SEASON 14 (1942-43)
Jonah and The Whale
The Man With a Load of Mischief
It's A Family Affair
The Dark River
The Tinker's Wedding & The Bower of Wandle
August 1942
JONAH AND THE WHALE
by James Bridie
Directed by Eric Voce
Designed by Honor O'Nians
Middlesex County Times and Gazette:
"The ancient and the modern, the crude and the sophisticated, the tragic and the humorous are Interwoven with tantalising but interesting effect by the ingenious hand of James Bridie in his play, JONAH AND THE WHALE presented by the Questors in their theatre in Mattock-lane, Ealing.
"This dramatist's style suits the particular talents of this society, and Mr. Alfred Emmet, who produced, and also "roared with mighty effect" by means of an amplifier as the whale, surmounted freak difficulties in production with an almost uncanny skill,"
The effectiveness of the design, especially the dimly lit "belly of the whale" and the shifting backcloth to give the impression of the ship in motion were particularly praised."
According to Alfred Emmet this was a rather expensive show "as a considerable number of new costumes had to be made (mostly out of sheets), and something over 60 yards of fringe went into the clothes."
The houses were above average and although they were still struggling to find audiences, the production was judged a success.
October 1942
THE MAN WITH A LOAD OF MISCHIEF
by Ashley Dukes
Direected by Eric Voce
"An essay in artistic artificiality and poetic prose, appealing almost exclusively to the literary and theatrical stylist" was how the County Times described this play.
"It was beautifully dressed, smoothly, almost silkily, acted, and the society is to be congratulated upon a stage setting of a wayside inn just suited to the play."
Alfred Emmet reported that "after some of the 'deadest' dress rehearsals on record, it seems to have gone off quite well."
There were good houses for all performances comparable with the best war-time audiences. The takings were good and the expenses were quite low.
So things were looking up.
January 1943
IT'S A FAMILY AFFAIR
by Alexander Ostrovsky
Directed by Alfred Emmet
Designed by Fred Robinson
Alfred Emmet believed this production to be "an interesting experiment and an adventurous departure from the usual" and the local press praised The Questors for "fishing in unchartered theatrical seas, for they believe [It's A Famiy Affair] was presented by them for the first time on any English stage."
The production however was not without it's war related problems. Lionel Locke had to drop out at the last minute owing to a clash with his military duties. "Which his Colonel appeared to think ought to come first!" said Alfred, who stepped in to take over Lionel's role. The production had to be put back a week to accommodate the change of cast.
They were invited to take the production to the Plaistow Little Theatre for one performance, where Kit Hutchins took over Rena Rice's part at short notice. "It was a moderate success there before a smallish audience; quite an interesting experience."
May 1943
THE DARK RIVER
by Rodney Ackland
Directed by Alfred Emmet
A radical new approach to preparation and rehearsal was adopted for this premiere production of Rodney Ackland's new play.
"The whole company worked on the play for a month or two before it was even cast, studying the background and the characters and being set essays on various aspects.
Whatever the motivation for the experiment, it proved a great success. The author was invited to the premiere and he was so impressed that he went backstage afterwards, introduced himself and said "I've seen my play tonight. I know I shall never see it again".
"The Dark River was subsequently produced in the West End, with Peggy Ashcroft in the leading role understudied by Betty Mercy who had played the part at The Questors; the 14-year old Ronald Langdon who had played the young boy at The Questors repeated his performance in the professional production."
[A Few Drops of Water]
Alfred Emmet later noted that "the importance of that production was not so much that it led to a West End showing as that it showed us what could be done with an altogether fuller rehearsal schedule".
As a result The Questors has ever since aimed for a minimum of 100 hours of rehearsal for each of its production.
July 1943
THE BOWER OF WANDLE
by Gordon Bottommley
THE TINKER'S WEDDING
by J M Synge
Directed by Kit Hutchins & Eric Voce
Designed by Gunter Heilbut & Honor O'Nians
Partly due to the extended effort spent on THE DARK RIVER, the season was brought to a conclusion with a double bill of contrasting, but modestly demanding one act plays. However the production was praised in the press for demonstrating The Questors' "ingenuity in covering almost every type of dramatic expression...The curtain which dropped on Scottish tragedy rose on Irish farce. Rough and tumble, "glory to goodness" full-blooded farce it proved, too, this racy story of an Irish tinker's wedding which never got solemnised after all."