The Browning Version is the play that cemented Terence Rattigan’s reputation as a serious, mature playwright. It is viewed as one of his best works, and one of the best one-acts ever written. First performed at the Phoenix Theatre, London, England, on September 8, 1948, the Browning Version was coupled with another one-act by Rattigan entitled Harlequinade under the umbrella name, Playbill. This show ran for 245 performances, and Rattigan received the Ellen Terry Award for The Browning Version, his second. (The first was won two years earlier for The Winslow Boy.)
The Browning Version concerns the life of Andrew Crocker-Harris, a classics schoolmaster at a British public school. Andrew is disliked by his unfaithful wife Millie, his colleagues, and his students. Rattigan based the character and the story of The Browning Version on a classics master he had at school as a student.
The Browning Version is sometimes derided for being too sentimental, but many critics draw a distinction between its sympathetic sentiment and overt sentimentalism. Though only a one-act play, The Browning Version is a well-crafted and complete psychological study, indicative of his future direction as a playwright.
The play is about the last few days in the career of Andrew Crocker-Harris, an aging classics teacher at a British public school. The man's academic life is fading away following illness and he feels that he has become obsolete. The headmaster informs him that the school will not give him his pension because of his early retirement, though he was depending on it, and wishes him to relinquish his place in the end-of-term speech-giving to a popular sports master.
When Taplow, a pupil who needs Crocker-Harris to pass him so he can go up to the next year, comes to him for help with his Greek, Crocker-Harris begins to show his true feelings through his love for literature.
Mr. Gilbert, Crocker-Harris's successor at his teaching post, arrives to view the Crocker-Harrises' home. He seeks advice on the lower fifth, the year Crocker-Harris teaches, and how to control them. Crocker-Harris begins to relate to Gilbert his own sad experiences after Gilbert tells Crocker-Harris that the headmaster had referred to Crocker-Harris as the 'Himmler of the lower fifth'. Crocker-Harris, who did not realize he was feared by the boys, is very disturbed by this title.
Crocker-Harris's wife, Millie, is being unfaithful to him with a younger master named Frank Hunter, something that Crocker-Harris has been aware of, but has been ignoring. After Taplow moves him by giving him an inscribed version of the Browning translation of Aeschylus' Agamemnon, he breaks down crying. Millie, his wife, shows her callousness at Crocker-Harris's emotional state, and Hunter breaks off the affair with her, instead turning his sympathies to Crocker-Harris. Crocker-Harris informs him that he knew of Millie's affair with Hunter, as well as her previous ones, but despite this he does not wish to divorce her.
As the play ends, Hunter makes plans with a reluctant Crocker-Harris to meet him at his new place of work, and an uplifted Crocker-Harris telephones the headmaster saying that he will make his speech after sports master, as is his right.
The "Browning Version" of the title is the reference within the story of Robert Browning's translation of the Greek tragedy Agamemnon. In the tragedy, Agamemnon is murdered by his wife, aided by her lover.
The Browning Version is a play by Terence Rattigan, first performed on 8 September 1948 at the Phoenix Theatre, London, in a joint performance withHarlequinade.
Contents
[hide]
1 Plot
2 Productions
3 Other versions
4 References [edit]Plot
The play is about the last few days in the career of Andrew Crocker-Harris, an aging classics teacher at a British public school. The man's academic life is fading away following illness and he feels that he has become obsolete. The headmaster informs him that the school will not give him his pension because of his early retirement, though he was depending on it, and wishes him to relinquish his place in the end-of-term speech-giving to a popular sports master.
When Taplow, a pupil who needs Crocker-Harris to pass him so he can go up to the next year, comes to him for help with his Greek, Crocker-Harris begins to show his true feelings through his love for literature.
Mr. Gilbert, Crocker-Harris's successor at his teaching post, arrives to view the Crocker-Harrises' home. He seeks advice on the lower fifth, the year Crocker-Harris teaches, and how to control them. Crocker-Harris begins to relate to Gilbert his own sad experiences after Gilbert tells Crocker-Harris that the headmaster had referred to Crocker-Harris as the 'Himmler of the lower fifth'. Crocker-Harris, who did not realize he was feared by the boys, is very disturbed by this title.
Crocker-Harris's wife, Millie, is being unfaithful to him with a younger master named Frank Hunter, something that Crocker-Harris has been aware of, but has been ignoring. After Taplow moves him by giving him an inscribed version of the Browning translation of Aeschylus' Agamemnon, he breaks down crying. Millie, his wife, shows her callousness at Crocker-Harris's emotional state, and Hunter breaks off the affair with her, instead turning his sympathies to Crocker-Harris. Crocker-Harris informs him that he knew of Millie's affair with Hunter, as well as her previous ones, but despite this he does not wish to divorce her.
As the play ends, Hunter makes plans with a reluctant Crocker-Harris to meet him at his new place of work, and an uplifted Crocker-Harris telephones the headmaster saying that he will make his speech after sports master, as is his right.
The "Browning Version" of the title is the reference within the story of Robert Browning's translation of the Greek tragedy Agamemnon. In the tragedy, Agamemnon is murdered by his wife, aided by her lover.
Although the name of the school is not given in the play, it is clearly Harrow School (which Terence Rattigan attended), something evident from the idiosyncrasies of the timetable that Crocker-Harris is in charge of writing.
[edit]Productions
In 1949 the play was performed on Broadway, opening on October 12 at the Coronet Theater on 49th street with Maurice Evans as Crocker-Harris and Edna Best as his faithless wife. However, the play [and its companion-piece Harlequinade] failed to find favor with the New York critics and closed after just 62 performances. Peter Scott-Smith as Taplow was the sole member of the West End cast to reprise his role on Broadway. The Theatre Royal Bath put the show on in 2000 and is again to put it on in 2009 starring Peter Bowles[1]. It was performed at the Oxford Playhouse in August 2009, again starring Peter Bowles as Crocker-Harris, preceded by Anton Chekhov's one-act play Swansong, in which Bowles played the drunken old actor Svetlovidov.
[edit]Other versions
It was subsequently made into two film versions, and at least four made-for-television versions. The original 1951 film version, starring Michael Redgrave as Crocker-Harris, won two awards at the Cannes Film Festival, one for Rattigan's screenplay, the other for Redgrave's performance. It was remade in 1994, starring Albert Finney, Michael Gambon, Greta Scacchi, Matthew Modine, Julian Sands and young Ben Silverstone. A British television version was made in 1955, starring Peter Cushing as Crocker-Harris. John Frankenheimer directed John Gielgud in a 1959 television version for CBS. In 1960, Maurice Evans repeated his Broadway role for CBC television under the sponsorship of Ford of Canada in their Startime series. Another made-for-TV version in 1985 starred Ian Holm as the main character for the BBC.
The Browning Version Written by Terence Rattigan Date premiered 8 September 1948 Place premiered Phoenix Theatre, London Original language English Setting A British public school
The Browning Version is the play that cemented Terence Rattigan’s reputation as a serious, mature playwright. It is viewed as one of his best works, and one of the best one-acts ever written. First performed at the Phoenix Theatre, London, England, on September 8, 1948, The Browning Version was coupled with another one-act by Rattigan entitled Harlequinade under the umbrella name, Playbill. This show ran for 245 performances, and Rattigan received the Ellen Terry Award for The Browning Version, his second. (The first was won two years earlier for The Winslow Boy.)
The Browning Version made its New York debut with Harlequinade on October 12, 1949, but only ran for sixty-two performances. While praise from British audiences and critics was nearly universal when the play was performed in England, American critics were generally not as kind to the Broadway version, perhaps due to the subject matter.
The Browning Version concerns the life of Andrew Crocker-Harris, a classics schoolmaster at a British public school. Andrew is disliked by his unfaithful wife Millie, his colleagues, and his students. Rattigan based the character and the story of The Browning Version on a classics master he had at school as a student.
The Browning Version is sometimes derided for being too sentimental, but many critics draw a distinction between its sympathetic sentiment and overt sentimentalism. Most critics and scholars believe that Rattigan’s skills as a playwright transcend such problems. Though only a one-act play, The Browning Version is a well-crafted and complete psychological study, indicative of his future direction as a playwright.
As John Russell Taylor writes in The Rise and Fall of the Well-Made Play, ‘‘The Browning Version, as well as being at once Rattigan’s tightest and most natural-seeming construction job up then and his most deeply felt play, marks the beginning of his most distinctive and personal drama.’’
The Browning Version Summary
The Browning Version opens in the sitting room of the home of Andrew and Millie Crocker-Harris. A young student, John Taplow, knocks at the front door, then lets himself inside. He steals a chocolate from an open box, then uses his walking stick to practice his golf swing.
Frank Hunter, a young schoolmaster, watches Taplow’s moves unseen. Finally, he interrupts and gives Taplow pointers on his swing. They converse for a few moments. Taplow has come for his tutoring session with Andrew, although it is the last day of school. The young man is worried, however, that Andrew will not give him his ‘‘remove.’’ He plans to study science, which is Hunter’s subject.
Taplow does a wicked impersonation of Andrew, which he almost immediately regrets. However, Frank asks him to do it again, then suggests that since Crocker-Harris is rather late, Taplow should go play golf. Taplow is appalled at the suggestion. Despite his problems with Andrew, Taplow does like him and fears him enough to stay. Taplow relates an incident and again mimics Andrew for Frank’s benefit. This time, Millie Crocker- Harris appears at the door, and she listens for a moment before coming inside.
Taplow is afraid that Millie has overheard his imitation. Millie informs Taplow that her husband will be tied up at the Bursar’s for a while and that he could go, but he decides to wait. Millie sends him on an errand.
Once Taplow is gone, Millie and Frank have a more intimate discussion, and it becomes clear that they are lovers. They make plans for a rendezvous later in the summer. Millie tries to kiss him, but Frank fears they will be caught by her husband. Millie asks Frank if Taplow was imitating her husband when she walked in. When the answer is affirmative, Millie says that it seemed like a rather good one.
Millie discusses her troubled relationship with her husband. She explains that he once aspired to be a headmaster and had more ambition than he has now. After another kiss, Millie tells Hunter about her day. She was saying good-bye to all the wives of the faculty. Andrew is leaving his teaching position, ostensibly due to a heart condition.
Just as Millie and Frank are about to kiss again, Andrew finally arrives. He is somewhat peeved that Millie sent Taplow on an errand. Andrew...
The Browning Version is a play by Terence Rattigan, first performed on 8 September 1948 at the Phoenix Theatre, London, in a joint performance withHarlequinade.
Contents
[hide]
1 Plot
2 Productions
3 Other versions
4 References [edit]Plot
The play is about the last few days in the career of Andrew Crocker-Harris, an aging classics teacher at a British public school. The man's academic life is fading away following illness and he feels that he has become obsolete. The headmaster informs him that the school will not give him his pension because of his early retirement, though he was depending on it, and wishes him to relinquish his place in the end-of-term speech-giving to a popular sports master.
When Taplow, a pupil who needs Crocker-Harris to pass him so he can go up to the next year, comes to him for help with his Greek, Crocker-Harris begins to show his true feelings through his love for literature.
Mr. Gilbert, Crocker-Harris's successor at his teaching post, arrives to view the Crocker-Harrises' home. He seeks advice on the lower fifth, the year Crocker-Harris teaches, and how to control them. Crocker-Harris begins to relate to Gilbert his own sad experiences after Gilbert tells Crocker-Harris that the headmaster had referred to Crocker-Harris as the 'Himmler of the lower fifth'. Crocker-Harris, who did not realize he was feared by the boys, is very disturbed by this title.
Crocker-Harris's wife, Millie, is being unfaithful to him with a younger master named Frank Hunter, something that Crocker-Harris has been aware of, but has been ignoring. After Taplow moves him by giving him an inscribed version of the Browning translation of Aeschylus' Agamemnon, he breaks down crying. Millie, his wife, shows her callousness at Crocker-Harris's emotional state, and Hunter breaks off the affair with her, instead turning his sympathies to Crocker-Harris. Crocker-Harris informs him that he knew of Millie's affair with Hunter, as well as her previous ones, but despite this he does not wish to divorce her.
As the play ends, Hunter makes plans with a reluctant Crocker-Harris to meet him at his new place of work, and an uplifted Crocker-Harris telephones the headmaster saying that he will make his speech after sports master, as is his right.
The "Browning Version" of the title is the reference within the story of Robert Browning's translation of the Greek tragedy Agamemnon. In the tragedy, Agamemnon is murdered by his wife, aided by her lover.
Although the name of the school is not given in the play, it is clearly Harrow School (which Terence Rattigan attended), something evident from the idiosyncrasies of the timetable that Crocker-Harris is in charge of writing[citation needed].
[edit]Productions
In 1949 the play was performed on Broadway, opening on October 12 at the Coronet Theater on 49th street with Maurice Evans as Crocker-Harris and Edna Best as his faithless wife. However, the play [and its companion-piece Harlequinade] failed to find favor with the New York critics and closed after just 62 performances. Peter Scott-Smith as Taplow was the sole member of the West End cast to reprise his role on Broadway. The Theatre Royal Bath put the show on in 2000 and is again to put it on in 2009 starring Peter Bowles[1]. It was performed at the Oxford Playhouse in August 2009, again starring Peter Bowles as Crocker-Harris, preceded by Anton Chekhov's one-act play Swansong, in which Bowles played the drunken old actor Svetlovidov.
[edit]Other versions
It was subsequently made into two film versions, and at least four made-for-television versions. The original 1951 film version, starring Michael Redgrave as Crocker-Harris, won two awards at the Cannes Film Festival, one for Rattigan's screenplay, the other for Redgrave's performance. It was remade in 1994, starring Albert Finney, Michael Gambon, Greta Scacchi, Matthew Modine, Julian Sands and young Ben Silverstone. A British television version was made in 1955, starring Peter Cushing as Crocker-Harris. John Frankenheimer directed John Gielgud in a 1959 television version for CBS. In 1960, Maurice Evans repeated his Broadway role for CBC television under the sponsorship of Ford of Canada in their Startime series. Another made-for-TV version in 1985 starred Ian Holm as the main character for the BBC.
The Browning Version Written by Terence Rattigan Date premiered 8 September 1948 Place premiered Phoenix Theatre, London Original language English Setting A British public school