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ROBERT WILLIAMS BUCHANAN (1841-1901) |
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THEATRE REVIEWS 28. Miss Tomboy (1890)
Miss Tomboy
The Stage (7 March, 1890 - p.11) The Relapse, revised by Robert Buchanan, is promised at a series of morning performances to be given at the Vaudeville, where, I am told, Clarissa is attracting good business every evening. ___
The Times (21 March, 1890 - p.11) VAUDEVILLE THEATRE. To furbish up old comedy and present it in a fresh form to a later generation of playgoers than that for which it was written is not so much a new as a revived branch of theatrical enterprise. It was a common enough industry in the last century, when Shakespeare himself was thought to require adaptation. Now that classics are viewed with the same veneration as old monuments, it requires, perhaps, as much courage to renovate an old dramatist as it would do to whitewash Stonehenge; but where courage is needed Mr. Robert Buchanan is never found wanting, and it is he, accordingly, who is responsible for the modernized version of Vanbrugh’s famous comedy The Relapse, which was played yesterday afternoon at the Vaudeville, under the title of Miss Tomboy. Adapters are much given to the use of the phrase “founded upon,” which no doubt expresses as little obligation to the work in question, whatever it may be, as is compatible with the mention of the original author’s name. In the present instance the words, for once, are appropriately employed in the playbill, since they convey a tolerably exact impression of the relation of the new to the old piece. Mr. Robert Buchanan has not adapted Vanbrugh; he is hardly indebted to him, indeed, for a line of dialogue. What he has done has been to borrow the underplot of The Relapse, with its characters, sacrificing all the incidents in which Loveless, Amanda, and Berinthia, are concerned, and to present in a quick and well-ordered succession of scenes the device by which Tom Fashion cuts out Lord Foppington in the scheme for winning the hand of Miss Hoyden, the rustic heiress. A considerable group of Vanbrugh’s dramatis personæ are thus retained, though why Coupler should now be disguised as Sir George Matcham, while Sir Tunbelly Clumsey is not ashamed of his patronymic, it is hard to understand. As Tom Fashion’s adventure in personating his elder brother is of an entirely proper character from the modern point of view, Mr. Robert Buchanan’s task, within the limits he has assigned himself, has been one of suppression chiefly; and, all things considered, this is no doubt the least objectionable form in which a revival of Vanbrugh’s comedy could be attempted. The action becomes somewhat attenuated, it is true; but, on the other hand, it is commendably free from the vices of its period, resolving itself mainly into an illustration of the character of the scented dandy of the 17th century, Lord Foppington. This personage is now amusingly portrayed by Mr. Thomas Thorne even to the lisping affectation of speech conveyed by the substitution of “a” for “o” in such words as “apalagize” and “Tam;” and his follies and fatuities may, perhaps, be found to compensate for what must be described as a lack of plot, seeing that the wooing and winning of Miss Hoyden remains what it originally was—a rather meagre dramatic incident. Miss Hoyden herself, who naturally gives the piece its title, now that Loveless and his “relapse” from conjugal fidelity are suppressed, has been modernized into a frolicsome boarding-school miss, and is winsomely played on such lines by Miss Winifred Emery, Mr. Frank Gillmore appears as the dashing young Tom Fashion, Mr. Fred Thorne as Sir Tunbelly, Mr. Cyril Maude as a foppish man-servant, and Mr. J. S. Blythe as the matchmaker. The curiously hybrid work to which Mr. Robert Buchanan has put his name in conjunction with that of Sir John Vanburgh was yesterday well received, and it may, perhaps, obtain something more than a succès de curiosité. ___
The Era (22 March, 1890 - Issue 2687) “MISS TOMBOY.” A Comedy, in Three Acts, by Robert Buchanan, Lord Foppington ... Mr THOMAS THORNE Those present at the Vaudeville Theatre on Thursday afternoon who remembered Macaulay’s strictures on The Relapse, and who were aware that, in its original form, Sir John Vanbrugh’s play was very naughty indeed, must have wondered, after seeing Mr Buchanan’s adaptation thereof, entitled Miss Tomboy, how the indecency of the original was introduced. The explanation, of course, is that in The Relapse there are two plots—a principal and an under-plot, the former of which is immoral, whilst the latter is innocent. Mr Buchanan has rewritten the decent and funny part of the play and eliminated the improper portion. He claims, indeed, to have written what is essentially a new comedy. “Beyond portions of Lord Foppington’s admirable scenes in act one, and a stray line here and there throughout, the dialogue,” he says, “is original, while the characters, especially that of Miss Hoyden, have been greatly altered, and in some respects, it is hoped, humanised. The main plot of The Relapse, with its style of tawdry, mock-heroic blank verse, and its vein of heartlessness so characteristic of an artificial period, has been abandoned altogether; while the excellent under-plot, full of those germs of broad humanity which afterwards reached perfection in the robust and sunny genius of Farquhar, becomes the mainspring and motif of the present play.” Mr Buchanan has, in fact, done very much the same as did Mr John Hollingshead when he adapted Vanbrugh’s comedy in 1870. The recollection of this version has a melancholy interest at the present date, the late Mr John Maclean having sustained the part of Sir Tunbelly Clumsy in the production of The Man of Quality at the Gaiety Theatre in the May of that year, Mr Alfred Wigan playing Lord Foppington, Miss Nellie Farren, Miss Hoyden, and Mr Lin Rayne, Tom Fashion. The result of the process of deodorisation has been in both cases somewhat the same. The principal motive of the piece being removed, and what was originally intended to be a secondary and subordinate portion called upon to take its place, weakness of interest and inadequacy of intrigue make themselves uncomfortably felt. The amount of story in Miss Tomboy would be sufficient to furnish out an excellent one-act farce, but it is not enough to serve as foundation for a three-act comedy. We are first introduced, in Mr Buchanan’s version, to Lord Foppington at his house in London. He has recently come into a fortune, purchased a peerage, and launched out into all the follies and fopperies of the day. His younger brother, Tom Fashion, comes and endeavours to borrow £500 in order to redeem his annuity, which he has mortgaged. Lord Foppington refuses to grant the loan; indeed, he himself is somewhat impoverished by the purchase of his title, and an elderly go-between, Sir George Matcham, has found out for him a young, unsophisticated country beauty, with a considerable fortune in her own right. Enraged at his brother’s unkindness, Tom determines to go down to the young lady’s residence, Brambletree House, St. Albans, and, presenting himself as Lord Foppington, woo and win Miss Hoyden, the heiress. Carrying out his intention, he finds her to be a rustic romp, and soon succeeds in securing her favour. In order to prepare himself against interference on the part of his brother, Tom warns Sir Tunbelly Clumsy, Miss Hoyden’s step-father, that a younger brother of his lordship’s may be expected to arrive and make an attempt to impersonate him. Sir Tunbelly determines to give the impostor a warm welcome; and when the real Lord Foppington comes he is treated with various indignities and made fun of by Sir Tunbelly and his guests. Miss Hoyden joins gaily in the plot to persuade the new arrival that he is in a house full of lunatics, and he is tied hand and foot with ropes, and for a time kept close prisoner. Tom, seeing that there is no time to be lost, persuades a mercenary parson to wed him to Fanny; and when at last Lord Foppington’s identity is proved by the arrival of Sir George Matcham, his lordship is so disgusted with his treatment at Brambletree House that he refuses to marry Fanny, although the ceremony just performed is declared invalid, and Sir Tunbelly accepts Tom Fashion as the husband of his step-daughter. This is all that Mr Buchanan has taken from his original, and what there is in Miss Tomboy is extremely funny, though not, perhaps, quite in the comedy key. Lord Foppington, with his wig on fire and threatened with extinction by menials with wooden buckets; stabbed in the thigh with Miss Hoyden’s bodkin, and tied up with ropes like a “Davenport brother,” seems rather to be taking part in old-fashioned farce than old-fashioned comedy. ___
The Graphic (29 March, 1890 - Issue 1061) |
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IN dealing with Sir John Vanbrugh’s comedy of The Relapse, Mr. Buchanan has gone even farther than his predecessor Sheridan in supplementing the main element of the story of the original piece. The Tomboy, produced at a matinée at the VAUDEVILLE last week, is, as its name indicates, confined to the story of Miss Hoyden’s lovers, Lord Foppington and his brother Tom Fashion, and ends with the triumph of the latter in securing the hand of Sir Tunbelly Clumsy’s wild colt of a daughter, whom he has wooed in his brother’s name. Out of these materials a piece almost purely farcical has been constructed, and a great deal of rough sort of entertainment provided for the audience. Mr. Buchanan has not treated Vanbrugh with any particular reverence; nor is that a thing to be deprecated as it might be if the author of The Relapse had been as great a master of dialogue as the author of The Way of the World. It is not a very extravagant compliment to say that Mr. Buchanan’s dialogue which, save some of the best passages of the original, has been substituted, entails no loss, while it suits better the purposes of the adaptor. Mr. Buchanan is further to be credited with one or two ingenious new incidents—that for example of making Tom Fashion assume the foppish aspect of his brother in support of his counter charge that it is his brother who is the imitator and impostor. The idea of treating his lordship as a lunatic, and feigning that he has found himself in a madhouse, serves still more the farcical objects of the piece, and gives to Miss Winifred Emery further opportunities for the development of Miss Hoyden’s ceaseless tricks and wayward humours. If to make audiences laugh is the chief end of farce, then never was greater success achieved than by the scenes in which this clever young lady appears. Mr. Thomas Thorne, on the other hand, is ill-suited to sustain the gay and superfine traditions of Cibber’s Lord Foppington. The rest of the piece was fairly well played; Mr. Gillmore making a lively and gallant Tom Fashion, Mr. F. Thorne a sturdy Sir Tunbelly, and Mr. Cyril Maude a sprightly Lorry. The Tomboy is repeated this week at a matinée; but there are as yet no indications of its being promoted to the evening bill. ___
The Penny Illustrated Paper (29 March, 1890 - p.195) |
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Very fortunate is Mr. Wilson Barrett, if it be the fact that he has engaged Miss Winifred Emery for the new Olympic. This attractive and talented member of Mr. Thomas Thorne’s Comedy Company at the Vaudeville has proved a most popular successor to Miss Kate Rorke. Miss Emery improves with each new part she sustains. An incomparably sweet Clarissa in the old-fashioned romance of seduction now being played o’ nights at the Vaudeville, Miss Emery may be said to have made the fortune of Mr. Robert Buchanan’s latest adaptation for the Vaudeville, “Miss Tomboy,” “conveyed” from Sir John Vanrugh’s play “The Relapse.” Given a most difficult part to play, one requiring the utmost lightness of touch and delicacy of treatment, Miss Emery may be said to have created a fresh Fanny Hoyden, a kittenish, playful, high-spirited lass, only too willing to be won by the adventurous Tom Fashion (capitally embodied by Mr. Frank Gillmore), the light-hearted foil to his elder brother, Lord Foppington (Mr. Thomas Thorne). Mr. Cyril Maude and Mr. Fred. Thorne likewise capably support Mr. Thomas Thorne as Lory and the old Squire. “Least said, soonest mended” with regard to the Vaudeville matinée of “Andromeda” and “No. 2” on Monday. ___
The Theatre (1 May, 1890) “MISS TOMBOY.” Comedy in three acts, by ROBERT BUCHANAN (founded on Sir John Vanbrugh’s famous comedy, |
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Sir John Vanbrugh’s “The Relapse, or Virtue in Danger,” is announced in a life of the author as “being the Sequel of ‘The Fool in Fashion,’” and was first played at Drury Lane in 1696 with Cibber as Lord Foppington—the Sir George Matcham of the present play was then called Coupler. An adaptation of the play was made by the actor Lee, and under the title of “The Man of Quality” was produced at Covent Garden in 1773, and in 1777 Richard Brinsley Sheridan formed on it another play entitled “A Trip to Scarborough,” which was acted in that year at Drury Lane. In 1846 “The Relapse,” was played at the Olympic with Mr. Walter Lacy as Lord Foppington, Mrs. Walter Lacy as Miss Hoyden, and Leigh Murray as Loveless. It was seen at the Strand in 1850. Mr. John Hollingshead’s version, also named “The Man of Quality,” was done at the Gaiety May 7, 1870, with Mr. Alfred Wigan as Lord Foppington, and Miss Nellie Farren as Miss Hoyden, and the late John Maclean was Sir Tunbelly Clumsy—I think Mrs. Cross was the original Hoyden. Mrs. Jordan was also great in the part, and Mrs. Abington played the character in Sheridan’s adaptation. Mr. Buchanan has done away completely with the objectionable characters, and the intrigue of Loveless and Berinthia. He says in a foot note “that the vein of heartlessness so characteristic of an artificial period has been abandoned altogether” (in this I scarce agree, witness the characters of Foppington and Tom Fashion), and has written almost entirely fresh dialogue. His very great improvement, however, is that he has transformed the vicious Miss Hoyden into a thoughtless, sunny, and impulsive “tomboy,” who romps and kisses and owns to a sweetheart or two, but is guileless all the while. Of course, with the excision of the characters of Loveless and Berinthia goes “the relapse from virtue” on the former’s part. The play now turns on the selfishness of Lord Foppington, who refuses his younger brother Tom Fashion any assistance. Tom’s valet Lory, by spying and eavesdropping, discovers that a marriage has been arranged by Sir George Matcham, a professional “coupler,” between my Lord and Miss Fanny Hoyden, a wealthy heiress of some seventeen summers. The prospective bridegroom is unknown to his intended spouse and her belongings, and so Lory suggests that his master shall steal a march on his brother, purloin the letter of introduction, and go down to Brambletree House, introduce himself as Lord Foppington, and win the bride. Fashion consents, arrives and is duly honoured by Sir Tunbelly Clumsy, Fanny’s stepfather, as the peer he expected, and quickly wins the heart of the girl. Troubles come on him suddenly, for Lory intercepts a messenger announcing the speedy coming of the real Lord, Fashion puts a bold face on it and warns Clumsy that the man who is at hand is none other than young Fashion, who is trying to pass himself off as the nobleman. So when Lord Foppington appears, Sir Tunbelly determines to “roast” him, plays on him all manner of tricks, Fanny pretends to be insane, and the poor lord fancies he has got into a lunatic asylum. He is locked up in the strong room as an impostor, but is brought out to be confronted with Sir George Matcham, who soon proves his identity. In the meantime Tom Fashion has persuaded the parson, the Rev. Mr. Quiverwit, to marry him secretly to the very willing Fanny Hoyden, Tom first confessing to her who he really is; and when his imposture is discovered, he and his new-made wife throw themselves on Sir Tunbelly’s mercy. As he finds that Lord Foppington would not consent to wed Fanny at any price (for there is a salutary doubt as to the legality of the marriage ceremony she has gone through), Sir Tunbelly forgives the young couple, and the curtain falls on a merry dance of Sir Roger de Coverley. The success of the piece was due to Miss Winifred Emery. No one, I am sure, gave her credit for the power to so naturally delineate the high spirit and mischief-loving fun of the “Tomboy,” who loves kissing, but without any arriere pensée of harm or of there being anything unmaidenly in it. Hoydenish, full of antics and frolicsome she might be, but with it all she was a lady and a pure little maiden. Miss Emery has proved herself possessed of the highest comic powers. Mr. Frank Gillmore was also very successful as Tom Fashion; his aping of the manners of his vain coxcomb of a brother was excellent, and in his own proper character he was easy and yet full of a rollicking, happy-go-lucky temperament, but one in which the sense of chivalry was not forgotten. Mr. Tom Thorne had caught the tone of the fop, whose only idea of greatness is to shine before the world of fashion, hold a levee of tradespeople whom he can bully, but whose excuses he will accept when they assure him that the garments are such as are worn by my lord this or the duke of that. Mr. Fred Thorne was good as the fox-hunting, hard-drinking country squire; Mr. Cyril Maude subtle as the valet Lory, and Mr. F. Grove did well as the sycophantic Rev. Mr. Quiverwit. I do not think that “Miss Tomboy” is the most cleverly written of Mr. Buchanan’s plays, but he was called for at the end of the piece, which will be seen at a series of matinée’s, and would have a great chance of success in the evening bill were the first act played closer and the third act strengthened—rather a difficult thing to do after the excellence of the second. ___
The Stage (9 May, 1890 - p.11) Miss Tomboy, Robert Buchanan’s three-act comedy, founded on Sir John Vanbrugh’s play, The Relapse, was placed in the evening bill of the Vaudeville on Tuesday. A full account of this comedy was given in THE STAGE after its initial production at a matinee on March 20. The third act still requires strengthening, as does the first in a lesser degree. It was impossible for Miss Winifred Emery to improve on her conception or execution of the part of Miss Fanny Hoyden, and she carries the piece along on the top of the wave. Mr. Tom Thorne is still very far from what Lord Foppington should be, but now imparts to it a greater air of distinction, and is more refined. The several representations that have taken place at matinées have improved Mr. Frank Gillmore’s Tom Fashion; he is not so restless, and his rollicking humour is more subdued and natural. He certainly had the audience with him throughout the evening. Mr. Cyril Maude must also be complimented on the little additional touches with which he still further brightens the poor part of Lory. The remainder of the company are the same as have all along been seen, and all are satisfactory. From the applause and laughter with which Miss Tomboy was received on Tuesday evening, the piece appeared to be thoroughly to the liking of the audience. The Principals were called and re-called, and there seems to be every prospect of a lengthened run. ___
The Graphic (13 September, 1890 - Issue 1085) Last week Mr. Thomas Thorne and his company received at the Hastings Gaiety Theatre, where they have been playing in a round of popular pieces from the VAUDEVILLE repertory, a noteworthy compliment. The piece on the occasion was Miss Tomboy, and among the audience present were forty of the lady cricketers engaged just then in playing a two days’ match there, who appeared in their cricketing costumes. ___
The Stage (19 September, 1890 - p.5) BRIGHTON—ROYAL (Managing Directress, Mrs. Nye Chart).—The Judge again attracted a fairly large matinee audience on Thursday week. Miss Tomboy, that admixture of Sheridan, and Robert Buchanan opened Mr. Thomas Thorne’s week on Monday. Mr. Thomas Thorne as My Lord Foppington affords considerable amusement. In the arduous rôle of Fanny Hoyden, Miss Ella Barrister acquits herself with great credit, playing the part with untiring energy and vivacity. Miss Mary Collette is an engaging little Dolly primrose, Mr. F. Thorne as Sir Tunbelly Clumsy, gives one of his well-known character sketches. Mr. Frank Gillmore as Tom Fashion, if not perfect, imparts much go to the character. His servant, Lory, received capital treatment in Mr. J. Wheatman’s hands. Mr. F. Grove, as The Rev. Mr. Quiverwit, makes a decided success. A capital delineation of Lavarole is that given by Mr. O. Yorke. Mrs. Sentry is cleverly played by Miss Sylvia Hodson; Sir George Matcham, finds a very capable representative in Mr. J. S. Blythe. The remaining parts are in good hands. ___
The Stage (28 May, 1891 - p.12) THE VAUDEVILLE. On Tuesday morning, May 26, was revived here Robert Buchanan’s three-act comedy Miss Tomboy, founded on Sir John Vanbrugh’s play The Relapse. Mr. Buchanan’s modernisation of a famous eighteenth-century drama was, it will be remembered, originally produced at a Vaudeville matinée on March 20, 1890, and was, after a while, placed in the evening bill on May 6, running thenceforward throughout the summer. Thinking, no doubt, that the drawing powers of Miss Tomboy are not exhausted, Mr. Thomas Thorne has conceived the idea of including this amusing piece among his present series of revivals, and the abundant mirth of the audience on Tuesday proved that the manager had not reckoned without his host. Mr. Thorne and his brother resume their old rôles, and several other parts are assigned to their former representatives, but the two very important characters of Tom Fashion and Fanny Hoyden are now played by Mr. H. B. Conway and Miss Ella Bannister, in lieu of Mr. Frank Gillmore and Miss Winifred Emery. Tom Fashion is a part after Mr. Conway’s own heart. Mr. Conway once more appears as a gay, dashing, irresistible stage lover, and plays with all his wonted spirit and entrain. He was not perfectly at home with his words on Tuesday, but his Tom Fashion was such as no Fanny Hoyden in the world could very long withstand; while his imitation of the appearance, gait, bearing, and mannerisms of the real Lord Foppington was so close as to give vraisemblance to the piece of imposture that is practised upon Sir Tunbelly Clumsy. “Comparisons are odorous,” they say, and, with the triumph of Miss Emery as Fanny still fresh in the memory, it would be unfair to place in too close juxtaposition her impersonation of Miss Tomboy and Miss Ella Bannister’s. Miss Bannister’s Fanny is a delightful example of pure comedy acting, brimming over with mirth and high spirits, full of la joie de vivre. She dances and skips about the hall of Brambletree House with kittenish agility, and the loose blue frock and flaxen hair are just suited to the character. We are not sure whether in her “coming-on disposition” Miss Bannister was not a trifle too much like a nineteenth century school miss, more especially when Miss Fanny blurts out “Yes, please,” to Tom, on his asking whether she wants to be married. However, this is but a small point. In the mad scene with Lord Foppington Fanny behaves just like an elf, as she is often called, and wears in her hair a couple of long, red feathers that inconveniently get into the peer’s face when he is disposed to be amorous. Mr. Thomas Thorne’s Lord Foppington remains much about what it was—an amusing but slightly heavy impersonation. His best scenes are the toilet episode in act one, and the close of the second act, where the unfortunate old beau is hauled off amidst a veritable pandemonium of howling rustics. Both this “curtain” and the Sir Roger de Coverley that brings the play to an end are stage-managed with skill. Mr. Fred Thorne repeats his performance of the drunken, gross, but nevertheless shrewd, country knight; Mr. Oswald Yorke again gives a clever bit of character acting as the French valet, Lavarole; and Mr. F. Grove makes a very great deal out of the part of the parson. Mr. Ramsey and Mr. Terric are capitally made up, and act well as Sir Tunbelly’s servants; Mr. J. Wheatman and Miss C. Owen are satisfactory enough as Sir George Matcham and Mrs. Sentry; Miss Annie Hill is a comely and attractive Polly Primrose, and the small part of Nancy is prettily played by Miss Hilda Hanbury. Mr. Lawrence D’Orsay succeeds Mr. Cyril Maude as Lory, Tom fashion’s ready-witted manservant, and on the whole gives a clever and well-studied impersonation, though he begins rather stiffly. The dresses and scenery are quite up to the mark. Miss Tomboy should certainly appear again upon the Vaudeville stage. ___
The Times (28 May, 1891 - p.14) Mr. Thorne revived on Tuesday at the Vaudeville Mr. Robert Buchanan’s adaptation of Vanburgh, known as Miss Tomboy. In the title character Miss Ella Bannister succeeds Miss Winifred Emery, and gives a spirited embodiment of the hoyden, though she is not, perhaps, quite so spontaneous in her frolics as might be desired. Mr. Conway is also new to the cast, appearing as Tam Fashion. _____
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