Charley's Aunt

The Play Charley's Aunt

This classic evergreen farce is set in Oxford during Commemoration Week.  The imminent visit of Charles Wykeham's aunt from Brazil, Donna Lucia, provides an excuse for Charles and Jack to invite their young ladies to meet her.  When a telegram arrives postponing Donna Lucia's visit, they persuade their amiable friend Babbs (since they must have a chaperon) to impersonate the aunt.  Here the fun begins, Babbs thouroughly enjoys being kissed and caressed by the girls and receiving their confidences, but finds his ingenuity severely taxed when brought face to face with the real Donna Lucia.  moreover Donna Lucia amuses herself by concealing her identity while declaring that she knew Donna Lucia's husband most intimately.  All ends, of course, most happily and hymeneally.

Since its first performance, ‘Charley’s Aunt’ has been performed in London virtually non-stop. The original ‘Charley’s Aunt’ was an actor called W. S. Penley. (Thomas appeared in the first production himself, in the role of Sir Francis Chesney.) Penley played the role for four years; eventually Thomas himself took on the title role. Other famous ‘Aunts’ have been Jack Benny, Sir John Mills, Arthur Askey and Danny La Rue. They are joined now by The Bench’s Mark Wakeman.

The Play has also been made into a film and into a musical called ‘Where’s Charley?’, which achieved more success in America than in this country; the musical also focussed more closely on Charley and Amy rather than Jack and Kitty.

The play has been performed in Rep all over the world with many different translations. At one time it was running in 48 theatres in 22 languages at the same time (including Chinese, Esperanto, Gaelic, Russian, Zulu and Afrikaans).

A Play in three acts:

Act I - Jack Chesney’s Rooms in College

Interval – Fifteen Minutes

Act II - Garden Outside Jack Chesney’s Rooms

Interval – Fifteen Minutes

Act III - Drawing Room at Spettigue’s House

Period: 1892

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