2500 Theatre Scenes in Europe and America from 1890 to 1935
Including 400 Drama Pictures Taken in Europe and America from 1890 to 1930 , Preserved and Published in Japan around 1930, and Many Other Antique Photos I Have Gathered
Sunday, 2 August 2026
Some scenes from Tristram and Iseult (A Drama in Four Acts) written by J. Comyns Carr (1849 – 1916), and performed at the Royal Adelphi Theatre, London, in 1906
Several scenes from With Flying Colours (a play of five acts) written by the British playwright Seymour Hicks (1871 – 1949) and Frederick G. Latham, and produced at the Adelphi Theatre, opening on 19 August 1899.
a- The Hero a Convict.
b- Hackett (Mr. Robert Pateman) at end of Death struggle with
Strangeways (Mr. W.L. Abingdon).
c- Mr. W.L. Abingdon. Mrs. Raleigh. Mr. Julius Knight.
d- Mary Derrick (Miss Sheldon); Wilfred (Mr. Aubrey Mallalieu); Sir
John Derrick (Mr. Vibart).
e- Dare (Mr. Julius Knight). Wilfred (Mr. Mallalieu).
f- Harry Belt (Mr. Harry Nicholls) disguised as a Sailor. Polly (Miss
Florence Lloyd).
A scene from The Judgment of Paris : A Beauty Competition on Mount Ida performed at the Adelphi Theatrein, in February 1932.
Saturday, 1 August 2026
Several scenes from The Truth about Blayds witten by A. A. Milne (1882-1956) and opening on 20 December 1921 at the Globe Theatre, London, and running for 121 performances, until 5 April 1922. London, in 1922.
In the early 1920s A. A. Milne, best known so far for his humorous articles and verses in Punch, was establishing a reputation as a playwright. His Mr Pim Passes By (1919) ran well in the West End and on Broadway. The title role in that play was played by the actor-manager Dion Boucicault, and Milne wrote The Truth About Blayds in 1921 with Boucicault and his wife, Irene Vanbrugh, in mind. They accepted it and the play was put into rehearsal, opening on 20 December 1921 at the Globe Theatre, and running for 121 performances, until 5 April 1922.
Some scenes from The Importance of Being Earnest written by Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900) and produced at the Lyric, Hammersmith Theatre, running for some 104 performances beginning on 7 July 1930.
The production appeared at the Lyric, Hammersmith Theatre under the direction of the celebrated actor and theatre manager Nigel Playfair, then in his twelfth season at the Hammersmith playhouse. With "characteristic panache and originality," Playfair mounted a production in the style of Aubrey Beardsley, entirely black and white and silver. The acting followed the distinctive style Playfair had established, consisting of "simplified realism, stylized gesture and formalized composition." The cast included Gielgud (coming directly from his triumphant Hamlet of earlier in the year) as John Worthing, Anthony Ireland as Algernon, Jean Cadell as Miss Prism, and Gielgud’s aunt Mabel Terry-Lewis as Lady Bracknell. It had a great success, running for some 104 performances beginning on 7 July 1930.
Scene from The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) at the Lyric Hammersmith, 7 June 1930
Some scenes from The Importance of Being Earnest written by Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900) and produced again at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, from November 21, 1923
Some scenes from The Importance of Being Earnest written by the Irish playwright Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900) and produced again at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, from November 21, 1923, running for 61 performances.
In the early revivals, the play was performed in present-day costume, and it wasn’t until the 1923 production at Theatre Royal Haymarket in the heart of the West End that it became fixed in its original 1890s setting (though some productions have experimented with contemporary settings or other time periods, such as the Swinging Sixties).
Following the splendid, long-lived revival of The Importance of Being Earnest at the St James’s in 1909–10, the play had two more revivals there during Alexander’s tenure, in 1911 and 1913, as we have seen, but other actors played the roles of John Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff even while Alexander as actor-manager maintained responsibility for the staging. Meanwhile, after his successful return to the role in 1909, the original portrayer of Algernon was far from being finished with the play. Allan Aynesworth would in good time take up a second theatrical career as a manager and producer (what Americans would call a "director"), while still sometimes playing major roles in the plays he staged. In 1923 he took the opportunity to mount a fresh revival of Wilde’s play at the Haymarket, which opened on 21 November and ran for sixty-one performances.