London Calling (play) explained

London Calling
Characters:Straight
Mary Dayton
Anne Hunter
Jenny Fall
George Craft
Willie Craft
Carl Merodini
Mrs. Craft
Chauncey Knayling
Blewes
Henry Dayton
Setting:Manhattan
Place:Little Theatre, Rochester, New York
Orig Lang:English
Genre:Comedy

London Calling is a comedy play in three acts, written by Geoffrey Kerr, produced by John Golden, and directed by Dan Jarratt. The play was first performed at Little Theatre, Rochester, New York, on October 18, 1930.[1] The star of the original production was British-born thespian St. Clair Bayfield. Geoffrey Kerr had previously performed in The Stork (1925) and also wrote short stories on the side for Vanity Fair magazine.[2]

Plot

The comedy centres on two brothers Willie and George Craft, whose American mother and British father long have been divorced. Willie Craft has been raised in America by his mother, George by his father in London, England. When George appears for a surprise visit to Manhattan, he and Willie soon fall for a designing woman, Anne Hunter. Their mother decides she is not suitable and prevents her from seeing them, and in the process tries reconciling with their father.[3]

Scene synopsis

Mrs. Craft's apartment on Park Avenue and George Craft's furnished apartment on East 49th Street.

Original production

Cast and characters

Notes

  1. Bordman, Gerald Martin. American Theatre: a Chronicle of Comedy and Drama 1930-1969. (Page 9) Oxford, 1996
  2. New York Times Review 18th October 1930 https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E03E7DB1138E433A2575BC1A9669D946194D6CF
  3. Time Review 27th October 1930 http://aolsvc.timeforkids.kol.aol.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,787673-2,00.html