Record Number: 31661
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'Meeting held at “Hillsborough”: 24 Jan 1940
R. H. Robson in the Chair.
1. Minutes of last read & approved.
[...]
7. Two one act plays were then read. The first of these starred Margaret Dilks as
Becky Sharp, a part which she read so successfully as to make her nervous about
the effect on her own character afterwards. The Secretary has had the pleasure of
seeing Margaret Dilks two or three times since, and is glad to report no noticeable
deleterious effects.
Other parts in the play were taken by,
Muriel Stevens as Amelia, very demurely
C. E. Stansfield [as] George Osbourne
R. H. Robson [as] Joseph Sedley
A. B. Dilks [as] Rawdon Gawley
8. The second play was Five Birds in a Cage. And here too, a new planet entered
the firmament, to whom the other luminaries did obeissance [sic].
Rosamund Wallis was the Duchess of Wiltshire, giving us a delicate mixture of the
old time hauteur of Vere de Vere, and the kindly condescension of the great lady
who travels third class, and lectures on the appeal of socialism. She had, so to
speak, two beaux on her string, Victor Alexander as the prepossessing but
ineffective young peer, and Roger Moore as the young foreman plumber. Into this
dual situation Rosamund Wallis entered with such verve, as to become for the
time being what the late William Fryer Harvey would have called “one of the most
forward looking members of the aristocracy,” & on the strength of the inspiration
invited the two young men to the theatre the next day where she continued their
education.
Mary Robson read a very pleasing part as the shy but ambitious little London
midinette. We were sorry her part was not longer. R. H. Robson stepped into the
breach at the last moment to become the lift man, where however he had perforce
to remain stolid.
[Signed as a true record] Rosamund Wallis'
1900-1945
Date:24 Jan 1940
Country:England
Timeevening
Place:city: Reading
county: Berkshire
specific address: Hillsborough, 4 Glebe Road
(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary reactive unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Female
Date of Birth:1912
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:n/a
Religion:Quaker or associated with the Friends
Country of Origin:n/a
Country of Experience:England
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
Members of the XII Book Club
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:Vanity Fair
Genre:Fiction
Form of Text:Unknown
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:31661
Source:Manuscript
Author:Margaret Dilks
Title:XII Book Club Minute Book, Vol. 4 (1938-1943)
Location:private collection
Call No:n/a
Page/Folio:56–8
Additional Information:
Victor Alexander was currently secretary to the XII Book Club. It is inferred from this, and from the handwriting, that he was the author of this set of minutes.
Citation:
Margaret Dilks, XII Book Club Minute Book, Vol. 4 (1938-1943), private collection, 56–8, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=31661, accessed: 17 August 2024
Additional Comments:
Vanity Fair adapted for the stage by an unidentified author. Material by kind permission of the XII Book Club. For further information and permission to quote this source, contact the Reading Experience Database (http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/contacts.php).