John William Van Druten was an English playwright and theatre director. 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.
The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London.
Old Acquaintance is a 1943 American drama film released by Warner Bros. It was directed by Vincent Sherman and produced by Henry Blanke with Jack L. Warner as executive producer. The screenplay by John Van Druten, Lenore Coffee and Edmund Goulding was based on Van Druten's 1940 play of the same title.
Young Woodley is a 1925 play by the British writer John Van Druten. It concerns a schoolboy at a top British public school who falls in love with his headmaster's wife and is eventually expelled. Because of its negative depiction of public school life, and its controversial subject matter, the play originally was banned in the United Kingdom and only staged in 1928. However, it was a major success in the United States, and Van Druten moved there to work. The ban in Britain was lifted, and the play ran for over 400 performances in the West End, making a star of its lead Frank Lawton. It was revived at the Finborough Theatre, London, in 2007. It was included in Burns Mantle's The Best Plays of 1925-1926.
Auriol Lee was a popular British stage actress who became a successful West End and Broadway theatrical producer and director.
The Distaff Side is a 1933 comedy play by the British writer John Van Druten. It premiered at the King's Theatre, Edinburgh before beginning a 102-performance run at the Apollo Theatre in London between 5 September and 2 December 1933. It was produced by Gilbert Miller. The original cast included Sybil Thorndike, Martita Hunt, Clifford Evans, Edgar Norfolk and Viola Keats. Its New York run began in September 1934 and lasted for 177 performances at the Booth Theatre.
Diversion is a 1927 play by the British writer John Van Druten. It was first staged in the United States at the Lyceum Theatre in Rochester before beginning a 68 run performance at the 49th Street Theatre in 1928. In London it ran for a combined 101 performances at the Arts Theatre and Little Theatre between 26 September and 22 December 1928. The cast included Maurice Evans, C.V. France, Cathleen Nesbitt and Mignon O'Doherty.
Flowers of the Forest is a 1934 play by the British writer John Van Druten. It lasted for a brief West End run of fourteen performances at the Whitehall Theatre with a cast including Henry Oscar, Haddon Mason, Stephen Haggard, Barry K. Barnes and Lewis Casson. In New York it played for forty performances at the Broadway Martin Beck Theatre with a cast that included Hugh Williams and Burgess Meredith.
Sea Fever is a 1931 British play by Auriol Lee and John Van Druten. It is based on the 1929 play Marius by Marcel Pagnol about Marius, a young man in Marseilles whose desire to go to sea overcomes his developing romance with a local girl.
Marius is a 1929 play by the French writer Marcel Pagnol. It takes place in Marseilles, where a young man named Marius working in a café dreams of going to sea, his obsession eventually overcoming his developing romance with Fanny, a local girl.
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 new relationships with a teacher's daughter and a Hollywood actor respectively. Complications ensue when the press gets hold of the story.
Somebody Knows is a 1932 mystery play by the British writer John Van Druten about an entertainer who is accused of strangling a prostitute. Following a court case there is not enough evidence to convict him, leaving the audience unsure of his actual guilt.
The Damask Cheek is a 1942 comedy play by the British writer John Van Druten in collaboration with Lloyd Morris.
Gertie Maude is a dramatic play by the British writer John Van Druten. It is set before the First World War, the plot about a chorus girl who begins an affair with an upper-class man only to kill herself when he marries someone of his own class.
Behold, We Live is a 1932 play by the British writer John Van Druten. It had an original West End run of 158 performances at St James's Theatre in London between 16 August and 31 December 1932. It was produced by Gilbert Miller. The cast included Gerald du Maurier, Gertrude Lawrence, May Whitty, Ronald Ward and Everley Gregg.
Hollywood Holiday is a comedy play by British writers John Van Druten and Benn Levy. The play is a satire on Hollywood script-writing, and sees a female playwright's script being transformed into half a dozen unrecognisable screenplays.
Chance Acquaintance is a 1927 play by the British writer John Van Druten, one of his earliest.
After All is a 1929 play by the British writer John Van Druten. After a West End run at the Apollo Theatre it transferred to Broadway in 1931.
There's Always Juliet is a 1931 comedy play by the British writer John Van Druten about an American architect who falls in love with an Englishwoman.
Old Acquaintance is a 1940 play by the British writer John Van Druten. It is a three-act comedy, with a small cast and two settings. The story is a conflict between two women, childhood friends from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and now both successful writers. It is all conversation, with exits and entrances the only action. It was considered a "woman's play" by contemporary reviewers.
