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Weatherwise (play)
Tim riley: a start
'''''Weatherwise''''' is a short comedy in two scenes by [[Noël Coward]]. It was written in 1923 and first produced at the [[Festival Theatre, Malvern]] in 1932.
The play portrays the turmoil caused by a mentally deranged aristocratic dowager who imagines she is a dog.
==Background==
The circumstances in which Coward wrote the play are unclear. He does not mention it in his autobiography ''Present Indicative''. In 1923 he had had two modest successes with ''I'll Leave It to You'' and ''[[The Young Idea]]'', but his first box-office triumph, ''[[The Vortex]]'', was yet to come.<ref>Hoare, pp. 85, 108, 135 and 149</ref>
The play was first performed by The Noël Coward Company at the [[Festival Theatre, Malvern]] 1932. The company was formed in 1932 as a touring ensemble, headed by [[Kate Cutler]] to present Coward's plays around Britain. ''Weatherwise'' was given as a [[companion piece|after-piece]] to ''[[Home Chat (play)|Home Chat]]''.<ref>Mander and Mitchenson, pp. 60 and 381</ref>
==Roles and original cast==
*Lady Warple – Marjorie Haywood
*Monica (her daughter) – Agatha Carroll
*Cynthia (''ib'') – Joyce Wodeman
*Violet (''ib'') – Marjorie Taylor
*The Rev Harold Bassett (Monica's husband) – Keith Shepherd
*Reggie Whistler – [[James Mason]]
*Maid – Janet Burnell
*Dr Twickenham (a psychoanalyst) – Farries Moss
==Synopsis==
Lady Warple and her daughters discuss [[spiritualism]] – her latest fad. She tells them of a sceptical woman who went to a séance and became possessed by a malignant spirit. Their cynical young friend Reggie suggest holding an impromptu séance, at the end of which Lady Warple is discovered in a trance. They revive her, and at first she seems normal, but any mention of the weather causes her to growl like a dog and rush about on all fours, before suddenly returning to norma. After a week of this, a psychoanalyst, Dr Twickenham, is summoned. He recommends that at a signal from him all the family should pretend to be dogs. They so, while Lady Warple watches calmly and goes on with her knitting. Twickenham declares her cured, but then makes a casual remark about the weather, at which Lady Warple springs at his throat and worries him to death.<ref>Mander and Mitchenson, p. 61</ref>
==Critical reception==
Coward's biographer [[Philip Hoare]] makes brief mention of ''Weatherwise'' noting it as a precursor to ''[[Blithe Spirit (play)|Blithe Spirit]]'' in showing the author's fascination with spiritualism.<ref>Hoare, p. 60</ref>
==References and sources==
===References===
===Sources===
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[[Category:1923 plays]]
[[Category:Plays by Noël Coward]]
March 26, 2020 at 11:57PM
