Rookery Nook (play)
The play depicts the complications that ensue when a young woman, dressed in pyjamas, seeks refuge from her bullying stepfather at a country house in the middle of the night.For the first few productions, the company included Robertson Hare, as a figure of put-upon respectability; Mary Brough in eccentric old lady roles; Ethel Coleridge as the severe voice of authority, Winifred Shotter as the sprightly young female lead; and the saturnine Gordon James.Unknown to the men, Mrs Leverett and Gertrude Twine also arrive; they see Rhoda coming out of Gerald's bedroom and are in haste to tell Clara about it.Clive and Gerald bully Harold into going to fetch some clothes for Rhoda so that she can leave the house and escape to London to stay with friends.She confronts Gerald, whose answer is to throw open the bedroom door, trusting that Clara will see that Rhoda is an innocent damsel in distress.[9] In 2005, Charles Spencer wrote in The Daily Telegraph, "Beneath the laughter, Rookery Nook is blessed with a robust tolerance, celebrating sexual desire and human frailty, even as it deplores those gossips addicted to 'vile scandals, venomous libels, and dirty little tattling tea parties'.[12] A musical version, titled Popkiss, was staged at the Globe Theatre in 1972, with Daniel Massey and John Standing in the Lynn and Walls roles.The first was in 1947, with Shotter in her original stage role as Rhoda, with Jack Melford as Clive, Desmond Walter-Ellis as Gerald and Eleanor Summerfield as Poppy Dickey.[19] Brian Rix as Gerald headed the cast in a Whitehall production screened in 1965, with Moray Watson as Clive, Joan Sanderson as Mrs Leverett, Sheila Mercier as Gertrude Twine, Larry Noble as Harold Twine, Isla Blair as Rhoda, Leo Franklyn as Admiral Juddy and Jean Marsh as Poppy Dickey.[21] A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation was broadcast in 1985, with Ian Lavender and Brett Usher as Gerald and Clive, John Grillo as Harold and Jenny Funnell as Poppy.
Tom WallsRobertson HareRalph LynnBen TraversAldwych TheatreAldwych farcesfilmed version of the playmusicalLeslie HensonMary BroughEthel ColeridgeWinifred ShotterGordon JamesIt Pays to AdvertiseA Cuckoo in the NestStella BonheurSomersetThe TimesThe ObserverMichael BillingtonThe Daily TelegraphCowardHay FeverGlobe TheatreDaniel MasseyJohn StandingJohn AddisonDavid HenekerHer Majesty's TheatreNicky HensonTerence FrisbyShaftesbury TheatreTom CourtenayIan OgilvyMenier Chocolate Factorya film versionGramophone CompanyBritish & Dominions Film CorporationJack MelfordDesmond Walter-EllisEleanor Summerfield1953 productionPeter CushingBeryl BainbridgeBrian RixWhitehallMoray WatsonJoan SandersonSheila MercierLarry NobleIsla BlairLeo FranklynJean Marshproduction in 1970Richard BriersArthur LoweElizabeth KnightIrene HandlMary MillarBBC Radio 4Ian LavenderBrett UsherJohn GrilloJenny FunnellLloyd LambleShirley Ann RichardsPerth GazettePlunderA Cup of KindnessA Night Like ThisMarry the GirlTurkey TimeDirty WorkFifty-FiftyA Bit of a Test