical 'country house mystery' and an adaptation of a book of the same name, but, unlike in the book, it is not Hercule Poirot who is the detective. This might be explained by Christie's intense dislike for her Belgian sleuth, and she is recorded as having said that she particularly disliked his appearance in this novel: in her autobiography she claimed that she "ruined [her own novel] by the introduction of Poirot".

Despite this, The Hollow has been successfully staged in the theatre, on film and, of course, on TV.    

The Hollow

The eccentric Lucy Angkatell has invited the Christows, along with other members of her extended family, to her estate for the weekend. John Christow is carrying on an affair with Henrietta Angkatell, a talented sculptor. The beautiful Veronica Cray, an old flame of Christow's, suddenly appears in the house on Saturday night to borrow a box of matches ...

Characters

• Sir Henry Angkatell, the owner of The Hollow. He married his distant cousin, Lucy Angkatell.
• Lucy, Lady Angkatell, Henry's wife, whose sociable, charismatic veneer hides a dark side to her personality, occasionally glimpsed by her family.
• Edward Angkatell, a distant cousin of Henry and inheritor  of the family's beloved house, Ainswick. He has charm but is overshadowed by Christow's dominant personality. He lives in the past and has been devoted to Henrietta for many years. He despises himself, thinking he is good for nothing.
• Midge Harvey, Lucy's young cousin. Only partly related to the Angkatell family, she refuses financial aid from them and works in a dressmaker's shop.
• Henrietta Angkatell, a sculptor, and cousin of Sir Henry, Lucy, Midge, Edward and David. She always knows the right words to say to make someone feel comfortable, albeit sometimes at the expense of the truth. Her art is the core of her being, which, at times, conflicts with her second important characteristic. She loves John Christow more than life itself.
• Dr John Christow, a Harley Street doctor. He is passionate about his work and dedicates himself to finding a cure for "Ridgeway's disease" – the aetiology of which bears a marked resemblance to multiple sclerosis. He is very self-confident, attractive, and has great charisma.
• Gerda Christow, John's wife. She is rather plain and stupid. She worries about everything. She idealises John, and blames herself for her problems, even when he is wrong. 
• Veronica Cray, an actress. She is very beautiful and abnormally egotistical. She wanted Christow to abandon everything to follow her to Hollywood, but he rejected her; she found this unbearable. However, Christow is still attracted to her and, it is implied, had a one-night stand with her, which triggered Gerda's jealousy.
• Gudgeon, the butler.
• Doris, a maid
• Inspector Colquhoun
• D.S. Penny

There is a reference to a newspaper called The News of the World:  It is no longer published, but was a huge-selling Sunday paper specialising in gossip and scandal.  

The set for The Hollow is rather detailed, but I think that this picture is the closest to the long explanation!

Please let me know that you are coming by doodling here:  https://doodle.com/poll/kugwcg6bcwc52r6a  Thank you!

Finally, as I am writing this in December, I wish you all ...

6 December - Confusions

Thank you all for  your appreciation of the cake and Rocky Road served last month, and as requested here is the embarrassingly easy recipe (from Nigella - so first put on your black negligee, or if you're following my version of the recipe, your tracksuit and a pinny):

200g Milk Chocolate
25g Dark Chocolate (Nigella says you can change the ratio, but it worked didn't it!)
75g Brazil nuts - roughly chopped (I have since made with brazils & slivered almonds which were nice too)
75g Mini Marshmallows (or large ones chopped up!)

Line one or two baking sheets with baking parchment.  They can be placed close together as they don't spread.

Melt the chocolates, either in a bowl over a gently steaming pan of water, or gently in the microwave - too much of a blast and it will ruin.

Mix all the ingredients.

Drop heaped teaspoons of the mixture on to the baking parchment and leave in a cool place (not the fridge) to set.

Sensually lick the spoon ............ 😁

Next month's play will be Confusions by Alan Ayckbourn.  It's 5 self-contained acts, and we will meet a number of lonely characters, so not really very Christmassy!  I'll try harder next year to find something more seasonal! Unfortunately my Google search for a Christmas play came up with nativities and other mostly child-orientated pieces.  I am as always open to ideas!

Please can you confirm by Doodling (or emailing me!) CLICK HERE!

8 November - London Assurance

I am not sure how to describe our November play, perhaps as a "Love Story".  But when you look at the list of characters, and I tell you that it was written in 1840 and was recently very successfully produced at the National Theatre, I hope you will appreciate that this is no Barbara Cartland. I am very hopeful that we will have a fun afternoon!

London Assurance was written by Dion Boucicault, an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the Atlantic as one of the most successful actor-playwright-managers then in the English-speaking theatre. The New York Times heralded him in his obituary as "the most conspicuous English dramatist of the 19th century."

List of Characters

• Sir Harcourt Courtly, cultured 57-year-old fop

• Charles Courtly, his dissolute son

• Dazzle, Charles' equally dissolute companion

• Max Harkaway, country squire

• Grace Harkaway, Max's 18-year-old niece, betrothed to Sir Harcourt

• Lady Gay Spanker, horse-riding virago

• Mr. Adolphus "Dolly" Spanker, her ineffectual husband

• Mark Meddle, lawyer

• Pert, Grace's maid

• Cool, Charles' valet

• James (Simpson)

• Martin, servant to the Courtlys

• Solomon Isaacs, moneylender, in pursuit of Charles

Some pictures from the recent production:

6 September & 4 October - Anna Karenina

I hope that you have all had a lovely summer and are looking forward to our next season of play readings.

My thanks to Pernette for suggesting that we read this recent adaptation of Anna Karenina by Marina Carr, and also for the idea of reading it in two parts!

Anna Karenina  by  Leo Tolstoy

Anna Karenina was first published in serial installments from 1873 to 1877.  However, due to a clash with the editor of the periodical, The Russian Messenger over political issues that arose in the final installment (Tolstoy's negative views of Russian volunteers going to fight in Serbia) the novel's first complete appearance was in book form in 1878.

Widely regarded as a pinnacle in realist fiction, Tolstoy considered Anna Karenina his first true novel, after he came to consider War and Peace to be more than a novel. Fyodor Dostoyevsky declared it "flawless as a work of art." The novel remains popular, as demonstrated by a 2007 Time poll of 125 contemporary authors in which Anna Karenina was voted the "greatest book ever written."

Anna Karenina is the tragic story of a married aristocrat/socialite and her affair with the affluent Count Vronsky. The story starts when she arrives in the midst of a family broken up by her brother's unbridled womanizing—something that prefigures her own later situation, though she would experience less tolerance by others.

A bachelor, Vronsky is eager to marry her if she will agree to leave her husband Karenin, a senior government official, but she is vulnerable to the pressures of Russian social norms, the moral laws of the Russian Orthodox Church, her own insecurities, and Karenin's indecision. Although Vronsky and Anna go to Italy, where they can be together, they have trouble making friends. Back in Russia, she is shunned, becoming further isolated and anxious, while Vronsky pursues his social life. Despite Vronsky's reassurances, she grows increasingly possessive and paranoid about his imagined infidelity, fearing loss of control.

A parallel story within the novel is that of Konstantin Lëvin or Ljovin, a wealthy country landowner who wants to marry Princess Kitty, sister to Dolly and sister-in-law to Anna's brother Oblonsky. Konstantin has to propose twice before Kitty accepts. The novel details Konstantin's difficulties managing his estate, his eventual marriage, and his struggle to accept the Christian faith, until the birth of his first child.

The novel explores a diverse range of topics throughout its approximately one thousand pages. Some of these topics include an evaluation of the feudal system that existed in Russia at the time—politics, not only in the Russian government but also at the level of the individual characters and families, religion, morality, gender and social class.

Main Characters

• Princess Anna Arkadyevna Karenina: Stepan Oblonsky's sister, Karenin's wife and Vronsky's lover.

• Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky: Lover of Anna, a cavalry officer

• Prince Stepan "Stiva" Arkadyevich Oblonsky: a civil servant and Anna's brother, a man about town, 34. 

• Princess Darya "Dolly" Alexandrovna Oblonskaya: Stepan's wife, 33

• Count Alexei Alexandrovich Karenin: a senior statesman and Anna's husband, twenty years her senior.

• Konstantin "Kostya" Dmitrievich Lëvin/Lyovin: Kitty's suitor, old friend of Stiva, a landowner, 32.

• Nikolai Dmitrievich Lëvin/Lyovin: Konstantin's elder brother, an impoverished alcoholic.

• Sergej Ivanovich Koznyshev: Konstantin's half-brother, a celebrated writer, 40.

• Princess Ekaterina "Kitty" Alexandrovna Shcherbatskaya: Dolly's younger sister and later Levin's wife, 18.

• Princess Elizaveta "Betsy" Tverskaya: Anna's wealthy, morally loose society friend and Vronsky's cousin

• Countess Lidia Ivanovna: Leader of a high society circle that includes Karenin, and shuns Princess Betsy and her circle. She maintains an interest in the Russian Orthodox mystical and spiritual

Anna Karenina Family Tree:  it might be easier to read here:https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Anna_Karenina_family_tree_EN.jpg

2 August - Appointment with Death

August's play will be a return to an old favourite: Agatha Christie.

Appointment with Death

The play opens as the family and the victim are introduced through the perspective of Sarah King and Dr. Gerard, who discuss the behavior of the family. Mrs. Boynton is sadistic and domineering, which she may have inculcated from her original profession: prison warden. Sarah is attracted to Raymond Boynton, while Jefferson Cope admits to wanting to take Nadine Boynton away from her husband, Lennox Boynton, and the influence of her mother-in-law. Having been thwarted in her desire to free the young Boyntons, Sarah confronts Mrs. Boynton whose apparent reply is a strange threat: "I’ve never forgotten anything – not an action, not a name, not a face." When the party reaches Petra, Mrs. Boynton uncharacteristically sends her family away from her for a period. Later, she is found dead with a needle puncture in her wrist.

Main Characters

• Colonel Carbury, senior figure in Transjordania

• Mrs Boynton, the victim

• Ginevra Boynton, the victim's stepdaughter

• Raymond Boynton, the victim's youngest stepson

• Lennox Boynton, the victim's eldest stepson

• Nadine Boynton, the victim's stepdaughter-in-law (Lennox's wife)

• Jefferson Cope, a family friend

• Dr Gerard, a French psychologist

• Sarah King, a young doctor

• Lady Westholme, a member of Parliament

• Miss Pryce, a former nursery governess

• Alderman Higgs, fellow traveller

5 July - Time of My Life

In June and July we will be returning to some favourite writers, before tackling Anna Karenina in September and October.

On 5 July we will read Time of My Life by Alan Ayckbourn.  I was looking for something 'light' to help us cope with this heat, but it IS Ayckbourn - so don't expect a RomCom!

Time of my Life takes place in Essa de Calvi, a ‘foreign’ restaurant: its exact nationality remains unclear!

The play begins as a family  meets to celebrate Laura’s birthday.  It is typical Ayckbourn, and therefore the family are of course in for a bumpy ride!  Along the way we meet a cast of waiters – all of whom are related in this family-run restaurant and all of whom, interestingly, are cast to be played by the same actor – who must have some jolly quick costume and make-up changes!

During the course of the play we will follow Laura and Gerry’s story as it proceeds in “real” time.  Glyn and Stephanie’s story will run at a different pace, at a different table, into the future, and we will look back at Adam and Maureen’s story, again at a different table.

The Family

Laura:  50s, mother, wife of Gerry.  A force to be reckoned with.  Despite the appearance of being no more than a support to her husband, she has in fact played a vital and largely unsung role in her husband’s success. She is just as astute and determined as him.

Gerry:  50s, father, husband of Laura.  Successful, self-made business man.  Originally a builder, he has diversified and weathered economic storms and recessions through a combination of astuteness and ruthlessness.  Visibly he is very much the head of the family, a man who rarely if ever expects his words or actions to be questioned.

Glyn: Elder son. Late 20s, at first glance very much his father’s son.  But he has lived for too long in Gerry’s shadow, and been compared unfavourably to him once too often. He has tried to compete with his over-competitive parent and failed. He has been groomed to take over the family business, but it is unlikely that the firm will survive when he does. He has charm, but little of his father’s drive or ambition.

Stephanie: Mid 20s, Glyn’s wife.  Has one child and, due to recent emotional upheavals in her marriage, has worn less well than she should have for someone reasonably comfortably off and with few material worries.  In marrying Glyn she may have hoped she was marrying the father, but has learnt better.

Adam:  Younger son. Early 20s.  Apple of his mother’s eye, he is a nervous, uncoordinated windmill of a boy and in gatherings such as this hopelessly out of his depth.

Maureen: Adam’s girlfriend. Very much the outsider, who is meeting the family for the first time.

The Restaurant Staff

Tuto:  Eternally cheerful and happy to serve

Bengie: Younger, no English

Dinka:  In his 30s, constantly sour

Ernesto Calvinu:  Middle-aged, ample, the owner of the restaurant

Aggi: Middle aged.  Has adopted Adam & Maureen who first fell in love at one of his tables and feels responsible for their continued happiness. Prone to bursts of unaccompanied, full-blooded singing of folk songs in his native tongue, which he hopes will further the course of true love.

7 June - The Aspern Papers

Having had a break from the group for one month, I hope that you will enjoy reuniting and discovering a play based on a novella by Henry James.  This was originally published in a magazine in 1888 and is one of James's best known works.

The Aspern Papers is based on the letters Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote to Mary Shelley's stepsister, Claire Clairmont, who saved them until she died. 

Set in Venice, The Aspern Papers demonstrates James's ability to generate suspense while never neglecting the development of his characters.

James (a very private man) examines the conflicts involved when a biographer seeks to pry into the intimate life of his subject. In the novel James paints the nameless narrator of The Aspern Papers as "publishing scoundrel", but also generates sympathy for the narrator as he tries to work the papers loose from Juliana, who is presented as greedy, domineering and unappealing.  

In 1959 Michael Redgrave adapted the book for the stage.  In the original the narrator was nameless, but in this adaptation he is Henry Jarvis: can there be any doubt that the initials are intended. Redgrave played Jarvis in his adaptation.

Characters

Henry Jarvis (HJ)	The narrator, an American writer and biographer of Jeffrey Aspern
Mrs Prest	HJ's old friend in Venice
Miss Juliana Bordereau	Aspern’s former lover, an American living in seclusion in Venice
Miss Tina Bordereau	Miss Bordereau's niece
Pasquale	HJ's manservant
Assunta	Juliana Bordereau’s maid

James, painted by John Singer Sargent

Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson in 1953

The Redgraves in 1959. From left: Vanessa, Rachel, Micahel, Corin, Lynn

Henry James OM (15 April 1843 – 28 February 1916)

James was an American-born British writer and is regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. 

He is best known for a number of novels showing Americans encountering Europe and Europeans. He claimed that a text must first and foremost be realistic and contain a representation of life that is recognisable to its readers. Good novels, to James, show life in action and are, most importantly, interesting.

In addition to his voluminous works of fiction he published articles and books of travel, biography, autobiography, and criticism, and wrote plays. James alternated between America and Europe for the first twenty years of his life; eventually he settled in England, becoming a British subject in 1915, one year before his death. James was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911, 1912, and 1916.

Sir Michael  Redgrave CBE (20 March 1908 – 21 March 1985) 

Redgrave is perhaps best known as an English stage and film actor, but he was also a director, manager and author.

Redgrave was married to the actress Rachel Kempson for 50 years from 1935 until his death, and they headed a theatrical family.  Their children Vanessa (b. 1937), Corin (1939–2010) and Lynn Redgrave (1943–2010), and their grandchildren: Natasha (1963–2009), Joely Richardson (b. 1965) and Jemma (b. 1965) are also involved in theatre or film as actors. Their grandson Carlo Gabriel Nero is a screenwriter and film director; only Luke Redgrave has taken a path outside the theatre.

Lynn wrote a one-woman play for herself called Shakespeare for My Father. She was nominated for Broadway's Tony Award for this role. She traced her love for Shakespeare as a way of following and finding her often absent father.