Our Boys - Wikipedia Our Boys From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search This article is about Our Boys, the 1875 play. For other uses, see Our Boys (disambiguation). Scene from Our Boys Cover of script, c. 1880 Our Boys is a comedy in three acts written by Henry James Byron, first performed in London on 16 January 1875 at the Vaudeville Theatre. Until it was surpassed by the run of Charley's Aunt in the 1890s, it was the world's longest-running play, up to that time, with 1,362 performances until April 1879.[1] Theatre owner David James (1839–93) was Perkyn in the production. The production also toured extensively.[2] The play contains the famous line, "Life’s too short for chess."[3] The piece played in New York in 1875, at the New Fifth Avenue Theatre,[4] and in 1907 at the Lyric Theatre.[5] It also played in Philadelphia.[6] Arthur Williams appeared in a 1914 London revival of the piece. Contents 1 Roles 2 Synopsis 3 Notes 4 References 5 External links Roles[edit] Sir Geoffrey Champneys (a county magnate) – William Farren Jr. Talbot Champneys (his son, a washed-out youth) – Thomas Thorne Perkyn Middlewick (a retired butterman) – David James Charles Middlewick (his aristocratic-looking son) – Charles Warner Poddles (Middlewick's butler) – W. Lestocq Kempster (Sir Geoffrey's servant) – Mr. Howard Violet Melrose (an heiress) – Kate Bishop Mary Melrose (her poor cousin) – Amy Roselle Clarissa Champneys (Sir Geoffrey's sister, an elderly spinster) – Sophie Larkin Belinda (a lodging-house slave) – Cicely Richards Synopsis[edit] Sir Geoffrey Champneys is very proud of his son, Talbot, an uninspired and weak youth. Mr. Middlewick, a retired butterman, also thinks highly of his son, Charles, an enthusiastic and lively young fellow. They are delighted to welcome their 'boys' home after a three-years' sojourn on the Continent. The Baronet — proud and poor — has determined that his son should marry Violet Melrose, an heiress; but that young lady and Charles Middlewick have already met at Vienna and decided differently (although she was, at first, unhappy with his lowly station). Meanwhile, Talbot is in love with her poor cousin, the free-and-easy Mary. Old Middlewick has taken a great dislike to Violet, whom he considers 'stuck-up,' and he desires his son to wed Mary. Needless to say, Sir Geoffrey is also displeased, and the fathers disown their sons. The latter retire in disgrace to a miserable London rooming house, where they try to earn an independence by writing. The fathers, after a few months, become so profoundly miserable without their boys that they follow them and find out from Belinda, the 'slavey,' that the sons are at the point of starving. Miss Champneys also arrives with a chicken and other delicacies, and Violet and Mary come to discover if their lovers are still faithful. After a few more misunderstandings, the boys are forgiven and taken back into favour. Miss Champneys has designs on the butterman's hand and heart. Sir Geoffrey gives a speech of understanding. Notes[edit] ^ Booth, Michael R. Review of plays by H. J. Byron including Our Boys in The Modern Language Review, Vol. 82, No. 3, pp. 716-17 (July 1987; Modern Humanities Research Association) ^ Pascoe, Charles Eyre. Our actors and actresses. The dramatic list, pp. 47, 61, 78, 133, 209, 244, 285, 289, and 371 ^ Image of page from the script with the quote ^ IBDB listing for the 1875 Broadway production ^ IBDB listing for the 1907 Broadway production ^ Philadelphia production mentioned References[edit] James, M. E. What shall we act? (1882), pp. 80-81 External links[edit] List of longest-running plays in London Davis, Jim (ed.) Plays by H.J. Byron: The Babes in the Wood; the Lancashire Lass; Our Boys; the Gaiety Gulliver (Cambridge, 1984). Information about a lawsuit over the rights to produce the play in New York Information about productions at the Vaudeville Theatre[dead link] Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Our_Boys&oldid=970149054" Categories: English plays 1875 plays Hidden categories: All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from July 2020 Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version Languages Add links This page was last edited on 29 July 2020, at 15:12 (UTC). 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