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 The Boyfriend was originally written in 1952 for The Players' Theatre
Club as a pastiche of musical shows of the 1920's and only lasted an
hour and a half. But when the curtain fell on the first performance, it
was obvious to the author, Sandy Wilson, that he had created something
which somehow had to last longer than the scheduled three weeks. So,
after it was expanded to a full length show, It opened at the Embassy
Theatre on December 1st 1953 for the Christmas season to a unanimously
enthusiastic Press, and the next day The Players' Theatre, deluged with
bids, decided to accept Sir Bronson Albery's offer of Wyndham's Theatre
where "The Boyfriend" opened under their management on January 14th,
1954.
The story is the simplest, featuring Polly Browne, the original "poor
little rich girl", and her school chums, who are dreaming about boys at
Madame Dubonnet's finishing school, The Villa Caprice, that they are
attending on the outskirts of Nice, and the Carnival ball that is to be
held that evening. However, Polly's father, wealthy and widowed
Percival Browne, has forbidden her to date for fear that all boys are
after is her money, so Polly has invented an imaginary boyfriend that
writes to her from Paris. As the hour of the ball draws nearer, Polly
is in a panic as she will have to produce her Parisian boyfriend sooner
or later or be proven a liar. A chance encounter with a delivery boy
could be the answer to her dilemma, but all is not what it seems to be
and Polly gets herself further and further into a muddle.
Polly finds an unexpected ally in Head Mistress Madame Dubonnet, who is
not above dreaming of lovers herself, for when she gets a letter to say
that Polly's father will be visiting that very morning, she begins to
wonder if he is handsome and rich and available! Of course, everything
works out perfectly in the end for everyone, especially Polly and her
imaginary boyfriend, who turns out to be very real indeed. With such
delightful songs as I Could Be Happy With You and A Room in Bloomsbury,
this show is perfect family entertainment.
The Boyfriend runs from April 16th,17th, 18th & 22nd, 23rd, 24th April 2010.
Evening performances commence at 7.45pm
Matinee performance only on Sunday 18th April 2010 at 4.00pm
Kenton Theatre, Henley-on-Thames, RG9 2BP.
Telephone 01491 575698 from 5th April.
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