Phyllis Relph - Postcard, 1912
Title
Phyllis Relph - Postcard, 1912
Date
4 March 1912
Description
Promotional postcard of Phyllis Relph, appearing in 1912 touring production of Fanny's First Play by Bernard Shaw.
What's the story?
Phyllis Relph appeared in Fanny’s First Play by Bernard Shaw at the Theatre Royal from 4 to 9 March 1912.
The production was directed by Harley Granville Barker and also starred Barker’s wife Lillah McCarthy.
A satire of theatre criticism, Fanny’s First Play premiered in London in April 1911 as an anonymous piece, however critics soon recognised it as a work by Shaw. This is also possible due to the fact that the play was directed by Granville Barker, a long-time Shaw collaborator.
Fanny’s First Play opened on Broadway in 1912, as well as having a UK tour in the same year.
A noted actor in her time, during the 1919 Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Phyllis Relph played the major roles of Portia, Imogen in Cymbeline, Ophelia and Viola during the few weeks of the festival that year.
This postcard forms part of a large scrapbook collection donated to the Theatre Royal archive by Diane Meadwell from Sandiacre. Her great grandfather was Bernard Hill, the former landlord of The Sun Inn on Parliament Street and who later became the Stage Door Keeper at the Theatre Royal. Bernard’s daughter Edith also worked at the Theatre Royal as an usherette.
Whilst in his stage door job, Bernard collected a large number of postcards of the numerous artists who performed at the venue, many of which he got them to autograph, as well as writing the date and if necessary the show on the reverse, making the future archivist’s job that little bit easier. We have then been able to cross-reference this information with the list of Theatre Royal shows being compiled by volunteer researcher Lynn Whitley.
This postcard is unusual in the collection in that Bernard was clearly unable to obtain Relph’s signed card during her week-long run at the Theatre Royal. Instead the card is mailed directly to him at Stage Door the following week.
We are grateful to Diane for sharing her family memories with us and for donating such a valuable resource to the archive.
The production was directed by Harley Granville Barker and also starred Barker’s wife Lillah McCarthy.
A satire of theatre criticism, Fanny’s First Play premiered in London in April 1911 as an anonymous piece, however critics soon recognised it as a work by Shaw. This is also possible due to the fact that the play was directed by Granville Barker, a long-time Shaw collaborator.
Fanny’s First Play opened on Broadway in 1912, as well as having a UK tour in the same year.
A noted actor in her time, during the 1919 Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Phyllis Relph played the major roles of Portia, Imogen in Cymbeline, Ophelia and Viola during the few weeks of the festival that year.
This postcard forms part of a large scrapbook collection donated to the Theatre Royal archive by Diane Meadwell from Sandiacre. Her great grandfather was Bernard Hill, the former landlord of The Sun Inn on Parliament Street and who later became the Stage Door Keeper at the Theatre Royal. Bernard’s daughter Edith also worked at the Theatre Royal as an usherette.
Whilst in his stage door job, Bernard collected a large number of postcards of the numerous artists who performed at the venue, many of which he got them to autograph, as well as writing the date and if necessary the show on the reverse, making the future archivist’s job that little bit easier. We have then been able to cross-reference this information with the list of Theatre Royal shows being compiled by volunteer researcher Lynn Whitley.
This postcard is unusual in the collection in that Bernard was clearly unable to obtain Relph’s signed card during her week-long run at the Theatre Royal. Instead the card is mailed directly to him at Stage Door the following week.
We are grateful to Diane for sharing her family memories with us and for donating such a valuable resource to the archive.
Type
Postcard
Location of item
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Rights
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Contributor
Researcher: David Longford / Lynn Whitley
