Tuesday, April 4, 2017
The Cassilis Engagement by St. John Hankin
Directed by Lynne McGrath
In a 1907 comedy of British upper-crust manners combining the wit of Oscar Wilde and the social satire of Bernard Shaw, an aristocratic widow's only son is bent on making a marital misalliance. His beloved is admittedly working class, albeit with a finishing school education, and in due course the young woman and her uneducated, ambitious mother are invited to the family estate. The visit has unpredictable and highly entertaining results. St. John Hankin did not like conventional endings, so instead begins the play's action where most such works end, with the couple's engagement. Ah, but where does it go from there?
Setting: Deynham Abbey, Leicestershire, England.
Cast of Characters:
Mrs. Cassilis | An aristocratic widow |
The Countess of Remenham |
Lady Marchmont | Mrs. Cassilis' sister |
Geoffrey Cassilis | Mrs. Cassilis' son |
Ethel Borridge | Geoffrey's fiance |
Mrs. Borridge | Ethel's mother |
Lady Mabel Venning | the Countess' daughter |
Mr. Herries | the Rector |
Mrs. Herries | the Rector's wife |
Major Warrington | the Countess's brother |
Watson | Butler at Deynham |
Dorset | Mrs. Cassilis' maid |
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