Berkeley Square (play)

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Berkeley Square is a play in three acts by John L. Balderston (in collaboration with J.C. Squire) which tells the story of a young American who is transported back to London in the time of the American Revolution and meets his ancestors.^[1] The plot is loosely based on Henry James' posthumous 1917 novel The Sense of the Past.^[2]

The play premiered at the St Martin's Theatre in London's West End in 1926, where it ran for 179 performances.^[3] Its production on Broadway in 1929 was an enormous success with Leslie Howard (who also co-produced and co-directed the play with Gilbert Miller) in the role of time traveler Peter Standish and ran for 229 performances, a substantial run for its time.^[2]

The play was later adapted into a 1933 film version with Howard repeating his stage role of Peter Standish, winning him an Academy Award nomination.^[4] The play was also produced for a 1959 BBC television production and the 1951 film The House in the Square (released in the United States as I'll Never Forget You).^[1]^[5] Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner adapted the basic plot for their 1965 musical, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever.

Original London cast

Tom Pettigrew – Brian Gilmour
Mr. Throstle – Ivor Barnard
The Ambassador – J. Fisher White
Peter Standish – Lawrence Anderson
Maid – Jane Millican/Edith Martyn
Lady Anne Pettigrew – Beatrice Wilson/Georgina Wynter
Miss Pettigrew – Valerie Taylor
Helen Pettigrew – Jean Forbes-Robertson
Mrs. Barwick – Frances Ruttledge
Marjorie Frant – Grizelda Hervey/Juliet Mansell/Jane Millican

Original Broadway cast

Mrs. Barwick – Lucy Beaumont
Miss Barrymore – June English
Marjorie Frant – Ann Freshman
Helen Pettigrew – Margalo Gillmore
Tom Pettigrew – Brian Gilmour
H. R. H. The Duke of Cumberland – Robert Greig
Maid – Irene Howard
Peter Standish – Leslie Howard
The Lady Anne Pettigrew – Alice John
Mr. Throstle – Tarver Penna
The Duchess of Devonshire – Louise Prussing
Major Clinton – Charles Romano
Kate Pettigrew – Valerie Taylor
Lord Stanley – Henry Warwick
The Ambassador – Fritz Williams

References

^ ^a ^b "Sunday-Night Theatre presents: Berkeley Square". May 31, 1959. p. 11 – via BBC Genome.
^ ^a ^b "Berkeley Square – Broadway Play – Original | IBDB". www.ibdb.com.
^ Wearing, J. P. (March 27, 2014). The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780810893023 – via Google Books.
^ "Berkeley Square (1933) – Frank Lloyd | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related". AllMovie.
^ "I'll Never Forget You (1951) – Roy Ward Baker | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related". AllMovie.

External links

Berkeley Square at the Internet Broadway Database
1959 BBC TV adaptation at IMDb

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