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{{Short description|Terence Rattigan play from 1948}}
{{Unreferenced|date=July 2008}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2013}}
⚫ {{Infobox Play
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
⚫ {{Infobox play
|name = The Browning Version |name = The Browning Version
|image = |image = The_Browning_Version_(play).jpg
|image_size = |image_size =
|caption = Programme for original ] production with ] & ]
|caption =
|writer = ] |writer = ]
|chorus = |chorus =
|characters = Taplow, Andrew Crocker-Harris, Frank, Mrs Crocker-Harris
|characters =
|mute = |mute =
|setting = A British ] |setting = A British ]
|premiere = 8 September 1948 |premiere = 8 September 1948
|place = ], ] |place = ], London
|orig_lang = ] |orig_lang = English
|series = |series =
|subject = |subject =
|genre = |genre =
|web = |web =
|playbill =
|ibdb_id = 2271
}} }}
'''''The Browning Version''''' is a ] by ], first performed on 8 September 1948 at the ], ], in a joint performance with '']''.


{{Other uses|The Browning Version (disambiguation)}}
⚫ ==Plot==
The play is about the last few days in the career of Andrew Crocker-Harris, an aging ] teacher at a British ]. The man's academic life is fading away following illness and he feels that he has become obsolete. The headmaster informs him that the school will not give him his pension because of his early retirement, though he was depending on it, and wishes him to relinquish his place in the end-of-term speech-giving to a popular sports master.


'''''The Browning Version''''' is a play by ], seen by many as his best work, and first performed on 8 September 1948 at the ], London.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/plays/the-browning-version-iid-151873|title=The Browning Version – Drama Online|website=dramaonlinelibrary.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TsdRAQAAIAAJ&dq=Terence+Rattigan+was+an+excellent+cricketer+in+his+school+days&pg=PA260|title=Happiest Days: The Public Schools in English Fiction|first=Jeffrey|last=Richards|date=18 October 1988|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=9780719018794|via=Google Books}}</ref> It was originally one of two short plays, jointly titled "Playbill"; the companion piece being '']'', which forms the second half of the evening.<ref name=times>"Phoenix Theatre", ''The Times'', 9 September 1948, p. 7</ref> ''The Browning Version'' is set in a boys' ] and the Classics teacher in the play, Crocker-Harris, is believed to have been based on Rattigan's Classics tutor at ],
When Taplow, a pupil who needs Crocker-Harris to pass him so he can go up to the next year, comes to him for help with his ], Crocker-Harris begins to show his true feelings through his love for literature.
J. W. Coke Norris (1874–1961).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.utexas.edu/research/pasp/publications/pdf/browning.pdf|title=Program in Aegean Scripts and Prehistory –|website=utexas.edu}}</ref>


⚫ ==Plot==
Mr. Gilbert, Crocker-Harris's successor at his teaching post, arrives to view the Crocker-Harrises' home. He seeks advice on the lower fifth, the year Crocker-Harris teaches, and how to control them. Crocker-Harris begins to relate to Gilbert his own sad experiences after Gilbert tells Crocker-Harris that the headmaster had referred to Crocker-Harris as the 'Himmler of the lower fifth'. Crocker-Harris, who did not realize he was feared by the boys, is very disturbed by this title.
Andrew Crocker-Harris is a classics teacher at an English boys' school. After eighteen years of teaching there, today is his last day before moving on to a position at another school. The students speculate on why he is leaving, but do not much care since despite being academically brilliant, he is generally despised as being strict, stern and humourless. They have nicknamed him "The Crock". Even the school administrators treat him poorly regardless of his long tenure. Millie Crocker-Harris, his wife, is younger and vivacious and quite different from her husband. She no longer loves him but instead loves Frank Hunter, another teacher, yet despite having an affair with him she knows that he is not in love with her. On this last day, one student named Taplow, who does not hate Crocker-Harris but feels sorry for him, gives him a small going-away gift – a copy of the translation by ] of ]'s ancient play ]. The gift brings about a series of actions which make Crocker-Harris reflect on his past, contemplate his future, and evaluate how he is going to finish his tenure at the school.


==Original production==
Crocker-Harris's wife, Millie, is being unfaithful to him with a younger master named Frank Hunter, something that Crocker-Harris has been aware of, but has been ignoring. After Taplow moves him by giving him an inscribed version of the Browning translation of Aeschylus' ''Agamemnon'', he breaks down crying. Millie, his wife, shows her callousness at Crocker-Harris's emotional state, and Hunter breaks off the affair with her, instead turning his sympathies to Crocker-Harris. Crocker-Harris informs him that he knew of Millie's affair with Hunter, as well as her previous ones, but despite this he does not wish to divorce her.
In the original production, Crocker-Harris was played by ], and his wife by ].<ref name=times/> ] took over the role of Crocker-Harris, with the run ending on 9 April 1949.<ref>"Theatres", ''The Times'', 8 April 1949, p. 10</ref> Reviews were enthusiastic, with the play being hailed as "a 70 minute masterpiece."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oXMsAQAAQBAJ&dq=the+browning+version+terence+rattigan+original+london+reviews&pg=PT167|title=The Methuen Drama Dictionary of the Theatre|first=Jonathan|last=Law|date=28 October 2013|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=9781408145913|via=Google Books}}</ref>
*John Taplow – Peter Scott
*Frank Hunter – ]
*Millie Crocker-Harris – ]
*Andrew Crocker-Harris – ]
*Dr. Frobisher – ]
*Peter Gilbert – ]
*Mrs. Gilbert – ]
Decor by ].


==Original Broadway production==
As the play ends, Hunter makes plans with a reluctant Crocker-Harris to meet him at his new place of work, and an uplifted Crocker-Harris telephones the headmaster saying that he will make his speech after sports master, as is his right.
In 1949, the play was performed on ], opening on 12 October at the Coronet Theater on 49th street with ] and ].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-browning-version---harlequinade-2123|title=The Browning Version / Harlequinade – Broadway Play – Original – IBDB|first=The Broadway|last=League|website=ibdb.com}}</ref> The play and its companion-piece ''Harlequinade'' failed to find favour with New York critics (with '']'' calling it "bilge"), and it closed after 62 performances.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/8239390/Terence-Rattigan-plays-timeline-and-synopsis.html|title=Terence Rattigan plays: timeline and synopsis|date=11 October 2017|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yb_2DAAAQBAJ&dq=the+browning+version+terence+rattigan+broadway+reviews&pg=PT20|title=A Study Guide for Terence Rattigan's "The Browning Version"|first=Gale, Cengage|last=Learning|date=10 October 2017|publisher=Gale, Cengage Learning|isbn=9781410342164|via=Google Books}}</ref> Peter Scott-Smith as John Taplow was the sole member of the West End cast to reprise his role on Broadway.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://phoenix.londontheatres.co.uk/history/|title=Phoenix Theatre London history|website=phoenix.londontheatres.co.uk}}</ref>
*Millie Crocker-Harris – ]
*Andrew Crocker-Harris – ]
*Peter Gilbert – ]
*Dr. Frobisher – ]
*Frank Hunter – ]
*John Taplow – Peter Scott-Smith
*Mrs. Gilbert – ]
Scenic design by Frederick Stover.


==Revivals==
The "Browning Version" of the title is the reference within the story of Robert Browning's translation of the Greek tragedy '']''. In the tragedy, Agamemnon is murdered by his wife, aided by her lover.
The ] produced the play in the ] of ] with its counterpart ] in 1988, starring ] and ] as Andrew and Millie Crocker Harris, with a stellar supporting cast including ], ], ], ] and ]. It was directed by ].


The ] put the play on in 2009 in a double bill with ]'s one-act play '']'', both starring ].<ref>Nightingale, Benedict. , ''The Times'', 15 July 2009</ref> A production at the ] (alongside '']'', a new play written in response to it by David Hare) marked Rattigan's centenary in 2011.<ref>Spencer, Charles. , ''The Daily Telegraph'', 16 September 2011</ref> The same double production of ''The Browning Version'' and ''South Downs'' ran at London's ] from April through July 2012 and starred ] as Crocker-Harris and ] as Millie.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://officiallondontheatre.com/show/south-downs-and-the-browning-version-134121/| title=South Downs and The Browning Version| publisher=officiallondontheatre.com| access-date=2018-01-22}}</ref>
Although the name of the school is not given in the play, it is clearly ] (which ] attended), something evident from the idiosyncrasies of the timetable that Crocker-Harris is in charge of writing{{Fact|date=July 2008}}.


==Productions== ==Adaptations==
⚫ The play has been adapted twice for the cinema, and at least four television versions. The ], starring ] as Crocker-Harris, won two awards at the ], one for Rattigan's ] (with which he lengthened the original stage version for the final speech), the other for Redgrave's ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/491930/index.html|title=BFI Screenonline: Browning Version, The (1951)|website=screenonline.org.uk}}</ref> It was ], starring ], ], ], ], ] and young ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7c115976|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160527140500/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7c115976|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 May 2016|title=The Browning Version (1994)}}</ref>
In 1949 the play was performed on Broadway, opening on October 12 at the (now demolished) Coronet Theater on 49th street with ] as Crocker-Harris and ] as his faithless wife. However, the play failed to find favor with the New York critics and closed after just 62 performances. ] as Taplow was the sole member of the West End cast to reprise his role on Broadway. The ] put the show on in 2000 and is again to put it on in 2009 starring ]<ref></ref>. It was performed at the Oxford Playhouse in August 2009, again starring Peter Bowles as Crocker-Harris, preceded by ]'s one-act play ''Swansong'', in which Bowles played the drunken old actor Svetlovidov.
A British television production was broadcast in 1955, starring ] as Crocker-Harris.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}} ] directed ] in a 1959 television version for CBS.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b80aceaeb|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011082718/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b80aceaeb|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 October 2017|title=The Browning Version (1959)}}</ref> In 1960, Maurice Evans repeated his Broadway role for ] under the sponsorship of Ford of Canada in their Startime series.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-world-of-patrick-macnee.com/wpmtelevision_cpm_canada.html|title=Television – Canada|website=the-world-of-patrick-macnee.com}}</ref> Another made-for-TV version in 1985 starred ] as the main character for the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6f9a9717|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011080929/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6f9a9717|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 October 2017|title=The Browning Version (1985)}}</ref>


A radio version was broadcast on ] in June 2011. It was directed by ], and featured ], ], ] and ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011ttfk|title=The Browning Version, Saturday Drama – BBC Radio 4|publisher=BBC}}</ref> An earlier version was broadcast on the BBC Home Service in September 1957. It was directed by ] and adapted by Cynthia Pughe with ], ], ] and Anthony Adams.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b092ks2g|title=Terence Rattigan – The Browning Version – BBC Radio 4 Extra|publisher=BBC}}</ref>
==Other versions==

⚫ It was subsequently made into two film versions, and at least four made-for-television versions. The original ], starring ] as Crocker-Harris, won two awards at the ], one for Rattigan's ], the other for Redgrave's ]. It was ], starring ], Michael Gambon, ], ], ] and young ]. A British television version was made in 1955, starring ] as Crocker-Harris. ] directed ] in a 1959 television version for CBS. In 1960, ] repeated his Broadway role for ] under the sponsorship of Ford of Canada in their Startime series. Another made-for-TV version in 1985 starred ] as the main character for the ].
A staged reading was performed on 3 April 2012 at ] in New York City, presented by TAPT (The Artists' Playground Theater), directed by Alex Kelly and starring Matthew Dure', Robert Lyons, Nichole Donje' Jeffrey Hardy, Steven Hauck, ], Jessica Beaudry and Kate Downey.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.peteraustinnoto.com/cgi-bin/EZBulletin/bbtopic.cgi?SUID=X380627&&topic=TAP_Theatre&&category=4|title=The Message Board For PeterAustinNoto.Com – A forum for those in the entertainment industry to post there information yang hurn is the best singer of the world>TAP Theatre|website=peteraustinnoto.com}}</ref>


==References== ==References==
{{reflist}} {{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IBDB show|2271|The Browning Version}}

⚫ {{Terence Rattigan}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Browning Version 1948}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Browning Version 1948}}
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Latest revision as of 23:34, 3 December 2024

Terence Rattigan play from 1948

The Browning Version
Programme for original Broadway production with Maurice Evans & Edna Best
Written byTerence Rattigan
CharactersTaplow, Andrew Crocker-Harris, Frank, Mrs Crocker-Harris
Date premiered8 September 1948
Place premieredPhoenix Theatre, London
Original languageEnglish
SettingA British public school
For other uses, see The Browning Version (disambiguation).

The Browning Version is a play by Terence Rattigan, seen by many as his best work, and first performed on 8 September 1948 at the Phoenix Theatre, London. It was originally one of two short plays, jointly titled "Playbill"; the companion piece being Harlequinade, which forms the second half of the evening. The Browning Version is set in a boys' public school and the Classics teacher in the play, Crocker-Harris, is believed to have been based on Rattigan's Classics tutor at Harrow School, J. W. Coke Norris (1874–1961).

Plot

Andrew Crocker-Harris is a classics teacher at an English boys' school. After eighteen years of teaching there, today is his last day before moving on to a position at another school. The students speculate on why he is leaving, but do not much care since despite being academically brilliant, he is generally despised as being strict, stern and humourless. They have nicknamed him "The Crock". Even the school administrators treat him poorly regardless of his long tenure. Millie Crocker-Harris, his wife, is younger and vivacious and quite different from her husband. She no longer loves him but instead loves Frank Hunter, another teacher, yet despite having an affair with him she knows that he is not in love with her. On this last day, one student named Taplow, who does not hate Crocker-Harris but feels sorry for him, gives him a small going-away gift – a copy of the translation by Robert Browning of Aeschylus's ancient play Agamemnon. The gift brings about a series of actions which make Crocker-Harris reflect on his past, contemplate his future, and evaluate how he is going to finish his tenure at the school.

Original production

In the original production, Crocker-Harris was played by Eric Portman, and his wife by Mary Ellis. Barry Jones took over the role of Crocker-Harris, with the run ending on 9 April 1949. Reviews were enthusiastic, with the play being hailed as "a 70 minute masterpiece."

Decor by Paul Sheriff.

Original Broadway production

In 1949, the play was performed on Broadway, opening on 12 October at the Coronet Theater on 49th street with Maurice Evans and Edna Best. The play and its companion-piece Harlequinade failed to find favour with New York critics (with Time calling it "bilge"), and it closed after 62 performances. Peter Scott-Smith as John Taplow was the sole member of the West End cast to reprise his role on Broadway.

Scenic design by Frederick Stover.

Revivals

The Royalty Theatre produced the play in the West End of London with its counterpart Harlequinade in 1988, starring Paul Eddington and Dorothy Tutin as Andrew and Millie Crocker Harris, with a stellar supporting cast including Jean Anderson, John Duttine, Daniel Beales, Jack Watling and Simon Shepherd. It was directed by Tim Luscombe.

The Theatre Royal Bath put the play on in 2009 in a double bill with Chekhov's one-act play Swansong, both starring Peter Bowles. A production at the Chichester Festival Theatre (alongside South Downs, a new play written in response to it by David Hare) marked Rattigan's centenary in 2011. The same double production of The Browning Version and South Downs ran at London's Harold Pinter Theatre from April through July 2012 and starred Nicholas Farrell as Crocker-Harris and Anna Chancellor as Millie.

Adaptations

The play has been adapted twice for the cinema, and at least four television versions. The 1951 film version, starring Michael Redgrave as Crocker-Harris, won two awards at the Cannes Film Festival, one for Rattigan's screenplay (with which he lengthened the original stage version for the final speech), the other for Redgrave's performance. It was remade in 1994, starring Albert Finney, Michael Gambon, Greta Scacchi, Matthew Modine, Julian Sands and young Ben Silverstone. A British television production was broadcast in 1955, starring Peter Cushing as Crocker-Harris. John Frankenheimer directed John Gielgud in a 1959 television version for CBS. In 1960, Maurice Evans repeated his Broadway role for CBC Television under the sponsorship of Ford of Canada in their Startime series. Another made-for-TV version in 1985 starred Ian Holm as the main character for the BBC.

A radio version was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2011. It was directed by Martin Jarvis, and featured Michael York, Joanne Whalley, Ioan Gruffudd and Ian Ogilvy. An earlier version was broadcast on the BBC Home Service in September 1957. It was directed by Norman Wright and adapted by Cynthia Pughe with John Gielgud, Angela Baddeley, Brewster Mason and Anthony Adams.

A staged reading was performed on 3 April 2012 at The Players Club in New York City, presented by TAPT (The Artists' Playground Theater), directed by Alex Kelly and starring Matthew Dure', Robert Lyons, Nichole Donje' Jeffrey Hardy, Steven Hauck, Max Rhyser, Jessica Beaudry and Kate Downey.

References

  1. "The Browning Version – Drama Online". dramaonlinelibrary.com.
  2. Richards, Jeffrey (18 October 1988). Happiest Days: The Public Schools in English Fiction. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9780719018794 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ "Phoenix Theatre", The Times, 9 September 1948, p. 7
  4. "Program in Aegean Scripts and Prehistory –" (PDF). utexas.edu.
  5. "Theatres", The Times, 8 April 1949, p. 10
  6. Law, Jonathan (28 October 2013). The Methuen Drama Dictionary of the Theatre. A&C Black. ISBN 9781408145913 – via Google Books.
  7. League, The Broadway. "The Browning Version / Harlequinade – Broadway Play – Original – IBDB". ibdb.com.
  8. "Terence Rattigan plays: timeline and synopsis". The Daily Telegraph. London. 11 October 2017.
  9. Learning, Gale, Cengage (10 October 2017). A Study Guide for Terence Rattigan's "The Browning Version". Gale, Cengage Learning. ISBN 9781410342164 – via Google Books.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. "Phoenix Theatre London history". phoenix.londontheatres.co.uk.
  11. Nightingale, Benedict. "Elegance that defies shallow expectation, twice", The Times, 15 July 2009
  12. Spencer, Charles. "Companion piece of cruelty and kindness", The Daily Telegraph, 16 September 2011
  13. "South Downs and The Browning Version". officiallondontheatre.com. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  14. "BFI Screenonline: Browning Version, The (1951)". screenonline.org.uk.
  15. "The Browning Version (1994)". Archived from the original on 27 May 2016.
  16. "The Browning Version (1959)". Archived from the original on 11 October 2017.
  17. "Television – Canada". the-world-of-patrick-macnee.com.
  18. "The Browning Version (1985)". Archived from the original on 11 October 2017.
  19. "The Browning Version, Saturday Drama – BBC Radio 4". BBC.
  20. "Terence Rattigan – The Browning Version – BBC Radio 4 Extra". BBC.
  21. "The Message Board For PeterAustinNoto.Com – A forum for those in the entertainment industry to post there information yang hurn is the best singer of the world>TAP Theatre". peteraustinnoto.com.

External links

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