Proposal

I've put forward a proposal to the Ottershaw Players' committee to produce this play at our slot at the Rhoda McGaw theatre next May.

Below is an extract from that proposal to show what the play is about:

Introduction

The play is Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime, by Constance Cox, based on the short story by Oscar Wilde.

This proposal is for the slot at the Rhoda McGaw from 25th May to 1st June, 2008. Performance dates would be 28th – 31st May.

License

I’ve spoken to Samuel French and the amateur rights to this play are currently available for next summer.

Synopsis

The play is a black comedy, in three acts, requiring 5 male and 5 female actors.

Set in 1890, all action takes place in the drawing-room of Lord Arthur Savile’s house in Grosvenor Square, London.

Lord Arthur Savile is engaged to be married to Sybil Merton. Her mother, Lady Julia, brings Mr Podgers to a soiree being hosted by Arthur.

Podgers is a cheiromantist (not to be confused with a chiropodist!), or a palm-reader. He has become a celebrity in society by exposing scandals which have wrecked several marriages. Lady Julia wants Podgers to read Arthur’s hand to ensure that he has never done anything which would disgrace her daughter.

Podgers reads Arthur’s hand and declares him to be a good suit for marriage. However, in private, he tells Arthur that he is doomed to commit murder at some time in the future.

Arthur decides (with typical Wildean logic) that it would be best to commit the murder before he gets married, to save Sybil the embarrassment. So he plots, with his butler Baines and a German anarchist named Winkelkopf, on the best course of action.

A poisoned sweet, intended for his bankrupt aged great-aunt, Lady Clementia, finds its way into Arthur’s drink and he narrowly escapes death.

An exploding clock, intended for his Uncle, the Dean of Paddington (who should be performing the marriage ceremony, eventually) misfires, as does an exploding umbrella, also intended for the Dean.

With each failed attempted murder, Arthur is forced to postpone the wedding, leading Sybil to believe that he does not love her.

[The rest of the synopsis has been removed to avoid posting spoilers!]

Characters

A brief set of character sketches. To be expanded upon before auditions.

Lord Arthur Savile. A prototype Bertie Wooster. Posh, thick, but good-hearted, despite his inclination to murder. Age 30-40 (stated as 30 in the script, but I’m sure we can bend this if necessary). The largest part, but by no means enormous.

Baines, the butler. At least as old as Lord Arthur. Very much a Jeeves-type figure, though not infallible!

Sybil Merton, Arthur’s fiancé. Younger than Arthur. Pretty.

The Dean of Paddington. An old, but spry senror churchman. Some memory problems. Age 50+.

Lady Windermere. Arthur’s kindly great-aunt. Age 60s - 70s. Fond of gambling, she relies on Arthur for her income.

Lady Julia Merton, Sybil’s mother. Very much a “Lady Bracknell” type. Fiercely protective of Sybil and utterly dismissive of Arthur. Age 60s - 70s.

Lady Clementina Beauchamp. Age 40s - 50s. Arthur’s aunt. She knows what’s what and has a tongue to match Lady Julia’s.

Mr Podgers, the fortune-teller. Neatly dressed, fussy little man. Think Capt. Mainwaring. The opposite of the airy-fairy mysterious fortune-teller you would expect. Must be over 40 years.

Nellie, the maid. Any age. Attracted to Baines.

Herr Winkelkopf. The German anarchist. Any age, 30+. Totally incompetent, though we mustn’t know that at first.

Set and Furniture

Would conventionally call for a closed box-set, but I think we can do it with two large doorways L & R (similar to our recent Habeas Corpus, though one of the entrances is necessarily ‘grander’ than the other, plus a fireplace u/stage. Walls can be suggested. We would need some period furniture, but that’s no problem if we talk to Joy early enough.

Lighting

Very simple. Nothing in the script except for each lighting state at the start of the scenes (5 of them).

Sound

A few door knocks to be done by SM offstage, plus a piece of music and a couple of explosions are necessary to the story.

Costume

Period 1890s costume will be essential.

Props

As well as the usual business (handbags, drinks, etc) this could be fun for the props department as a ‘smoking bomb’ is required. That apart (and I’m hugely confident that Claire could handle this if she wanted to) I don’t see anything tricky.

Stage Management

Some minimal striking of small props between scenes. Nothing that the actors themselves couldn’t handle. No movement of furniture or set to worry about.

Auditions and Rehearsals

Provisionally I would envisage auditions taking place just after the Farrago (if we go for the middle/end of Feb there) with rehearsals starting ASAP afterwards. This gives an 11-12 week rehearsal schedule.

Summary

This is very much a black-comedy, though with the emphasis on the “comedy” rather than the “black”! There are the expected verbal barbs and repartee you would expect from a piece based upon a Wilde story. There are also many good opportunities for excellent physical comedy.

It’s not just a comedy though. There is enough depth in the play to bring some genuine questions to the fore that still have relevance today. How far would a privileged person go to achieve their goals? How much do we really believe in fortune-tellers and mystics? To mention just two from the top of my head… We all know that the best comedies have real bite to them, and I think that this play comes into that category.

None of the characters really comes over as likeable or sympathetic, with the possible exception of Nellie, which will be a great challenge to the actors. How do we portray someone who is trying to bump-off his relatives? The audience will need, on some level, to want him to succeed! If we make them uncomfortable in feeling that way, then we’ve succeeded.

It’s a lesser-known play, which may be advantageous for those people who have seen Ernest many times, but the name of Wilde carries a huge cachet which we should emphasize in the publicity.

In the absence of any other options for the May 2008 slot, I hope that this suggestion is not merely a fait accompli, but can be regarded as a genuinely exciting opportunity to try to get “bums on seats” for our summer production.