The Admirable Crichton

"The Admirable Crichton" is a comic stage play written in 1902 by J. M. Barrie. It was produced by Charles Frohman and opened at the Duke of York's Theatre in London on 4 November, 1902, running for an extremely successful 828 performances. It starred Irene Vanbrugh. In 1903, the play was produced on Broadway by Frohman, starring William Gillette.

A 1918 film adaptation was directed by G. B. Samuelson. A 1957 film adaptation starred Kenneth More, Sally Ann Howes and Cecil Parker. The play was filmed twice for television, in 1950 and 1968. The play was also filmed in two more remote forms: the 1919 Cecil B. De Mille silent "Male and Female," and the 1934 "We're Not Dressing," a Bing Crosby vehicle.

Roles and opening night cast list

*Lady Mary Lasenby, Irene Vanbrugh
*Crichton - The Butler, H. B. Irving
*The Earl of Loam, Henry Kemble
*Lady Catherine Lasenby, Sybil Carlisle
*Lady Agatha Lasenby, Muriel Beaumont
*Ernest Woolley - Lord Loam's nephew, Gerald du Maurier
*Tweeny - A between maid, Pattie Brown

ynopsis

Act One is set in Loam Hall, the household of Lord Loam, a British peer, Crichton being his butler. Loam considers the class divisions in British society to be artificial. He promotes his views during tea-parties where servants mingle with his aristocratic guests, to the embarrassment of all. Crichton particularly disapproves, considering the class system to be "the natural outcome of a civilised society".

At the beginning of Act Two, Loam, his family and friends, and Crichton are shipwrecked on a deserted tropical island. The resourceful Crichton is the only one of the party with any practical knowledge, and he assumes, initially with reluctance, the position of leader. This role begins to take on sinister tones when he starts training Ernest, one of the young aristocrats with them, to break a liking for laboured epigrams by putting his head in a bucket of water whenever he makes one. Crichton's social betters at first resist his growing influence and go their separate ways, but in a pivotal scene they return, showing their acquiescence by accepting the food Crichton alone has been able to find and cook.

Act Three reveals the island two years later. Crichton has civilised the island with farming and house building and now, called "the Gov.", is waited on with the trappings and privileges of power, just as his master had done back in Britain. Lady Mary, Loam's daughter, falls in love with him, forgetting her engagement to Lord Brocklehurst at home. Just as she and Crichton are about to be married by a clergyman who was shipwrecked with them, the sound of a ship's gun is heard. After a moment's temptation not to reveal their whereabouts, Crichton makes the conventionally decent choice and launches a signal. As the rescuers greet the castaways, he resumes his status as butler.

Act Four (subtitled "The Other Island") is set back at Loam Hall, where the status quo ante has returned uneasily. The Loams and their friends are embarrassed by Crichton's presence, since Ernest has published a false account of events on the island, presenting himself and Lord Loam in key roles. Lady Brocklehurst, Lord Brocklehurst's mother, quizzes the family and servants about events on the island, suspecting that Lady Mary may have been unfaithful to Lord Brocklehurst. The household evades these questions, except for a final one when Lady Mary reacts with shock - "Oh no, impossible..." - to the suggestion that Crichton might become butler at her married household. To protect her, Crichton explains the impossibility is due to his leaving service, and the play ends with his and Lady Mary's regretful final parting.

Although the play deals with serious and then controversial class issues, it does little to seriously challenge the status quo. Barrie had considered a more challenging resolution - particularly an upbeat ending with Crichton and Lady Mary continuing their relationship - but decided "the stalls wouldn't stand it".Introduction, "The Admirable Crichton", Shefali Balsari-Shah, Sangam Books, 1988, ISBN 0861317947]

Origins

Barrie took the title from the sobriquet of a fellow Scot, the polymath James Crichton, a 16th century genius and athlete. The epigram-loving Ernest is probably a caricature of the title character in Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest". The plot may derive from "Robinson's Eiland", an 1896 German play by Ludwig Fulda, . In this, "a satire upon modern super-culture in its relation to primal nature", a group of Berlin officials (including a capitalist, a professor and a journalist) are shipwrecked on an island, where a secretary, Arnold, becomes the natural leader of the group. ["Der Talisman: Dramatisches Märchen in vier Aufzügen", Ludwig Fulda, H. Holt and Company, 1902] The contemporary critic Arthur Bingham Walkley, however, viewed the connection as merely a rumour: "I feel quite indifferent as to its accuracy of fact". ["Drama and Life", Arthur Bingham Walkley, Brentano's, 1908]

Influence on popular culture

Kryten, the robot butler from the British sitcom "Red Dwarf", takes his name from the title character of Barrie's play.

In an episode of "Fawlty Towers" called "The Germans", Basil Fawlty sarcastically calls Manuel "The Admirable Crichton."

References

External links

*gutenberg|no=3490|name=The Admirable Crichton
* [http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/stage2/produce/crich/th-crich.html The Admirable Crichton] - illustrated review from "The Play Pictorial" No. XI (1903).
* [http://www.dgillan.screaming.net/stage/th-longr.html List of longest running plays in London and New York]
* [http://www.raygirvan.co.uk/crichton.htm Information about the play from a community theatre website]