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ROBERT WILLIAMS BUCHANAN (1841-1901) |
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THEATRE REVIEWS 46. A Society Butterfly (1894)
A Society Butterfly The failure of A Society Butterfly led directly to Buchanan’s bankruptcy, the newspaper accounts of which are available in the Buchanan and the Law section. An account of the origins of the play and the reasons for its failure are included in Henry Murray’s memoir, A Stepson of Fortune.
The Stage (29 March, 1894 - p.11) On Saturday, April 7, also, the Opera Comique probably will be opened under the management of Mr. Robert Buchanan, who has secured the services of Mrs. Langtry for the new play written by himself with which he will open his season. ___
The Westminster Budget (30 March, 1894 - p.29) Yet another attempt, it seems, is to be made to bring back good fortune to the Opéra Comique Theatre, from which it has so long been estranged. It is said that Mr. Robert Buchanan proposes to produce a new play of his own at this theatre under his own management. The author-manager, though a rarer bird than the actor-manager, is not an absolute stranger. To instance only the most recent example, Mr. Henry A. Jones, it will be remembered, was not long ago his own manager at the Avenue Theatre. ___
The Penny Illustrated Paper (31 March, 1894 - p.198) |
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Mrs. Langtry, who is about to re-appear in a play by Mr. Robert Buchanan at the Opéra Comique in London, though she has passed that trying age of forty, is still a beautiful woman. Her father, the Rev. W. C. Le Breton, was the Dean of Jersey, and hence her nickname in later years, “the Jersey Lily.” She was born in 1853, and married in 1875, Mr. Langtry, a member of the diplomatic service, who is now a quiet country gentleman in the Midlands. Soon after her marriage, Mrs. Langtry became a prominent society woman. She was the first of “the professional beauties,” and all London swarmed with her photographs. In 1881 she decided to go on the stage, obtaining much advice and assistance from Mrs. Henry Labouchere, who, as Miss Henrietta Hodson, has been an actress of mark. Mrs. Langtry first appeared as Kate Hardcastle in “She Stoops to Conquer” at the Haymarket. She toured in America, and accumulated, it is said, a large fortune, partly invested in an American cattle ranche. Mrs. Langtry has been yachting in the Mediterranean, and been seen at the last Covent Garden Fancy Dress Ball. ___
The Stage (19 April, 1894 - p.11) It has not been definitely settled what the title of the new play by Robert Buchanan and H. Murray, to be produced at the Opera Comique, shall be. There is at present some idea of calling it A Society Butterfly, a title which should fairly well meet the requirements of the plot, as far as I know it. However, the theatre will be opened with this piece on or about Thursday, May 3, and in the cast you will find Mrs. Langtry, Miss Rose Leclercq, Miss Eva Williams, Mr. Fred Kerr, Mr. C. P. Little, Mr. Charles Stuart, Mr. C. Mowbray (stage-manager), and, possibly, Mr. W. Herbert. The piece is in five acts, and is an up-to-date comedy. Miss Leclercq will appear as a sporting Duchess, and Mrs. Langtry will be the Butterfly. In one act the Jersey Lily will be found clad as a Grecian goddess, taking part in private theatricals. Rehearsals have been started, and all appears to be shaping well. ___
The Westminster Budget (20 April, 1894 - p.26) There is no foundation for the report that Mrs. Langtry will appear at the Opera Comique in the new play by Mr. Robert Buchanan, which the dramatist will produce at that theatre under his own management. She will make her rentrée at the Royalty Theatre, which will reopen shortly under the management of Mr. Charles Hawtrey. Mrs. Langtry, who has not been seen on the stage for some time, has lately, we understand, refused a handsome offer from the management of the Empire Theatre, who wished to secure her services for their tableaux-vivants. Her next appearance will be in light comedy. ___
The Morning Post (23 April, 1894 - p.7) Messrs. Robert Buchanan’s and H. Murray’s new play, to be produced at the Opera Comique in about a fortnight, is to be called “A Society Butterfly.” It is a modern comedy in five acts, containing the part of a sporting duchess for Miss Rose Leclercq, Mrs. Langtry representing “a society butterfly,” and taking part in some tableaux vivants in the guise of a Grecian goddess. ___
The Echo (24 April, 1894 - p.1) Despite sundry rumours about a migration to the Princess’s, Mr. Robert Buchanan will abide by his original choice of a theatre and will open the Opera Comique in about three weeks’ time with the new Society comedy which he has written in collaboration with Mr. Henry Murray, brother of the better-known novelist, Mr. David Christie Murray. The title, though hardly finally fixed upon, will probably be A Society Butterfly. Experienced playgoers will probably be able to gather some notion of the drift of the story from the subtitles with which the authors have supplied each of the acts. They are “The Chrysalis,” “Wings Expanding,” “The Butterfly,” and “Folding Wings.” Mrs. Langtry will, of course, appear as the heroine, and the cast will also include Miss Rose Leclerq and Mr. William Herbert. ___
The Stage (3 May, 1894 - p.11) Next Thursday evening the Opera Comique will be opened with the production of Robert Buchanan and Henry Murray’s new four-act comedy of modern life, called A Society Butterfly. The cast will be as follows:—Mr. Charles Dudley, Mr. William Herbert; Dr. Coppee, Mr. Allan Beaumont; Captain Belton, Mr. F. Kerr; Lord Augustus Leith, Mr. Edward Rose; Major Craigeldie, Mr. Henry J. Carvill; Lord Ventnor, Mr. S. Jerram; Herr Max, Mr. Templeton; Bangle, Mr. Chas. R. Stuart; the Duchess of Newhaven, Miss Rose Leclercq; Lady Milwood, Miss Walsingham; Hon. Mrs. Stanley, Miss Lyddie Morand; Mrs. Courtlandt Parke, Miss E. B. Sheridan; Miss Staten, Miss Ethel Norton; Rose, Miss Eva Williams; Marsh, Miss Eva Vernon; Mrs. Dudley, Mrs. Langtry. At one portion of the play, as I have already told you, private theatricals will be indulged in. This scene the authors have termed an “Intermezzo.” The cast of characters in this will be:—Queen of Heaven, Miss Walsingham; Pallas (Goddess of Wisdom), Miss Lyddie Morand; Œnone, Miss Gladys Evisson; Paris, Mr. F. Kerr; Aphrodite (Goddess of Love), Mrs. Langtry. The first act of A Society Butterfly is supposed to take place in Mrs. Courtlandt Parke’s bungalow on the banks for the Thames, and is called “The Chysalis”; the second at Dudley’s House, Belgravia, is termed “Wings Expanding”; the third, in the Duchess of Newhaven’s drawing-room, bears the title “The Butterfly”; and the fourth, at Dudley’s House again, is known as “Folded Wings.” All these headings to the different acts will sufficiently indicate the progress and state of the principal lady character in the piece. Mr. William Sidney is looking after the stage management. Mr. John Phipps has been appointed secretary of the theatre, and the business-management is in the hands of Mr. Frederick Stanley. ___
The Times (11 May, 1894 - p.5) OPERA COMIQUE THEATRE. Mrs. Langtry made one of her occasional appearances as an actress, last night, at the Opera Comique in a play entitled A Society Butterfly, which appears to have been expressly written for her by Messrs. Robert Buchanan and Henry Murray. The motive of the play is simplicity itself. A young wife, who has been reading Dumas’ “Francillon,” is advised to pay out her husband for his attentions to another woman. Accordingly, she “goes the pace” in “smart society” under the protection of a horsey duchess, who at heart is anxious for her welfare. She is to be seen everywhere, takes part in private theatricals and tableaux vivants, and has her name compromisingly coupled with that of a raffish army officer, technically known as a “wrong ‘un.” Upon the husband, who for his part has been compromising himself with an American widow, these tactics have the desired effect, and the curtain is brought down upon a scene of conjugal reconciliation. the play went to pieces in the third act, where a variety entertainment is given in the form of a scene within a scene for the purpose of enabling Mrs. Langtry to appear in a pose plastique. Ominous murmurs of dissatisfaction were heard from the popular parts of the house, and as the fourth act was necessarily of a merely explanatory character, the same discontent was manifested at the fall of the curtain. Mrs. Langtry’s somewhat intermittent attention to the stage has not tended to her improvement as an actress; but en revanche her gowns and her diamonds are magnificent. The best acting in the piece is that of Miss Rose Leclercq as the Newmarket duchess with a copious vocabulary of racing slang: but Mr. F. Kerr, Mr. Edward Rose, and Mr. William Herbert furnish agreeable though conventional “Society” types, and there is, generally, an ample and well-attired personnel operating on a well-appointed stage. __________ Mlle. Jane May, who has won some reputation in London as an exponent of wordless play, presented a new pantomime last night at the Tivoli. The title of this, Mr. Galatea, is sufficiently explanatory. A statue comes to life, falls in love with a fellow-statue, and breaks it in his embrace, and is then condemned to remount his pedestal and be changed into stone again. The little story is prettily told in dumb show. Mlle. Jane May concludes her performance by giving realistic imitations of Mme. Sarah Bernhardt. ___
The Echo (11 May, 1894 - p.2) OPERA COMIQUE. Mr. Robert Buchanan and Mr. Henry Murray are both clever men, but they cannot be congratulated on the success of their joint attempt last night to write up to Mrs. Langtry’s new frocks. They would probably have done better to have fitted their client with a more biographical narrative. A Society Butterfly, their new play, is not novel in theme. Mrs. Dudley, a young wife, is the best of her sex, and loves her husband dearly, but she finds him flirting with another woman, and is unhappy. The Duchess comes and advises her to treat her husband as he treats her; to seek her own pleasure and leave him to his own devices. She acts on this old recipe for rekindling love by awakening jealousy, and throwing over the joys of domesticity plunges into the vortex of social follies, and becomes the reigning Society beauty of the season, flirting the while with an early flame, Captain Belton. In the course of her social frivolities she appears in a set of tableaux vivants, given at the Duchess’s house. About these living pictures expectation ran high. People came with their nerves steeled against being shocked; but their heroic resolution was not put to the test. “The Judgment of Paris,” “Lady Godiva,” and As You Like It, sound risky, but in the deed they were as decorous as a provincial bazaar side-show, and not much more interesting. Mrs. Dudley having decided to leave her husband, informs Captain Belton of the fact. The Captain is embarrassed. he is very fond of the lady, and quite willing to indulge in what the French call le partage, but throwing up his pleasant life in London and his commission in the Army, and bolting to an unknown land practically without money, are quite different matters. Mildly disgusted at discovering the pusillanimous nature of the man with whom she has been so intimately associated, poor Beauty decides to make it up with her husband; and a very tame scene of mutual forgiveness brings a play which is tedious to a degree to a welcome close. Mrs. Langtry wore four distinct dresses, to say nothing of tableaux vivants costumes, and three of them were of great splendour, the last, a gown of plain satin of the faintest imaginable yellow, being of such beauty as to partly compensate for the dreariness of what had gone before. Beauty, however, cannot garb itself in splendour in a hurry, and the waits between the four frocks which constituted the better part of the entertainment were trying to the patience of the gallery boy. It is not difficult to conjecture on what well-known lady of Society the part of the stable-talking Duchess played by Miss Rose Leclercq is based; but, listening to the Turfy phrases, not always correct, which characterise every utterance from her mouth, we could not help remembering how, with half the material and ten times the success, Mr. Pinero had painted her forerunner George Tid of Dandy Dick. There is little need to enter into detailed criticism of the acting, except to say that Mr. Edward Rose was humorous as a literary and aristocratic young booby with a taste for classic play-writing. The house was packed to its extreme limits with exceedingly smart men and women, but many a stall was vacant before the end came, and the authors, who resolved to appear to a call of their names, had [...] reason to rejoice in their temerity. ___
The Daily News (11 May, 1894) THE DRAMA. A SOCIETY BUTTERFLY. The new comedy of modern life, by Mr. Robert Buchanan and Mr. Henry Murray, in which Mrs. Langtry made her appearance for the first time this season at the Opera Comique last night, might fairly have been expected to enjoy more favour than it secured at the hands of a rather turbulent section of the audience; for it presented few ideas, and even very few incidents, which have not already proved their power—some, indeed, many times over—to entertain the public. There were reminiscences of “Frou-Frou,” of “Francillon,” of “Un Mari dans du Colon,” and at least half-a-dozen other popular pieces, not to speak of a “variety entertainment” supposed to be given at the house of a sporting duchess, or of that latest of revived fashions—an exhibition of living tableaux. With all these advantages, however, “A Society Butterfly” manifestly wearied the spectators, and as the curtain fell some rather determined expressions of dissatisfaction, mingling with less determined applause, gave rise to a somewhat unusual scene. There were, as is usual on such occasions, calls for the authors, which were obviously not of an entirely friendly kind. Nevertheless, Mr. Buchanan and his coadjutor made their appearance before the curtain, and the former, irritated apparently by the yells and booings which their presence provoked, deliberately put on his spectacles to survey the disturbers. Then, placing his fingers to his lips, and looking upward in the direction of the gallery, Mr. Buchanan went through the gesture which is known as “wafting a kiss,” whereupon he and his companion retired. The story of the new play, though it is extended over four acts, occupying three hours, sets forth nothing less simple than a matrimonial tiff, which ends in a renewal of love. Mrs. Dudley, a vicar’s decorous and pretty daughter, has discovered that her husband flirts with Mrs. Courtlandt Parke, a fascinating American widow, who has a villa on the banks of the Thames, and she has overheard him complain of her humdrum ways. Therefore Mrs. Dudley claims an equal right to go what is known as “the pace,” and forthwith the quiet lady of the first act blossoms into the society beauty, wears magnificent dresses, decorates herself with costly jewels, frequents the houses of noble dames of gay and easy manners, and flirts so desperately with a military officer that her husband’s worst suspicions are aroused. The scheme of the play, however, is too simple and obvious for the elaborate treatment. Mrs. Langtry’s dresses and diamonds were greatly admired, but her long speech on the thesis of equal liberty for the two sexes awakened little interest, and the pathos of her wounded pride and unrequited affection failed to touch a chord in the heart of the spectator. Mr. William Herbert was even less successful as the husband, though it must be confessed that it is not easy to see how more could be done with the part of this weak and hesitating person, whose frequent commands and warnings to his wilful wife are so ludicrously ineffective. Miss Leclercq, on the other hand, in the character of the Duchess, whose sporting metaphors are as profuse as Commodore Trunnion’s sea phrases, aroused hearty laughter. The new piece is brilliantly mounted, and the company, which includes Mr. F. Kerr, Mr. Allan Beaumont, Mr. Edward Rose, and other capable performers, is worthy of better employment for its talents than it found last night. ___
The Standard (11 May, 1894 - p.3) OPERA COMIQUE THEATRE. A Society Butterfly, by Messrs. Robert Buchanan and Henry Murray, announced as “a new and original comedy of modern life,” proves on inspection to be an old and sadly-worn comedy dealing essentially with the life of the stage, crudely constructed, feebly written, and ill-acted. The story is neither true to life nor effective for the boards. A sort of far-away attempt is made to argue the ethical contention that man and woman are subject to equal laws, that what is wrong in the one is wrong in the other; but, as no one has ever seriously denied this—off the stage—no good purposes is served by the argument, particularly as it is set forth in such very unconvincing fashion. The “society butterfly” is Mrs. Dudley. She had been the most devoted of wives until she found that her husband was bored with the oppressive atmosphere of domesticity with which she pervaded him, and that he was seeking relief and contrast by making violent love to Mrs. Courtlandt Parke, a rather vulgar woman, who lives on the banks of the Thames, and fitfully cultivates an American accent. The hitherto model Mrs. Dudley calls on this lady to expostulate, but she meets at the house an absolutely impossible Duchess, who advises her to retaliate on her husband by setting up love affairs of her own. All this, of course, is as old as fiction; and though age is no detriment to a powerful story, if treated with strength and some approach to originality of detail—for human nature remains what it always was, and certain complications which continually recur must always have their point and significance—A Society Butterfly is very far indeed from fulfilling any of the requirements of a modern drama. The most novel scenes in it, indeed, are those which are borrowed from Frou Frou. Incidentally, it may be remarked that the sporting metaphors and similes with which the Duchess of Newhaven so copiously interlards her conversation are such as could never, by any possibility, have been used by a woman who had—as the Duchess is understood to have—some acquaintance with racing affairs. Her expressions are, apparently, borrowed from the works of female novelists who have no knowledge of the subject they discuss; and it is not a little sad to find so capable an actress as Miss Rose Leclercq doomed to fill such a part as that here provided for her. If Dudley cared for his wife, he would not have paid such exceedingly compromising visits to Mrs. Courtlandt Parke; but, in truth, the theme as presented is so little worth argument that controversial comment would be unprofitable. To describe the attitude of an audience is not to criticise a play; but there are plays which do not call for criticism, which are merely direct appeals to audiences for thoughtless applause, and with regard to which, therefore, the reception is everything; and it must consequently be observed that as A Society Butterfly was evolved a tendency to derision was manifested. The earnestness and manly bearing of Mr. William Herbert as Dudley failed to make the character convincing. Mr. Kerr gave a very shadowy performance of a Captain in the Guards who endeavours to beguile Mrs. Dudley from the path of duty. Mrs. Langtry was the heroine. ___
Glasgow Herald (11 May, 1894) A CLUMSILY driven van yesterday very nearly caused a postponement of Mr Robt. Buchanan’s new play this evening. Mrs Langtry was being driven down St Martin’s Lane to the final rehearsal when the van “poled” her carriage. Mrs Langtry was thrown forward, and thus just escaped being struck by the pole. The actress was a little frightened, but otherwise escaped unhurt. The audience attracted this evening to the first performance of Messrs Buchanan and Murray’s long-expected new play, “The Society Butterfly,” must have been an agreeable experience to the Opera-Comique, and it, indeed, almost recalled a Lyceum first night. Society, in fact, was very strongly represented, as well as ordinary first-night goers, for Mrs. Langtry was now to play the chief part in a new society piece, so that the stalls were quite insufficient for the demand for places, and some of the best people were to be found in the dress circle. The story of “A Society Butterfly” is very English, and practically all the characters, some exaggeration apart, might almost have been drawn from the thoughtless “society” men and women of the period. Charles Dudley, the husband of the piece, is a very thoughtless personage, and his flirtations with Mrs Courtlandt Parke have became so very pronounced that the Duchess of Newhaven advised his wife to give him a Roland for an Oliver. She does so with a vengeance, and becomes a society butterfly. She flirts so outrageously with all the men that her husband resolves on a separation. This sort of thing will, however, by no means suit Mrs Dudley, and rather than be left in London she entreats a young exquisite, Captain Belton, to elope with her. This cool suggestion is refused, for the Captain is threatened by his aunt with a stoppage of the money for his tailor’s bills if there is any esclandre, so that eventually the good-natured duchess is enabled to bring about a reconciliation between husband and wife. One of the principal scenes of the piece is an evening party in the duchess’s drawing-room, where Mrs. Langtry first acts the part of Aphrodite in some private theatricals, and afterwards takes part in some society tableaux vivants, the stage being darkened, and Mrs. Langtry appearing as Lady Godiva, recalling the well-known picture. This scene was, however, not very well received by the audience. The play, nevertheless, was on the whole well acted, and it was magnificently mounted. Indeed the ladies’ costumes are likely to become a genuine nine days’ wonder. ___
The New York Times (11 May, 1894) Mrs. Langtry Has Aged. LONDON, May 10.—Mrs. Langtry reappeared on the stage this evening in Buchanan and Murray’s “A Society Butterfly,” at the Opera Comique. She had the leading part, and did satisfactory work, although the organized gallery claque treated her badly. She has aged rapidly since her last public appearance. She was fairly supported. ___
The Era (12 May, 1894 - Issue 2903) THE OPERA COMIQUE. Mr Charles Dudley ... ... Mr WILLIAM HERBERT CHARACTERS IN THE INTERMEZZO. Hera ... ... Miss WALSINGHAM “When the husband steadily goes wrong, what line shall the wife take?” Allow him to very nearly be assassinated, and then relent and save his life: that will cure him, says M. Dumas the Younger, in La Princesse Georges. Institute a domestic divorce de thoro—and keep it up, says M. Emile Augier, in Le Gendre de M. Poirier. The authors of A Society Butterfly, prescribe a rush into the giddy whirl of modern society. Stay out late at night, be interviewed in the ladies’ papers, and put your spouse in the position of “Mrs Somebody’s husband.” By taking a lover and putting him severely to the test you—the wife—will soon discover that, if one man is faithless, all are ignoble; and, as a pis aller, you will return to your lawful spouse. He, by that time, will have got tired of his Siren, and will long for his night’s rest; and your social success will also have titillated his vanity of proprietorship. Having each of you had your lesson, you will settle down cheerfully to a Darby and Joan existence. ___
The Era (12 May, 1894 - Issue 2903) THEATRICAL GOSSIP. ..... THERE were many rumours to the effect that Mrs Langtry was to typify in a series of tableaux the career of a butterfly—the cocoon, the chrysalis, and the radiant insect full blown—as the climax of the third act of Messrs Buchanan and Murray’s play; and it would, we understand, be unfair to put these rumours to the credit of the inventive scribes of the daily press. Almost at the last moment, it is said, the dramatists came to the conclusion that a more dramatic effect could be obtained by “living pictures” of the story of Godiva, and on the instant dispatches were sent to Paris for what one cannot strictly call the “necessary” costumes. But why was Mrs Langtry, after all, wrapped up in a blue blanket? ___
Birmingham Daily Post (12 May, 1894) LONDON CORRESPONDENCE. LONDON, Friday Night. ..... The new venture at the Opera Comique, in which Mrs. Langtry appeared for the first time last night as the heroine of “A Society Butterfly,” a comedy by Mr. Buchanan and Mr. Henry Murray, does not promise prolonged success. The piece is reminiscent of various others with which the playgoer is familiar, “Frou Frou,” “Dandy Dick,” and even “After Dark” being suggested, while pointed mention is made in it of Dumas’s “Françillon” as in some degree furnishing a motive for the action of certain of the characters. The story is that of a young and beautiful wife who, feeling wronged by her husband, acts upon the principle that two blacks may assist to make a white, and goes as near to wrongdoing—in the endeavour to make her husband jealous and thus win back his love!—as it is discreetly possible to do, and in this curious and dangerous attempt she succeeds. The audience did not appear to consider the plot either probable or well worked out, though it showed much appreciation of the dialogue; but its patience was especially taxed by some singularly ineffective tableaux vivants which had been much talked of in advance, but which led to nothing. The best piece of acting was that of Miss Rose Leclercq as an impossible duchess, whose sporting slang would have been insufferably tedious if it had not been so artistically presented; while Mr. F. Kerr as a Guardsman of dishonourable tendencies played with his accustomed ease and effect. ___
The Daily News (12 May, 1894 - Issue 15012) “A SOCIETY BUTTERFLY.” MR. ROBERT BUCHANAN’S PROTEST. The Press Association says: After the performance of Mr. Robert Buchanan and Mr. Henry Murray’s new play at the Opera Comique last night, the manager asked the audience not to leave their seats, as Mr. Buchanan wished to say a few words. Mr. Buchanan then came on the stage, and advancing to the footlights, said: ___
Reynolds’s Newspaper (13 May, 1894) DRAMA, MUSIC, AND ART. “A SOCIETY BUTTERFLY” AT THE Messrs. Buchanan and Murray’s new play deserved a better reception than it received at the Opera Comique on Thursday night. It was well staged, well acted, and most of the dialogue was crisp and up-to-date. Some modern doctrines as to women’s position were incidentally inculcated, but the finale was vice reproved and domestic happiness triumphant. Accordingly, the moral English audience should have been satisfied. Yet the disapproval given expression to by some was not altogether unjustifiable. Acts I. and II. were of the right length and to the point. Act III., while it contained the finest situation and best writing of the whole play, was entirely too long, and filled up with a lot of irrelevant matter. The second part of the amateur theatricals should be cut out altogether. When this is done, together with some other judicious pruning and polishing, the play will be tolerably good. Idalian Aphrodite beautiful while Captain Belton takes the role of Paris. Dudley, who deeply loves his wife, and who is driven to desperation by what he conceives to be her folly and heartlessness, is on the point of separating from her for ever, when a reconciliation is brought about by the Duchess and Dr. Coppée, an old friend of the Dudleys. ___
The Scotsman (14 May, 1894 - p.7) “A SOCIETY BUTTERFLY.”—After the performance of Mr Robert Buchanan and Mr Henry Murray’s new play at the Opera Comique on Friday night, the manager asked the audience not to leave their seats, as Mr Buchanan wished to say a few words. Mr BUCHANAN then came on the stage, and advancing to the footlights, made a speech violently attacking Mr Clement Scott for a criticism of “A Society Butterfly,” adding—“A cabal was there to insult and terrify a helpless woman. Throughout the play an attempt was made to twist every inherent reference into a personal imputation, and when the third act terminated weakly and feebly through a mishap, the cabal howled and hooted at the leading actress, who was in no way responsible for what had occurred.” After some further remarks, Mr Buchanan said, “You have now seen the play for yourselves, and we leave it for your good or your bad opinion.” Mr Buchanan quitted the stage amidst loud and sustained cheers. Mr HENRY MURRAY remained behind, and said—”Ladies and gentlemen, I have no word to say except that I cordially endorse every word Mr Buchanan has spoken.” Following on Mr Murray’s withdrawal from the stage there were loud calls for Mrs Langtry, who was received with much enthusiasm. Mr Clement Scott on Saturday, in an interview with a representative of the Westminster Gazette on the subject, said:—“Mr Buchanan has done it before, and I have no doubt he will do it again; but we have managed to remain good friends in spite of it all, and I daresay we shall continue to remain so. It pleases him and doesn’t hurt me. No, I don’t suppose I shall take any further notice of it unless my solicitors advise me otherwise, which is not very likely. Of course,” continued Mr Scott with a smile, “what Mr Buchanan says is preposterously untrue, but that is really one reason why it is not necessary to take serious notice of it. Talk of that sort carries with it its own refutation.” ___
Freeman’s Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser (Dublin) (14 May, 1894) Mr. Clement Scott has adopted a suaviter in modo attitude with reference to Mr. Buchanan’s attack on him from the stage of the Opera Comique on Friday night. Mr. Buchanan, in collaboration with Mr. Henry Murray, wrote “A Society Butterfly,” which Mrs. Langtry produced on Thursday last. The piece was far from being the best written by Mr. Buchanan, and was for personal and other reasons especially unsuitable for Mrs. Langtry. In common with other critics, Mr. Scott criticised it adversely, but evidently in a manner which the authors considered biassed and unfair. Accordingly, after the curtain fell at the Opera Comique on Friday night Mr. Buchanan came to the footlights, and, referring to Mr. Scott’s criticism, charged him with personal malice, and characterised him as “an egotistical and spiteful writer.” Interviewed on the incident subsequently, Mr. Scott did not appear much perturbed at the onslaught levelled at him. It please Mr. Buchanan, he said, and did not hurt him, and accordingly he probably would not take any further notice of it. He, however, controverted all Mr. Buchanan’s references and innuendoes, though he persisted in describing the play as an utterly unworthy production. At the conclusion of the interview he characteristically remarked, “Don’t be hard on him. Whatever you make me say, put it as nicely as you can.” Mr. Scott’s criticism may or may not have exceeded legitimate bounds, but even if it had, Mr. Buchanan might have selected another arena for his attack, and might also have restricted it to more moderate terms. The public would appear to favour Mr. Scott’s action, as on appearing at the Adelphi Theatre on Saturday he was loudly cheered from all parts of the house. Nevertheless, it is well known that before Mr. Buchanan reached his present position as a dramatist, he was the object of bitter and even occasionally malignant attacks from a certain coterie mainly composed of dramatic critics. ___
The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post (15 May, 1894) A SOCIETY BUTTERFLY. The new play written by Mr Robert Buchanan and Mr Henry Murray for Mrs Langtry was produced on Thursday at the Opera Comique, and on the following evening Mr Buchanan came in front of the curtain and made a savage onslaught on Mr Clement Scott because of a notice which had appeared in the “Daily Telegraph.” If the distinguished critic were as tyrannical and unjust as those who disagree with his judgments upon their efforts think, they could not devise a better method of adding to his power than this sort of demonstration. It so happens that a member of the BRISTOL MERCURY staff, ever on the lookout for a new experience, joined the crowd at the doors of the Opera Comique and found a place in the front row of the pit circle, next to a box in which Mrs Bernard Beere was seated. The following is his description of the performance:—The curtain rose on a very pretty scene, the gardens of Mrs Courtlandt Parke’s bungalow on the banks of the Thames. This lady (Miss E. R. Sheridan) is a somewhat dubious American widow and is carrying on a flirtation with Charles Dudley (Mr W. Herbert), a stockbroker, whom she knows to be married. Mrs Dudley (Mrs Langtry) has discovered her husband’s defection, and overhears him telling his new flame that he is weary of the unalloyed domesticity of his married life. In the second act we find her in her own drawing-room, a full-fledged society beauty, with her photograph everywhere, and about to play Aphrodite, in a costume which it is said has come home in a glove box, for a play on the Judgment of Paris. Her husband is furious with jealousy, although she quotes “Francillon” freely enough for him to see her motive. The third act passes in the Duchess of Newhaven’s drawing-room, where a stage has been set, and where the classic drama before mentioned is performed. This is followed by a music hall entertainment, at which little tables are placed between the seats and the guests pay for their own refreshments, while two gorgeous flunkeys put up the numbers each side of the proscenium as in a real hall. The Adelphi guests, after some crude satire upon Ibsenism, discuss some surprise that Mrs Dudley has in store, and at last the curtain is drawn up, revealing Mrs Langtry as Godiva on her way to take her famous ride through Coventry, and just carrying in front of her a blue saddle cloth, apparently for her horse. This was vigorously hissed by the audience, and in my judgment very properly so. The last act is again in Mrs Dudley’s house, the evening after this party. She has not returned, and he puts the worst construction on the fact, although she has only remained with the Duchess. He announces his intention of leaving her and going abroad, whereupon she says she will quit the house when he does and will accept no allowance, her contention being throughout the piece that the woman is entitled to the same liberty as the man. She appeals to Captain Belton (Mr F. Kerr), an odd creature who would attract no woman’s heart, to prove his protestations of love and fly with her to the isles of the Pacific. He, of course, is afraid of what people would say, and will have nothing to do with it. We have seen from the first act that husband and wife would kiss and make it up, but it is surely conventional and antiquated, as well as unjust, for the wife to be made to ask forgiveness. ___
From The Theatrical ‘World’ of 1894 by William Archer (London: Walter Scott, Ltd., 1895 - p. 147-150) “A SOCIETY BUTTERFLY.” There is a charming eclecticism about A Society Butterfly* the “New and Original Comedy of Modern Life,” by Messrs Robert Buchanan and Henry Murray, produced last week at the Opera Comique. It somehow suggested a revue in which all the plays, not only of the season, but of the age, were stirred up together in a monster medley. The authors avowed, in a certain sense, their obligations to Francillon, while broadly hinting that they meant to write the play Dumas ought to have written. They did not mention their annexation of the rehearsal scene from Frou-frou, holding, no doubt, that the thing was too obvious to call for remark. So it was, of course. When one quotes “The quality of mercy is not strained,” or “The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,” one does not feel bound to add (Shakespeare) or (Gray) on pain of an accusation of plagiarism. The only wonder was that the characters concerned—Captain Belton and Mrs Dudley—did not seem to remember that they had seen all this before, at the theatre. Mrs Dudley’s tirade on marriage occurs in substance in Francillon, but in form it rather suggested Cyprienne’s great outburst in Divorçons. The sporting Duchess is evidently introduced out of compliment to Mr Pinero; but the authors do not seem quite to have realised that the humour of “George Tidd” in Dandy Dick lies in the contrast between her stable slang and the severely ecclesiastical atmosphere of the Deanery. Here there is no such contrast, and to make up for its absence the authors have mixed their slang into a much thicker and coarser “mash,” as her Grace would say. Except, perhaps, “Yes” and “No,” she utters not a word that does not reek of the loose-box. She is really more akin to the “Shiver-my-timbers” Jack Tars of forgotten nautical melodramas than to any character of rational farce. Her “Home for Decayed Jockeys,” by the way, was anticipated by Mr Spencer-Jermyn in The Hobby Horse. The play, then, is practically Francillon writ tedious, eked out with reminiscences from a host of other plays, and spiced with an abundance of satirical allusions in Mr Buchanan’s well-known style. As it is one of my most cherished principles that the true artist should, or rather must, write primarily to please himself, I am bound to approve Mr Buchanan’s satire, which evidently delights him—and him alone. When an author crams his works with satirical “hits” which very few understand and no one cares about, it is impossible not to admire his devotion to his ideal. For example, how many persons understood what Mr Buchanan was driving at in the chatter about Mrs Harkaway’s Last Divorce? And how many of those who recognised the sneer at The Second Mrs Tanqueray were in the smallest degree entertained or gratified by it? There was a good deal of weird talk, too, about an alcoholic German masterpiece, from which I conjecture that Mr Buchanan has been reading Gerhart Hauptmann’s Vor Sonnenaufgang. I too happened to have read the play; but it is a hundred to one that not another soul in the audience had the slightest idea what “Herr Max” was talking about. Mr Buchanan and I, then, had the joke all to ourselves, and of course we relished it hugely; but the rest of the audience must have wondered what we were chuckling at, and felt rather “out of it.” And perhaps, after all, it was not Vor Sonnenaufgang that Mr Buchanan was aiming at; in which case he succeeded in keeping the drift of his satire entirely to himself, and realised to the full the great principle of “Art for the Artist.” The audience, irritated by long waits, was inclined to resent these cryptic allusions, and the gallery audibly expressed its disappointment in a play in which everything is “taken off”—except Lady Godiva’s mantle. Simply as an emotional comedy, and apart from its satiric pretensions, the play is neither better nor worse than a good many that one sees, and might have passed muster fairly enough. Mrs Langtry wore several gorgeous and one or two really beautiful dresses, but her powers of dramatic expression seemed to have grown a little rusty in retirement. Miss Rose Leclercq was exceedingly good as the Duchess of Tattersall’s; Mr F. Kerr played a difficult part with discreet humour; and Mr W. Herbert, Mr Allan Beaumont, and Mr Edward Rose all made the most of their opportunities. __________ * May 10—June 22. On the second night, Mr Robert Buchanan, seconded by his collaborator, read from the stage Mr Clement Scott’s Daily Telegraph notice of the play, and made a vehement retort. ___
The Stage (17 May, 1894 - p.12) THE OPERA COMIQUE. On Thursday evening, May 10, 1894, was produced a new and original four-act comedy of modern life, written by Robert Buchanan and Henry Murray, entitled:— A Society Butterfly. Mr. Charles Dudley ... ... Mr. William Herbert Characters in the Intermezzo. Hera ... ... Miss Walsingham It was evident on Thursday evening that A Society Butterfly would not have been received as it was had it been better prepared. It required further rehearsal, and the long waits between some of the acts were ill-passed, in consequence of the orchestra also requiring more attention to its music. The subject of a man being attracted away from his wife by a fascinating woman, and afterwards, in consequence of a game at diamond cut diamond, being restored to his lawful spouse, is not new, but it has possibilities, of which the dramatists have not taken full advantage. A Society Butterfly appears as if it had been written with the intention of providing a special part for Mrs. Langtry. But herein it suffers, for Mrs. Langtry has not, it must be confessed, improved as an actress. The first act of A Society Butterfly takes place at Mrs. Courtlandt Parke’s bungalow on the banks of the Thames. Mr. Charles Dudley has become fascinated with the hostess, and his wife, having become informed of his behaviour, determines to pay him back in his own coin. She therefore places herself in the hands of Captain Belton, and the act is concluded with her leaving the scene under that gentleman’s escort, much to the chagrin of her husband. In the second act, which is located in Dudley’s house in Belgravia, Mrs. Dudley has, under advice, determined upon her line of conduct. She is now a woman of fashion—interviewed by society papers, photographed, and much sought after. Dudley has given her to understand that his indifference has arisen in consequence of her domesticity, so she has made up her mind that he shall have no further cause for complaint in that quarter. Accordingly she throws house duties to the winds, and goes helter-skelter into the vortex of society. A play is to be presented by amateurs, and Mrs. Dudley and Captain Belton rehearse a love scene in it with, so far as the gentleman is concerned, unusual warmth. This scene is reminiscent of a similar scene in Frou-Frou, but on Thursday it gave opportunity for Mrs. Langtry and Mr. Frederick Kerr to be at their best. It was naturally and effectively played. The husband overhears a portion of the dialogue, and, finding his wife’s affection slipping from him, endeavours to bring her again to his side, but without success. In the next act a variety entertainment is supposed to be given in the drawing-room of the Duchess of Newhaven. A stage is fitted and, after the manner of variety theatres, the numbers of each turn are exhibited at either side of its proscenium, where they are placed by two liveried attendants. The drawing-room itself is filled with guests, who are permitted to enjoy themselves in a somewhat free and easy manner, so as to simulate as much as is possible the habits of variety theatre habitués. In the entertainment given are imitations of Mr. Beerbohm Tree and Mr. Arthur Roberts, and several tableaux, among the latter being a scene from As You Like It, and one said to be descriptive of Lady Godiva. The unfortunate husband, Dudley, is by this time almost wild with jealousy, and a climax to his matrimonial arrangements is a necessity. In the last act, in Dudley’s house, the climax is arrived at. The Duchess of Newhaven, finding that her son (Captain Belton) is not carrying on a mere flirtation, but is endeavouring to persuade Mrs. Dudley to place her future in his hands, very sensibly brings the young gentleman to his knees. This is a cleverly-worked-out scene, and had the remainder of the play been equal to it, an undoubted success would have followed. The Duchess pretends to persuade her son, if he is so inclined, to run away with Mrs. Dudley to some distant country, where he could live without drawing upon her (the Duchess’s) purse. This brings Belton to his senses, or rather proves what a selfish prig he is, for he has never dreamed of his allowance being stopped, and very speedily he comes to the conclusion that the game he is carrying on is not worth the candle. When, therefore, he finds that Mrs. Dudley, disgusted with herself and the world, is ready to trust her body and soul to him, he draws back. If she will accept him as a lover in her husband’s house, well and good; but as to going abroad with him, when by such an act he will cease to receive his mother’s money, that is not to be thought of. There is some good in Mrs. Dudley after all, and when the selfish nature of the man is thus exhibited to her, she sees the trap into which she has nearly fallen, and like a sensible woman turns to her husband. Thanks to the good-angel services rendered by Dr. Coppée, Mrs. Dudley is reconciled to her loving husband, whose flirtation with Mrs. Courtlandt Parke, serious as it at first appeared, is proved to be of little account. Mutual confessions follow, and on the reunion of husband and wife the curtain falls. ___
The Stage (17 May, 1894 - p.11) CHIT CHAT The petty quarrel between Messrs. Robert Buchanan and Henry Murray on the one hand, and Mr. Clement Scott on the other, relative to a criticism of A Society Butterfly which appeared in the Daily Telegraph, needs but little comment here. It will probably find its way into the Law Courts, where the parties concerned will fight the matter out. A Society Butterfly was produced last Thursday night at the Opera Comique, and feeling hurt at the D. T. criticism on the following morning, the authors addressed the audience in the theatre at night anent their grievance. Mr. Buchanan, in his speech, said he did not object to fair and legitimate criticism, but he did object to inaccurate statements, of which he accused Mr. Scott of having issued. Mr. Murray backed him on the same subject, and, according to report their joint remarks were greeted with cheers by the house. Mr. Buchanan’s remarks were on Saturday published almost verbatim in the Morning, and on Saturday evening an interview with Mr. Scott appeared in the Westminster Gazette. This interview seems to have further incensed the dramatists, and in consequence they have kept matters pretty warm since. I fancy from what I hear that Mr. Scott, weary of these accustomed charges and disputes, is disposed to let them pass, but that the proprietary of the Daily Telegraph, taking a more urgent view, are likely to push matters to a legal issue with all concerned. ___
The Penny Illustrated Paper (19 May, 1894 - p.10) Notwithstanding the censure with which the new comedy of “A Society Butterfly,” at the Opéra Comique, has been dismissed by the Press, rousing the emphatically expressed indignation of the authors, Mr. Robert Buchanan and Mr. Henry Murray, (the former of whom assailed Mr. Clement Scott in unmeasured and injudicious and uncalled-for terms for his criticism in the Daily Telegraph), I yet hold that the play might with slight amendment be transformed into a biting and perhaps popular satire of London Society of the present day. As presented on the first night, “A Society Butterfly” was a weak piece, manifestly of insufficient interest to grip the audience. Mrs. Langtry, arrayed in a series of charming frocks or classic robes, formed the centre of attraction. She was a Mrs. Dudley, who, jealous of an American lady with whom her husband flirts, resolves to pay him back in his own coin, and “carries on” to such an extent with a free-and-easy Captain Belton at some Society tableaux vivants, even venturing to rehearse with him in private, garbed as Aphrodite, that Mr. Dudley becomes furious, and gives up his flirtatious habits in double quick time. Finding Captain Belton disinclined to elope with her, Mrs. Dudley returns to her husband’s arms, and so ends the play. Compared with the beautiful “living pictures” at the Palace and Empire Variety Theatres, the tableaux vivants in “A Society Butterfly” were tame. But the costly and exquisite costumes of Mrs. Langtry excited the admiration of fair spectators. As the racy Duchess of Newhaven, Miss Rose Leclercq, with her Turf slang, and in her jaunty Newmarket coat, won chief acting honours; and as the rivals for Mrs. Dudley’s affections Mr. William Herbert and Mr. F. Kerr performed their parts well; while Mr. Edward Rose supplied the humour of the piece; and Miss E. Brinsley Sheridan made a brilliant Mrs. Courtlandt Parke. Mr. E. G. Banks painted a very beautiful riverside scene for the first act; and a P.I.P. Artist sketched the principal scene in “A Society Butterfly,” which has occasioned so lively a controversy. Mr. Clement Scott, through his warm laudation of the theatre and all its works—or a great proportion of them—has contributed so much to the popularity of playgoing that dramatists who fall foul of the Drama's best journalistic friend must assuredly be woefully misled by temporary aberration. So cordially was Mr. Clement Scott sympathised with that the enthusiasts of the Playgoers’ Club gave him quite an ovation at the Adelphi last Saturday night. ___
The Graphic (19 May, 1894 - Issue 1277) “A Society Butterfly” MR. ROBERT BUCHANAN once stated in a witness-box that he had executed an order for a new play for Mrs. Langtry which was to be planned and constructed with a special view to the display of a series of beautiful costumes which that popular lady had just then imported from Paris. Unhappily, at that time, the friendship between actress and playwright was temporarily clouded by a misunderstanding which had finally brought them into direct antagonism in a court of law. Since then, however, the public has observed with pleasure that amicable relations have been restored between them as indicated by the circumstance that Mr. Buchanan in association with Mr. Henry Murray, has once more been called upon to provide Mrs. Langtry with a new comedy of modern life to which he has given the promising title of A Society Butterfly, and which was produced last week at the OPERA COMIQUE. The comedy, however, proved to be unsuited to the palates of a first night audience. It has some scenes, which, as they have pleased before, might fairly be expected to please again. The private rehearsal scene from Frou-Frou, for example, with the lady who declines to be kissed till it is pointed out to her that the kiss is “in the part;” but the general effect of the story of how Mrs. Dudley brought a flirting husband to book by giving him apparent reason for jealousy, and cured the same gentleman of his contempt for a quiet domesticated wife by blossoming forth as a society beauty and “going the pace,” as folk say, was simply to weary the spectators. The matrimonial tiff and reconciliation are altogether too trivial and obvious for the elaborate treatment they have received. Even Mrs. Langtry’s appearance as Aphrodite on the stage in the drawing-room of her friend, the sporting Duchess of Newhaven, proved less gratifying to the spectators’ sense of the picturesque and beautiful than was anticipated, while her splendid series of dresses, though much admired by connoisseurs, failed to afford adequate compensation for the lack of interest. ___
The Era (19 May, 1894 - Issue 2904) MR. BUCHANAN AND MR. SCOTT. We were astonished to learn that on the night after the production of A Society Butterfly at the Opera Comique Theatre, Mr Robert Buchanan, at the end of the play, came forward, and made the following extraordinary speech:— ___
Black and White (19 May, 1894) MR. BUCHANAN’S EPILOGUE. MR. ROBERT BUCHANAN is not great at offering the cheek to the smiter, and he has never shown that gentle resignation in times of trouble for which some philosophers are famed. He has, in fact, been frankly rude several times in the course of his literary career, and fallen foul of individuals and classes in a way that had brought him worse trouble than printed words on a page in any age but that of the practical and policeman-guarded present. His appearance at the fall of the curtain on the second night of A Society Butterfly may fairly be said to cap all his previous performances. We know Mr. Buchanan must fight—“it is his nature to”—but let him at least fight fair. This attacking of absent men is unheroic as the method of bravo or Thug. He said things in print of Mr. Besant not long since, when that gentleman was on the other side of the Atlantic; now he makes oral statement concerning another individual when that poor soul is quite out of earshot. In future let Mr. Buchanan have a chat with the critics over the footlights on a first night of any piece in which he is interested. That would be fair and above-board. It would also draw money. ___
Freeman’s Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser (Dublin) (19 May, 1894) The forthcoming action for libel brought by Mr. Clement Scott, the well-known dramatic critic of the Daily Telegraph and of Truth, against Mr. George [sic] Buchanan, the playwright, will be a cause celebre in its way. Mr. Clement Scott said some hard things of Mr. Buchanan’s new play at the Opera Comique, in which Mrs Langtry is now appearing, and Mr. George Buchanan retorted after his manner by saying some still harder things of Mr. Clement Scott in a speech on the stage after the second presentation of the play. Mr. Buchanan has been the hero of many literary quarrels, and he has an old feud against the critics. He alleges that they are almost one and all prejudiced against him, whether his pen is employed for dramatic purposes or fiction. In proof of this he relates that when he published a book anonymously it was received with a chorus of approval in the same quarters where he had previously met with nothing but derision. Mr. Clement Scott is the doyen of London dramatic critics, and his pungent but always commonsense criticisms have brought him more than once into controversy with playwrights. It appears that in the present case the proprietor of the Daily Telegraph, in which paper the criticism appeared, has undertaken the proceedings on Mr. Clement Scott’s behalf. ___
The Omaha Sunday Bee (27 May, 1894 - p.1) The wordy warfare between Clement Scott and Robert Buchanan, resulting from the former’s notice of “A Society Butterfly” in the Daily Telegraph, has resulted in cross libel suits. This cause celebre will possibly have a stimulating effect upon business. Mr. Scott proposed in the first instance to convene a meeting of the leading dramatic critics, place the matter before them and act on their decision, but before this was carried out he finally decided to appeal to the law. ___
The Theatre (1 June, 1894) “A SOCIETY BUTTERFLY.” A comedy of modern life, in four acts, by ROBERT BUCHANAN and HENRY MURRAY. |
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Aphrodite ... ... ... Mrs. Langtry. It is the mission of a butterfly to flutter, and this one of Mr. Buchanan’s and Mr. Henry Murray’s making has already fulfilled its mission, and fluttered to good purpose. The ferocious onslaught, on the second night, by Mr. Buchanan upon Mr. Clement Scott, for his alleged contemptuous dismissal of the play, in the Daily Telegraph review, must attract attention of a kind, and very possibly the “Butterfly” will enjoy a sunny if ephemeral existence. But this fact, if fact it should prove, will not remove their comedy from the category of inept and feeble plays. Bad plays, however, have been redeemed ere now by an exceptional attraction; and, had the authors been wise with the wisdom of the serpent, they might have played their chief card, Mrs. Langtry, as a winning trump. As it was, they wasted her. ___
Liverpool Mercury (9 June, 1894 - Issue 14488) Mr. Robert Buchanan again. Mr. Clement Scott—the dramatic critic whom he attacked from the stage of the theatre in which Mr. Buchanan’s joint play of “A Society Butterfly” is being performed—having failed to bring him before the law courts for libel, Mr. Buchanan has served the editor of the Weekly Newspaper with a writ for libel in consequence of a criticism of the play and because of some comments on Mr. Buchanan’s attack on Mr. Clement Scott which appeared in the journal. The public will not, therefore, be deprived of its little bit of theatrical scandal after all, and if Mr. Scott does not appear as a principal he may enter the box as a witness. ___
Aberdeen Weekly Journal (12 June, 1894 - Issue 12282) The “Artist” is informed that Mr Robert Buchanan has served Mr C. K. Shorter, editor of the “Sketch,” with a writ for libel, said to be contained in a criticism of “A Society Butterfly,” in which Mr Buchanan’s action in answering his critics was commented upon. ___
The Era (16 June, 1894 - Issue 2908) THE editor and proprietors of the Sketch have been served with notice of an action for libel, at the suit of Mr Robert Buchanan, who takes exception to certain statements made in a paragraph in the Sketch with regard to his play A Society Butterfly. The defendants apparently mean fighting, and one of the most interesting “theatrical actions” of the year may be expected. ________________________ MRS LANGTRY did not appear as usual at the Opera Comique Theatre on Thursday, to undertake her part in A Society Butterfly, and her rôle had to be given to Miss Ethel Herbert, who won universal praise by her spirited and picturesque rendering of Mrs. Dudley. Miss Herbert looked exceedingly handsome, and was repeatedly applauded. ___
The Theatre (1 July, 1894) [From ‘Stage Dresses of the Month.’ by Mrs. Armstrong.] Mrs. Langtry’s dresses are always looked for somewhat in the light of a revelation, and the fact that they all come from Paris gives them an extra claim to attention. A title like “A Society Butterfly” allows of great scope in the direction of costume, and the Jersey Lily has great opportunities in the present instance of exercising her undoubted taste. The first dress is simple in style, as is only right, considering that the heroine is supposed to be only in the chrysalis stage. The dress is in white bengaline with a high bodice and plain skirt, almost its only ornament being a red, white, and blue plaid sash, arranged in a new and original fashion. None of the sash shows in front, it is laid straight across the waist at the back, terminating in a long bow at one side and a long end at the other. There is a plaid vest to the bodice, prettily veiled in white chiffon. The costume is completed by one of the green straw hats which have quite become the rage since the commencement of the play, trimmed with green tulle, and with a “brush” of black osprey rising from a bright red rose at either side of the brim. The second dress is very curious, and has “Paris” written all over it as plainly as though it had been printed. It is a sleeveless coat in pale blue and silver brocade, worn over a bodice and petticoat of white accordion-pleated chiffon, tucked round the edge; a sash of light yellow silk with long ends tied in front, making a charming contrast to the back of the gown. The Aphrodite dress appeared to be rather a disappointment to the masculine portion of the audience, and I doubt if it could have gone into the very small box in which it is supposed to be carried across the stage. It is simply a mass of beautiful drapery in salmon-pink crèpe de chine, the peplum edged with gold sequins, with an oblong ornament in mother-o’-pearl hanging at every point. The Godiva dress was even more astonishing on the first night than the Aphrodite. The curtain of the mimic stage went up, and Mrs. Langtry was seen with a blue drapery round her head, desperately clutching at the folds of a dark red drapery which enveloped her literally from head to foot. The explanation is said to be that a very different style of dress had been intended, but her courage failed her at the last moment, and she hastily caught up a rug from the floor and wound it round her. However unpremeditated the Godiva dress may have been, there was no impromptu element about the beautiful ball-gown which appertains to act iii. The dress is in pale pink silk, the colour of a rosebud; the skirt veiled with one deep flounce of silver-spangled tulle. A long trail of immense pink roses appears on the left side, reaching from the top of the flounce to the hem. The sleeves are of silver gauze, resembling butterflies’ wings. Add to this a diamond tiara like a crown, a necklace of brilliants, and a grey and pink shaded feather fan, and the brilliant effect can be imagined. Finally, we are treated to a practical demonstration of the effect of beauty unadorned, the simple white satin dress of the last act being unrelieved by flower or jewel, the low bodice being draped in front and finished off at the back with a “collar-berthe” of beautiful old lace. ___
The Omaha Daily Bee (1 July, 1894 - p.4) With Libel Suits, Bankruptcy Proceedings (Copyrighted, 1894, by the Associated Press.) LONDON, June 30.— ..... ROBERT BUCHANAN’S TROUBLES. It would be a graceful act on the part of the anti-gambling league to grant Mr. Robert Buchanan, in his present perilous state, a substantial annuity for having so thoroughly exemplified their contentions. His bankruptcy to the tune of some £57,000 was mainly the result of turf transactions. He caught the gambling fever, it appears, at the time he was writing a melodrama in collaboration with George R. Sims, and after heavy losses became more and more deeply involved. In a short time Mr. Buchanan will be revelling in the law courts. Besides this cross action with Clement Scott and the libel action he is bringing against the “Sketch” on account of a criticism of “A Society Butterfly,” it is said that he intends to institute proceedings against Mrs. Langtry for breach of contract. The season at the Opera Comique has in fact been most eventful from the outset. Some unpleasantness was caused at the very beginning by Mrs. Langtry’s failure to perform a certain dance which she considered unsuitable for her. Matters have now reached a climax and Mrs. Langtry is no longer in the cast. The reason of her withdrawal is said to be that she received a check which differed from Caesar’s wife in its essential property. She recently went to the management informing them that if this were not remedied by 4 o’clock on the following day she would not appear at the theater. The protest was disregarded and she fulfilled her threat. Before the play commenced the manager came before the curtain and announced without further explanation that he had just heard from Mrs. Langtry; that she declined to fulfill her engagement. ___
The Omaha Daily Bee (29 July, 1894 - p.4) It will be long before Robert Buchanan forgets his recent season at the Opera Comique and the production of “A Society Butterfly.” When the crash came at that theater the artists were offered half salaries and most of them accepted these terms. A certain American actress, however, declined to take anything but full salary, which has not been paid up to the present. She has written to Robert Buchanan, giving him clearly to understand that unless the sum owing to her is immediately forthcoming she will take the law and some more summary method of chastisement into her own hands, and that the result will be on his head. The actress’ temperament is such that this cannot be regarded as a mere idle threat. _____
Next: Lady Gladys (1894)
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