[240 Crescent St., Northampton, Mass.]
I am grateful for your letter of the 19th, and I hope that your next letter will report that you have heard from me. It seems a very long time, but I did take a very slow boat, and I did not write at once when I got to London. I am glad to feel from the tone of your letter that you are feeling a little more settled at Northampton, and hope that that is growing every week. I am pleased to think that you have been taking enough interest in yourself to make some needed purchases – is it possible to get good clothes in Northampton? It ought to be, because I imagine that there must be many girls there from pretty prosperous families. Of course I wish that the celebrations at Chestnut Hill might have come in the spring, rather than now when you need all of your energies, and I realise how tiring it must have been for you (don’t go by bus again) in more ways than one: yet I would not have tried to dissuade you from such an expedition, had I been on hand, for I know how much it would mean to you to be there. And I was pleased to learn that you had worn the blue earrings with the blue dress! I suppose the new dress, being seasonable, is not one that I am likely to see next summer?
I am in the thick of things again. (I hope those flowers were delivered on the 27th, and please tell me what they sent: I ordered roses if sweet peas were unobtainable). ICambridge Literary Society'The Idiom of Modern Verse';a2 have been writing a paper (on ‘The Idiom of Modern Verse’) for the Cambridge Literary Society, (to be read on the 13th) andSt. Catherine's College, Cambridgeand 'The Need for Poetic Drama';a2 directly that is done I must write another for the Shirley Society of St. Catherine’s College, whichBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)'The Need for Poetic Drama';a8 will then have to be cut down and improved for the B.B.C. for their series to the Sixth Form of schools, on Modern Poetic Drama.1 (IHale, Emilylectures at Concord;i9 hope you will let me know the gist of your lecture at Concord – if it is to be written out I should love to read it).2 OnWhitworth, Phyllisfundraising for the Group Theatre;a1 MondayGroup TheatreTSE speaks at fundraiser for;b1 afternoonDoone, Rupertand troupe bemoaned;b8 I have to speak a few words at a tea party to be given to raise money for the Group Theatre (Rupert Doone & Co.) by Mrs. Geoffrey Whitworth.3 (I do wish Doone and his troupe were better, but I should like them to get enough money to go on). ThisIremonger, Revd F. A.;a2 afternoonOldham, Josephputs TSE up to BBC talk;b6 IMoberley, Sir Walterfellow contributor to BBC series;a2 hadToynbee, Arnoldfellow contributor to BBC series;a1 aWood, Herbert George ('H. G.');a1 chatKerr, Philip, 11th Marquess of Lothian;a2 with the Revd. Mr. Iremonger, religious director of the B.B.C. about a talk that Joe Oldham wants me to give in February, one of a series (Sir W. Moberly [sc. Moberley], Arnold Toynbee, Jessop, H. G. Wood and Lord Lothian are the other speakers) to drum up interest in the world of the Conference on Church Community and State in July.4 But after the end of this month (November) I shall have a breathing spell, and except for this talk in February and one at Kings College Cambridge in March, IFamily Reunion, Theprogress stalled;a4 shall be able to spend my time trying to work out another play – is it [sc. it is] vexing to think that a year and a half has gone by without my having the time to get to work on it. TheMurder in the Cathedral1937 Duchess Theatre West End transfer;e8dress-rehearsal attended;a3 first night of the Murder at the Duchess Theatre is tonight. I went last night to the dress rehearsal. The theatre is a very nice one and just the right size, but has of course the old-fashioned flat proscenium, instead of the apron stage which is what we need; andMitchelhill, J. P.quintessential West End proprietor;a1 the proprietor, a City man (smoking a cigar, of course) by the odd name of Mitchellhill [sc. Mitchelhill] (spelt just like that, it sounds bogus)5 had spent some money on new costumes (but the same old designs!) and a much more elaborate setting for the sermon scene. OneSpeaight, Robertsermon reblocked for Duchess Theatre;c6 considerable change is that Speaight delivers the sermon, not from a pulpit, but from beside the altar steps, which is liturgically correct. I did not expect to be pleased by this, but I came to the conclusion that it was the best thing, because the effect of looking almost straight down on a man in a pulpit, from the balcony, would have been unpleasant; and as the seating is more than half balcony, that is important. So it is the best possible arrangement in a theatre like this. I cannot guess whether it will be a success or a complete failure, or what sort of an audience it will get (the theatre is just off the Strand, near Covent Garden); I will send you any newspaper notices that I see tomorrow. If it succeeds, then the chances of bringing it to New York in the winter are much stronger.6
I am going to my doctor on Tuesday to start inoculations against colds.
The blue tie has been worn, and with the right shade of blue shirt, it is quite successful! I shall continue to wear it.
I must end this rather dull letter, my darling, and get on with my Cambridge lecture. And I hope in a few days to write a letter which will give my dear a little more spiritual nourishment than this!
1.‘The Need for Poetic Drama’, Listener, 25 Nov. 1936, 994–5: CProse 5, 401–6.
2.Not found.
3.PhyllisWhitworth, Phyllis Whitworth, née Bell (1884–1964), theatrical producer and manager; married in 1910 to Geoffrey Whitworth (1883–1951), dramatist; founder of the British Drama League.
4.TSE, ‘Church Community and State’: no. VI: ‘The Church’s Message to the World’, The Listener 17: 423 (17 Feb. 1937), 293–4, 326; repr. as App. to The Idea of a Christian Society: CProse 5, 424–9. ‘Here is the perpetual message of the Church: to affirm, to teach and to apply, true theology … The Church has perpetually to answer this question: to what purpose were we born? What is the end of Man?’ (326).
5.J. P. MitchelhillMitchelhill, J. P. (1879–1966), an estate agent who in 1930, at the age of fifty, purchased the Duchess Theatre as part of a big property deal, with two associates. Built in 1929, the little Duchess Theatre had a seating capacity of 494. On top of his presentation of Murder in the Cathedral – TSE’s first West End success – Mitchelhill had successes throughout the 1930s, notably with plays by J. B. Priestley (including Time and the Conways (1937). The Duchess’s production of Night Must Fall (1935), by the thirty-year-old Emlyn Williams, was another hit.
6.TheMurder in the Cathedral1937 Duchess Theatre West End transfer;e8reviewed;a4n production ofEdward VIIIand the Abdication Crisis;a3 Murder in the Cathedral coincided with the King Edward VIII Abdication Crisis of 11 Dec. 1936, announced on 10 Dec., whichDukes, Ashleyon Murder's Abdication Crisis resonance;c4n as Ashley Dukes pointed out (‘Poet into successful dramatist’, New York Times, 20 Feb. 1938) ‘gave awkward point’ to such lines as
King is forgotten when another shall come.
and
If the Archbishop cannot trust the Throne
He has good cause to trust none but God alone.
GeoffreyFaber, Geoffreyon Edward VIII's abdication;e7n Faber’s diary, 10 Dec.: ‘The King’s abdication announced – I am able to tell myself “I told you so!” For at the funeral in Jan. I said “I don’t believe he’ll last”, and when this Simpson business blew up I said that abdication was the only way out. The suspense of the last week has been very bad for our West End trade.’ On Fri., 11 Dec.: ‘Took T.S.E. back to lunch … Edward’s broadcast was received in complete silence, & I think most of the audience felt embarrassed by it. TSE thought it wld. have been in better taste if he had said nothing.’
G. W. B., ‘“Murder in the Cathedral”: A Play’, Sunday Times, 1 Nov. 1936: ‘Having run for the best part of a year at the Mercury Theatre, Mr T. S. Eliot’s magnificent play in verse about the murder of Thomas Becket has reached the West End. It will be interesting to see if it will appeal to the ordinary playgoer; perhaps, however, there are still plenty of extraordinary playgoers left to support a piece which treats a great subject with dignity and vision. At the Duchess it is possible to hear beautiful words finely spoken, a rare event on the modern stage.
‘Mr Robert Speaight’s performance as Becket is something so unusual that one feels it should be seen again and again. The actor has fire and passion and intellect and the power of moving an audience. The Christmas day sermon held a first-night audience spell-bound on Friday.’
2.RupertDoone, Rupert Doone (1903–66), dancer, choreographer and producer, founded the Group Theatre, London, in 1932: see Biographical Register.
4.AshleyDukes, Ashley Dukes (1885–1959), theatre manager, playwright, critic, translator, adapter, author; from 1933, owner of the Mercury Theatre, London: see Biographical Register.
11.GeoffreyFaber, Geoffrey Faber (1889–1961), publisher and poet: see Biographical Register.
2.RevdIremonger, Revd F. A. F. A. Iremonger (1878–1952); Anglican priest; Religious Director, BBC, 1932–9.
3.PhilipKerr, Philip, 11th Marquess of Lothian Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian (1882–1940), politician, diplomat, newspaper editor; Private Secretary to P.M. David Lloyd George, 1916–21. Advocate during the 1930s of appeasement of Nazi Germany (which he claimed did not harbour expansionist ambitions).
5.J. P. MitchelhillMitchelhill, J. P. (1879–1966), an estate agent who in 1930, at the age of fifty, purchased the Duchess Theatre as part of a big property deal, with two associates. Built in 1929, the little Duchess Theatre had a seating capacity of 494. On top of his presentation of Murder in the Cathedral – TSE’s first West End success – Mitchelhill had successes throughout the 1930s, notably with plays by J. B. Priestley (including Time and the Conways (1937). The Duchess’s production of Night Must Fall (1935), by the thirty-year-old Emlyn Williams, was another hit.
2.SirMoberley, Sir Walter Walter Moberley (1881–1974), Professor of Philosophy, University of Birmingham, 1921–4; Principal of the University College of the South West of England, 1925–6; Vice-Chancellor, University of Manchester, 1926–34; Chairman of the University Grants Committee, 1935–49. Keith Clements, Faith on the Frontier, 367: ‘Combining the academic and man of affairs, (Sir) Walter Moberley was perhaps the nearest anyone ever attained to Oldham’s ideal of the theologically aware and responsible Christian layperson … Since 1935 he had been chairman of the University Grants Committee, the most powerful and politically influential position in higher education in England. His close association with Oldham already long-standing …’
8.JosephOldham, Joseph (‘Joe’) Houldsworth Oldham (1874–1969), missionary, adviser, organiser: see Biographical Register.
2.RobertSpeaight, Robert Speaight (1904–77), actor, producer and author, was to create the role of Becket in Murder in the Cathedral in 1935: see Biographical Register.
3.PhyllisWhitworth, Phyllis Whitworth, née Bell (1884–1964), theatrical producer and manager; married in 1910 to Geoffrey Whitworth (1883–1951), dramatist; founder of the British Drama League.