'Othello' & 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'
venue
Grand Theatre
Dates
1st - 6th February 1937
Directors
A. G. Revill & C. B. Sherwin
This pair of plays were performed throughout the first week of February 1937, each alternating with the other between the matinee and evening performance of the day. This busy schedule was customary for the British Empire Shakespeare Society (Derby Branch), as we were then known, in the years before World War II.
The plays were staged at the Grand Theatre on Babington Lane which served as our home until the outbreak of war. Sadly the theatre was later closed and re-purposed into a dance hall and, in later years, a succession of nightclubs and restaurants.
This production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' featured an all female cast for the fairy roles and also employed a live orchestra playing Mendelssohn's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' compositions.
Crew
Producers - A. G. Revill & C. B. Sherwin
Fairy Dancers Trained By - Miss H. Stevens
Orchestra Directed By - Mr. Sydney T. Sadler
Cast
OTHELLO
Duke Of Venice - Mr. T. E. Harrison
Brabantio - Mr. C. R. Burstall
Gratiano - Mr. F. B. Hill
Lodovico - Mr. A. I. Moore
Othello - Mr. A. G. Revill
Cassio - Mr. F. H. Garratt
Iago - Mr. A. D. Smedley
Roderigo - Mr. E. D. Marsden
Montano - Mr. C. G. Dowding
First Gentleman - Mr. S. Morrison
Second Gentleman - Mr. S. K. James
Third Gentleman - Mr. J. Mattinson
Messenger - Mr. John Mills
Innkeeper - Mr. A. Grimes
Senators - Messrs. C. H. Aslin, L. Titmuss, W. H. Warren & G. R. Willis
Soldiers & Retainers - Messrs. D. K. Cummings, E. E. Gay, R. G. Hayes, E. Lilley, C. B. Payne, A. S. T. Price, K. E. Swain, L. C. Thornton & J. H. Upton
Desdemona - Mrs. A. R. Laurie
Emilia - Mrs. A. G. Revill
Bianca - Mrs. W. L. Bemrose
Ladies In Waiting - Mrs. L. Armstrong & Mrs. G. R. Willis
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
Theseus - Mr. A. E. Goodey
Egeus - Mr. G. W. Ford
Lysander - Mr. L. H. Titmuss
Demetrius - Mr. A. E. Sellers
Philostrate - Mr. J. A. Taylor
Quince - Mr. G. F. Knighton
Snug - Mr. D. M. Cargill
Bottom - Mr. D. Campbell
Flute - Mr. W. A. Scott
Snout - Mr. J. Bottom
Starveling - Mr. D. G. Gilman
Soldiers - Messrs. C. T. Plant & W. L. Saywell
Foresters - Messrs. A. E. Beeson, A. Grimes, C. T. Plant & W. L. Saywell
Hippolyta - Mrs. C. H. Aslin
Hermia - Mrs. G. F. Knighton
Helena - Mrs. J. E. Howard Smith
Oberon - Miss Judy Revill
Titania - Miss Rona Laurie
Puck - Miss Eileen Whitehouse
First Fairy - Miss P. M. Beeson
Second Fairy - Miss Alex Penney
Third Fairy - Miss N. Reader
Fourth Fairy - Miss D. Mackie
Peaseblossom - Miss Joy Gibson
Cobweb - Miss Barbara Lavelle
Moth - Miss Pat Laurie
Mustardseed - Miss Jean Revels
Other Fairies - Miss K. M. Andrews, Miss P. Banks, Miss M. E. Brick, Miss B. Elsom, Miss M. Hanbury, Miss A. Isherwood-Plummer, Miss P. Lavelle, Miss R. Russell & Miss M. Smellie