Make Way for Lucia

Last updated
Make Way for Lucia
Make Way for Lucia.jpg
Written by John Van Druten
Date premiered22 December 1948
Place premiered Cort Theatre, New York City
Original languageEnglish
GenreComedy

Make Way for Lucia is a 1948 comedy play by the British writer John Van Druten. It is based on the 1931 novel Mapp and Lucia by E. F. Benson. In a small town in pre-First World War England, a pretentious new arrival, Lucia, crosses sword with the local queen bee Miss Mapp.

The play ran for 29 performances at the Cort Theatre on Broadway from 22 December 1948 to 15 January 1949. [1] The cast included Isabel Jeans, Catherine Willard as the two leads, with Cyril Ritchard, Ivan Simpson, Viola Roache and Philip Tonge. [2]

The production featured sets and costumes by Lucinda Ballard. [2]

Related Research Articles

E. F. Benson English novelist and writer

Edward Frederic Benson was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist and short story writer.

Lucia or Lucía may refer to:

John Van Druten

John William Van Druten was an English playwright and theatre director, known professionally as John Van Druten. He began his career in London, and later moved to America becoming a U.S. citizen. He was known for his plays of witty and urbane observations of contemporary life and society.

Philippa "Pippa" Haywood is an English actress. She won the 2005 Rose d'Or Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for Green Wing (2004–2006). Her other television credits include The Brittas Empire (1991–1997), Prisoners' Wives (2012–2013) and Scott & Bailey (2012–2016). In 2018, she played the role of Lorraine Craddock in the BBC television series Bodyguard. In 2019 she appeared in series 4 of the BBC Radio 4 Show The Pin.

Mapp and Lucia is a collective name for a series of novels by E. F. Benson and also the name of two British television adaptations based on those novels.

Steve Pemberton

Steven James Pemberton is an English actor, comedian and writer, best known as a member of The League of Gentlemen with Reece Shearsmith, Mark Gatiss, and Jeremy Dyson. Pemberton and Shearsmith also co-wrote and appeared in the sitcom Psychoville and the comedy-drama Inside No. 9. His other television credits include Doctor Who, Benidorm, Blackpool, Shameless, Whitechapel,Happy Valley and Mapp and Lucia. Steve Pemberton is originally from Chorley, Lancashire and attended Saint Michaels Church of England High School, Chorley.

Lamb House

Lamb House is a Grade II* listed 18th-century house situated in Rye, East Sussex, England, and in the ownership of the National Trust.

Tilling (Sussex)

Tilling is a fictional coastal town, based on Rye, East Sussex, in the Mapp and Lucia novels of Edward Frederic Benson (1867–1940).

Riseholme is a fictional Elizabethan village in the Cotswolds in the "Lucia" novels of Edward Frederic Benson (1867–1940). It is thought to have been based on Broadway, Worcestershire.

Riseholme is a village in Lincolnshire, England.

Isabel Jeans Actress

Isabel Jeans was an English stage and film actress known for her roles in several Alfred Hitchcock films and her portrayal of Aunt Alicia in the 1958 musical film Gigi.

John Cort (impresario) American impresario

John Cort was an American impresario; his Cort Circuit was one of the first national theater circuits. Along with John Considine and Alexander Pantages, Cort was one of the Seattle-based entrepreneurs who parlayed their success in the years following the Klondike Gold Rush into an impact on America's national theater scene. While Considine and Pantages focused mainly on vaudeville, Cort focused on legitimate theater. At one time, he owned more legitimate theaters than anyone else in the United States, and he eventually became part of the New York theatrical establishment. As of 2016, his Cort Theatre remains a fixture of Broadway.

Mary Benson (hostess)

Mary Benson was an English hostess of the Victorian era. She was the wife of Revd. Edward Benson, who during their marriage became Archbishop of Canterbury. Their children included several prolific authors and contributors to cultural life. During her marriage, she was involved with Lucy Tait, daughter of the previous Archbishop of Canterbury. She was described by Gladstone, the British Prime Minister, as the 'cleverest woman in Europe'.

<i>Mapp and Lucia</i> (2014 TV series)

Mapp and Lucia is a British drama television series that was first broadcast on BBC One from 29 to 31 December 2014. The three-part series, adapted by Steve Pemberton and directed by Diarmuid Lawrence, is based on E. F. Benson's Mapp and Lucia collection of novels. The series features an ensemble cast, with British actresses Miranda Richardson and Anna Chancellor playing the eponymous characters Elizabeth Mapp and Emmeline 'Lucia' Lucas. It is set in the Sussex coastal town of Tilling, based very closely on Rye, East Sussex, where it was filmed and where Benson lived. Although attracting modest viewing figures, the series received positive reviews from critics.

<i>Mapp & Lucia</i> (1985 TV series)

Mapp and Lucia is a British television series, set in the fictional Sussex coastal town of Tilling-on-Sea and based on three 1930s novels by E. F. Benson, beginning with Mapp and Lucia. It was produced by London Weekend Television, filmed in Rye and neighbouring Winchelsea in the 1980s, and starred Prunella Scales as Mapp, Geraldine McEwan as Lucia, Nigel Hawthorne as Georgie, and Denis Lill as Major Benjy. The script was by Gerald Savory. There were ten episodes, broadcast on Channel 4 in 1985 and 1986. These have been repeated over the years, and a new BBC adaptation, Mapp and Lucia, aired in 2014.

Queen Lucia is a 1920 comic novel written by E. F. Benson. It is the first of six novels in the popular Mapp and Lucia series, about idle women in the 1920s and their struggle for social dominance over their small communities. This book introduces Emmeline Lucas, known as Lucia to her friends, the social queen of the fictional Elizabethan village of Riseholme, as well as her husband Philip ("Peppino") Lucas, her best friend Georgie Pillson and her friendly rival, Daisy Quantock.

<i>Most of the Game</i>

Most of the Game is a 1935 comedy play by the British writer John Van Druten. Much of the play is set in New York where a British writer and his aristocratic wife have fallen out of love with each other, and started news relationships with a teacher's daughter and a Hollywood actor respectively. Complications ensue when the press gets hold of the story.

Miss Mapp is a 1922 comic novel written by E. F. Benson. It is the second of six novels in the popular Mapp and Lucia series, about idle women in the 1920s and their struggle for social dominance over their small communities. This book introduces Miss Mapp, the social tyrant of the fictional coastal town of Tilling, and the cast of Tillingites, including Diva Plaistow, Major Benji Flint, Mr. and Mrs. Wyse, and Quaint Irene. Tilling was inspired by the town of Rye, where Benson lived at Lamb House, with his own commanding view of the High Street inspiring Mapp's domain, Mallards.

Lucia in London is a 1927 comic novel written by E. F. Benson. It is the third of six novels in the popular Mapp and Lucia series, about idle women in the 1920s and their struggle for social dominance over their small communities. The second Lucia novel, it is a sequel to 1920's Queen Lucia. In this novel, Lucia leaves her small town of Riseholme and moves to London, where she attacks the city's social life with the same eager ferocity.

Mapp and Lucia is a 1931 comic novel written by E. F. Benson. It is the fourth of six novels in the popular Mapp and Lucia series, about idle women in the 1920s and their struggle for social dominance over their small communities. It brings together two sets of characters from three previous Benson novels: "Lucia" Lucas, Georgie Pillson and Daisy Quantock from Queen Lucia (1920) and Lucia in London (1927), and Miss Elizabeth Mapp and her neighbors from Miss Mapp (1922).

References

  1. Bordman, Gerald (1996). American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama, 1930-1969. Oxford University Press. p. 279. ISBN   978-0195090789.
  2. 1 2 Zolotow, Sam (December 22, 1948). "Van Druten Work Has Bow Tonight - 'Make Way for Lucia' to Open at Cort, Is Dramatization of E.F. Benson's Novels". The New York Times . p. 30. ProQuest   108087710.