Dandy Dick (play)

Dandy Dick is an 1887 comedy by British writer Arthur Wing Pinero.^[1] It is a farce about an impecunious clergyman (partly as a result of two extravagant daughters) who, having taken a strong line against gambling, meets his sister after many years, a woman steeped in horse-racing who has a half share in a race horse. He uncharacteristically places a bet on the horse, to pay for an extravagant promise he has made to contribute to a church reparation fund. He subsequently finds himself in the local police cell for administering, or trying to administer, substances to his sister's horse, substances (unknown to him) adulterated with poison by his butler. He is accused by the local police constanble of alienating his wife's affections. In the event, as in most good farces, matters are cheerfully resolved.

Film adaptation

In 1935 it was adapted into the film Dandy Dick, directed by William Beaudine and starring Will Hay in the title role.

Productions

The play was last seen in the West End at the Garrick Theatre in 1973, starring Alastair Sim and Patricia Routledge.

In 2001 the play was revived in an amateur production, directed by Olive Smith, at the Wick Theatre, Southwick, West Sussex.^[2]

The play is to be revived in a July 2012 production, directed by Christopher Luscombe, starring Patricia Hodge and Nicholas Le Prevost, at the Theatre Royal, Brighton, prior to an eight-week UK tour and transfer to London's West End.^[3]

Dandy Dick was adapted for the radio by John Tydeman for the BBC with Patricia Routledge reprising her 1973 stage performance as Georgina, Alec McCowen as the Dean, and John Church as the butler, Blore. This version makes occasional appearance on the station BBC 4 Extra.

References

Bibliography

Ousby, Ian. The Cambridge guide to literature in English. Cambridge University Press, 1993.

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