You Never Can Tell
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- "You Never Can Tell" is also the name of a song by rock and roll musician Chuck Berry.
You Never Can Tell is an 1899, four act, play by G. Bernard Shaw that debuted at the Royalty Theatre. It was published as part of a volume of Shaw's plays entitled Plays Pleasant.
The play is set in a seaside town and tells the story of Mrs. Clandon and her three children, Dolly, Phillip and Gloria, who have just returned to England after an eighteen year stay in Madeira.
The children have no idea who their father is and, through a comedy of errors, end up inviting him to a family lunch. At the same time struggling dentist named Mr. Valentine has fallen in love with the eldest daughter, Gloria. However Gloria considers herself a modern woman and claims to have no interest in love or marriage.
The play continues with a comedy of errors and confused identities with the friendly and wise waiter, Walter (most commonly referred to by the characters as "William," because Dolly thinks he resembles Mr. Shakespeare) dispensing his wisdom with the titular phrase "You Never Can Tell."
[edit] Characters
- Dolly
- Philip
- Mr./Dr. Valentine the Dentist
- Gloria
- Mrs. Clandon the Mother
- Mr. Crampton the Landlord and Father
- Walter the Waiter
- McComas
- Bohun
- the Parlor Maid
[edit] Setting
Time: One Day in August 1896
Place: An English seaside resort
- Act I
- A dentist's office
- Act II
- The Terrace of The Marine Hotel
- Act III
- The Clandons sitting room at The Marine Hotel
- Act IV
- The Clandons sitting room at The Marine Hotel - Later at Night
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| The Plays of George Bernard Shaw |
|---|
| Plays Unpleasant : The Philanderer, Mrs Warren's Profession, Widowers' Houses Plays Pleasant : Arms and the Man, Candida, The Man of Destiny, You Never Can Tell Three Plays for Puritans : Caesar and Cleopatra, Captain Brassbound's Conversion, The Devil's Disciple Back to Methuselah, a cycle of 5 plays : In the Beginning: B.C. 4004 (In the Garden of Eden), The Gospel of the Brothers Barnabas: Present Day, The Thing Happens: A.D. 2170, Tragedy of an Elderly Gentleman: A.D. 3000, As Far as Thought Can Reach: A.D. 31,920 Other Plays : Androcles and the Lion, The Apple Cart, The Doctor's Dilemma, Fanny's First Play, Geneva, Heartbreak House, John Bull's Other Island, Major Barbara, Man and Superman, Misalliance, Pygmalion, Saint Joan |
