Anonymous Players

 

 

 

 

Production Details

207th Production - This Happy Breed  by Noel Coward

Presented at Lowther Pavilion - 3 to 6 February 1991.

Directed by Joy Banks and John Whittle.
 

 

 

 

 


Outline of Play

Frank Gibbons, just demobbed (1919), settles in Clapham with his wife Ethel, their children, Reg, Queenie and Vi, Ethel's mother, Mrs Flint and Frank's sister, Sylvia.

They find that one of Frank's army pals, Bob Mitchell, is their next-door neighbour, and his son Billy becomes Queenie's faithful admirer.

The respectable working-class home with its commonness, its sterling qualities and its humours is vividly depicted.

Vi is first to marry, then Reg. Queenie runs away with a married man. Reg and his wife are killed in a car smash. Billy brings the repentant Queenie home as his wife.

In the end, with another war looming, Queenie joins Billy in India, leaving her son in the care of her still indomitable parents.

 

 

 

 

 

  Synopsis of Scenes

 

The action of the play passes in the dining room of the Gibbon’s house, No 17 Sycamore Road, Clapham Common

 

 

 

Act I

Scene 1

June 1919

 

 

Scene 2

December 1925

 

 

Scene 3

May 1926

 

 

 

 

 

Act II

Scene 1

October 1931

 

 

Scene 2

November 1931

 

 

Scene 3

May 1932

 

 

 

 

 

Act III

Scene 1

December 1936

 

 

Scene 2

September 1938

 

 

Scene 3

June 1939

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Cast

 

Mrs Flint

June Crawshaw

 

Ethel

Nancy Whittle

 

Sylvia

Maureen Tyler

 

Frank Gibbons

Roy Winter

 

Bob Mitchell

Chris Slack

 

Reg

Michael Elliott

 

Queenie

Katie Rushton

 

Vi

Sara Tattersall

 

Sam Leadbitter

Matthew Critchley

 

Phyllis Blake

Katie Leahy

 

Edie

Lisa Ellis

 

Billy

Sam Wilcher

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Stage Crew

 

Stage Manager

Chris Jones

 

Sound

Michael Ward

 

Lighting

Tim Edwards

 

Set Design and Construction

Michael Ward, Don Killip and Ray Butterfield

 

Prompt

Carol White

 

Properties

Pat Womersley and Shirley Croasdale