The Complaisant Lover is a 1959 comedy play by Graham Greene. Consisting of two acts, each of two scenes, the play revolves around an affair between Mary Rhodes and Clive Root, the book seller friend of her husband, Victor. The play takes place in the Rhodes family home and an Amsterdam guesthouse. [1]
The Complaisant Lover was first produced on 18 June 1959 by John Gielgud at the Globe Theatre London, where it ran for almost a year. [2] The cast included; Ralph Richardson as Victor Rhodes, Paul Scofield as Clive Root and Phyllis Calvert as Mary Rhodes. [3]
The play opened at Broadway's Ethel Barrymore Theatre on 1 November 1961, directed by Glen Byam Shaw; and ran for 101 performances. [4] The cast included; Michael Redgrave as Victor Rhodes, Richard Johnson as Clive Root, Googie Withers as Mary Rhodes and 11-year old Nicholas Hammond as Robin Rhodes. [1]
In 1968 the play was staged by director Alan Vaughan Williams at the Liverpool Playhouse with particular critical praise going to actors in secondary roles; including Paul Freeman as Dr Van Droog and Christian Rodska as the valet. [5]
On its Broadway staging, The New York Times praised the production and performances, but concluded, "In the English way "The Complaisant Lover" talks about sex without heat and outrages morality with scarcely the tinkle of a teacup. Very English- and a bit tepid." [6]
The Women is a 1936 American play, a comedy of manners by Clare Boothe Luce. Only women comprise the cast.
Gerald Robert Flood was a British actor of stage and television.
Richard Keith Johnson was an English stage and screen actor, writer and producer. Described by Michael Coveney as "a very 'still' actor – authoritative, calm and compelling," he was a staple performer in British films and television from the 1960s until the 2010s, often playing urbane sophisticates and authoritative characters. He had a distinguished theatrical career, notably as a cornerstone member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and was once acclaimed as "the finest romantic actor of his generation."
Benjamin Arthur Flemyng, known professionally as Robert Flemyng, was a British actor. The son of a doctor, and originally intended for a medical career, Flemyng learned his stagecraft in provincial repertory theatre. In 1935 he appeared in a leading role in the West End, and the following year had his first major success, in Terence Rattigan's comedy French Without Tears. Between then and the Second World War he appeared in London and New York in a succession of comedies.
The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a Broadway theater at 241 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1928, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the Elizabethan, Mediterranean, and Adam styles for the Shubert family. The theater, named in honor of actress Ethel Barrymore, has 1,058 seats and is operated by the Shubert Organization. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks.
The Longacre Theatre is a Broadway theater at 220 West 48th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. Opened in 1913, it was designed by Henry B. Herts and was named for Longacre Square, now known as Times Square. The Longacre has 1,077 seats and is operated by The Shubert Organization. Both the facade and the auditorium's interior are New York City designated landmarks.
Marilyn J. "Lynn" Farleigh is an English actress of stage and screen.
Holly Palance is an American former actress and journalist. She is perhaps best known for her role as the nanny of Damien Thorn in Richard Donner's The Omen (1976). Palance also appeared in Pete Walker's horror film The Comeback (1978). Beginning in 1984, she also co-hosted the series Ripley's Believe it or Not! with her father, Jack Palance.
Twentieth Century is a 1932 play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur based on the unproduced play Napoleon of Broadway by Charles B. Millholland, inspired by his experience working for the eccentric Broadway impresario David Belasco.
The White Liars is a one-act play by Peter Shaffer, first performed in 1967 originally titled White Lies.
The Potting Shed is a 1957 play by Graham Greene in three acts. The psychological drama centers on a secret held by the Callifer family for nearly thirty years.
Conduct Unbecoming is a play by Barry England. The plot concerns a scandal in a British regiment stationed in India in the 1880s.
William Hartwell Snyder, Jr. was an American playwright and a longtime faculty member of the theatre department at the University of Tennessee at Martin. He is best known for his play The Days and Nights of BeeBee Fenstermaker.
Jennifer Mary Hilary was a British actress of stage, film and television. Her first acclaimed stage performance was as "Milly" in Henry James' The Wings of the Dove, which marked her debut in the West End.
Robin Midgley was a director in theatre, television and radio and responsible for some of the earliest episodes of Z-Cars and for the television version of the Royal Shakespeare Company's Wars of the Roses.
The Philanthropist is a play by Christopher Hampton, written as a response to Molière's The Misanthrope. After opening at the Royal Court Theatre, London in August 1970, the piece, directed by Robert Kidd, transferred to the May Fair Theatre in the West End and ran there for over three years, subsequently going on a regional tour in 1974. In the meantime, the play, directed once again by Kidd, premiered on Broadway in March 1971, running till May of the same year. Kidd had previously collaborated with Hampton on When Did You Last See Your Mother? (1964), which had also been staged at the Royal Court Theatre.
On the Quiet is a lost 1918 American silent comedy film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and released by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Chester Withey and starred John Barrymore. The film, based on an original 1901 play, was written by Augustus Thomas and served as a popular hit for William Collier, Sr.
The Living Room is a 1953 play by Graham Greene
Escape is a play in nine episodes by the British writer John Galsworthy. The world premiere was on August 12, 1926 at the Ambassadors Theatre in London's West End, produced by Leon M. Lion. The play ran until March of the following year, when it went on tour of England with Gerald Ames in the lead role.
Gladys Boot, was a British actress.
