Yours Unfaithfully by Miles Malleson Directed by Jonathan Bank The Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row (410 W. 42nd Street) December 27, 2016 through February 18, 2017 Performances: Tue - Sat 7:30PM Wed, Sat, & Sun 2:30PM No matinee on 12/28
Tickets on sale now to First Priority Club Members. To order tickets, call the FPC Hotline at: (212) 315-0231.
Yours Unfaithfully by Miles Malleson is an “un-
romantic comedy” about the price of free love. It is a remarkably bold play about a married couple trying to live up to their ideals of freedom, generosity, and independence.
Spring Raffle Malleson’s 1933 comedy was published but never produced, making Mint’s production a very belated World Premiere. A handful of papers reviewed the published play in 1933. The Spectator described it as “vivacious and intelligent, as you would expect from Mr. Malleson.” Renowned philosopher Bertrand Russell, who’s own provocative and controversial Marriage and Morals came out in 1929, wrote a critique for the Observer: Mr. Malleson’s play deals with the adventures of a married couple who have decided, as many do nowadays, that their relation to each other is sufficiently stable to withstand the shock of an occasional infidelity, openly confessed and not regarded as a ground of reproach. The subject is treated delightfully, with humour and kindliness and without any dogmatic conclusion. The characters behave as real people do behave, and not according to some convention of the theatre. What Russell declined to mention was that the play takes his own marriage as inspiration. It’s no wonder that he writes, “I suppose the troubles of the principal characters might be regarded as amusing, although from their own point of view they are very uncomfortable.” The long delayed premiere of Yours Unfaithfully is not the only instance in Malleson’s playwriting career. The first plays he wrote, in 1916, two one-acts about soldiers fighting the Great War called Black ‘ell and Company D, were seized by the police and described as a calumny on the British soldier. It wasn’t until 1925 that they were published and produced. Malleson’s most successful play, The Fanatics, was published in 1924, but not produced until 1927, when it played both London and New York. The Fanatics was also a bold and outspoken play on the subject of sex, in this case, before marriage. Brooks Atkinson wrote, “The Fanatics of the title are those who have the courage to live their lives as they think proper. Rightly or wrongly, Mr. Malleson offers the rebellious young people as the products of the war. Whatever the reason may be for their intellectual ruthlessness, you must respect their courage and sincerity.” Please join us for the world premiere of Yours Unfaithfully this winter!
(William) Miles Malleson, by Clara Klinghoffer, 1946 - © National Portrait Gallery, London