PLAY FOR A QUEEN ABOUT A QUEEN

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 52, 21 June 1940, Page 34

PLAY FOR A QUEEN ABOUT A QUEEN

Bolitho’s "Victoria and Disraeli"

RAMA lovers throughout the country will have their sets tuned to 2YA at 9.15 p.m. on Sunday, June 23, when " Victoria and Disraeli,’ one of the most interesting and ambitious of NBS productions, will come on the air. The play is by the New Zealander, Hector Bolitho. For its presentation, players were brought from literally the

ends of the Dominion. To play the difficult part of Queen Victoria, May MacDonald (see picture) came from Napier. The part of Disraeli is played by Professor Shelley. From Auckland came Alan McSkimming, well known for his work in repertory and radio there, to play the blunt, faithful John Brown, Her Majesty’s servant. Marion Black and Cyril Collins came from Christchurch to play the parts of Lady-in-Waiting to the Queen and Sir Henry Ponsonby, Victoria’s secretary. Lord Tennyson is taken by Bernard O'Sullivan, of Auckland, and Alan Dunlop came from the other end of the country to act as commentator. Montague Corry, Disraeli’s secretary and friend, is played by W. Austin, of Wellington, who is now in the New Zealand Air Force. Why Bolitho Wrote It Hector Bolitho is best known for his biographies of Royalty and near-Royalty. His prelude to adventures with the great

was when in 1920, he stowed away on the Royal train bearing the Duke of Windsor, then Prince of Wales, on a trip through New Zealand. Bolitho started as a cadet reporter in Auckland and was later a shipping reporter on a paper there — a bad one. he himself admits, because one day he would have a ship safe in Waitemata Harbour and the next day somewhere in the China Seas. There were two reasons why Bolitho wrote " Victoria and Disraeli." He ‘wrote it for an actress and a queen. The actress (his Queen of the Stage), was Marie Tempest. He tells the story of his " heroine-worship" for her in his book "Older People." " ..In 1918 I was in training camp in New Zealand . . . we shivered, and stumbled over the flat, stony ground, sustained by the pale promise that adventure and honour lay waiting for us beyond. . .. The leafless trees were bent

by the winds that come, fierce and icy from the Antarctic. There was no beauty in the gaunt, cold valley. The preparation for death seemed more melancholy than. death itself. "One evening we packed ourselves into a train and escaped from the encampment for twenty-four hours. .. . We came to Wellington, with its narrow streets and tall buildings, standing shoulder to shoulder, and with its few theatres. Upon the face of one of them the name Marie Tempest appeared. We had time to bath and change before we walked into the stalls, our self respect regained through hot water, a dinner jacket, and good food. There were lights and warmth and we were already grateful. The play was ‘Good Gracious Annabel,’ and I recall the first sight of Miss Tempest. I suppose that I fell in love with her then." He Ordered Sole From then on, Bolitho had two ambitions; to write Marie Tempest’s life story and to write a play for her to appear in. Back in civilian life, after the Armistice, he laid many a wreath at the altar of Miss Tempest, through newspaper columns and articles. Then, at last, he arrived in England and went to lunch with his Queen of the Stage. Carnation in buttonhole, dressed impeccably, he yet felt extremely nervous, a:1--ordered sole. "I thought that with the nervous state of my hands, sole was safe. ... Two secure and frank friendships began on that day. .. ." True to his dream, Bolitho wrote Marie Tempest’s life story, and the play "Victoria and Disraeli," in the BBC production of which, in 1938, Marie Tempest played the Queen. Victoria As She Really Was Besides the calf-love for Marie Tempest that matured to a devotion that matured to firm friendship, Bolitho had another reason for writing his play. Two stupid legends, he claims, have survived regarding Queen Victoria; her relationships with John Brown, her Scottish servant, and Lord Beaconsfield (Disraeli), Her relationship with these two men was full of simplicity, but \ those who like their history with a bite have tinged it with malice. The radio play takes the form of a series of episodes from the last years of Victoria’s life. They are based on historical events, and much of the dialogue is taken from contemporary letters and journals.