Gladys Calthrop
Encyclopedia
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
's plays and musicals.
Life and career
Calthrop was born in Ashton, DevonAshton, Devon
Ashton is a civil parish in the Teignbridge district of Devon, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 174. The parish consists of two villages, Higher Ashton and Lower Ashton, and is on the edge of the Dartmoor National Park....
, the daughter of Frederick Theophilus Treeby and his wife Mabel. She was educated at Grassendale School, Southbourne, West Sussex
Southbourne, West Sussex
Southbourne is a village and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It lies to the east of Emsworth, the west of Nutbourne and south-east of Westbourne....
. Her parents sent her to a finishing school
Finishing school
A finishing school is "a private school for girls that emphasises training in cultural and social activities." The name reflects that it follows on from ordinary school and is intended to complete the educational experience, with classes primarily on etiquette...
in Paris, and she returned married to Army captain Everard E. Calthrop, from Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
. The couple had a son, Hugo, whose care Calthrop entrusted mostly to her mother. He was later killed during fighting in Burma. She was soon separated from her husband (she had lesbian relationships thereafter) and studied art at Slade School of Fine Art
Slade School of Fine Art
The Slade School of Fine Art is a world-renownedart school in London, United Kingdom, and a department of University College London...
.
Calthrop was introduced to Noël Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
by Mrs. Astley Cooper while on holiday in Italy in 1921. She soon became a close friend of Coward's, and she commenced her theatre career in November 1924 with her design for his The Vortex
The Vortex
The Vortex is a play by the English writer and actor Noël Coward. The story focuses on sexual vanity and drug abuse among the upper classes. The play was Coward's first great commercial success....
, staged at the Everyman Theatre in Hampstead
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
. As she later recalled: "It was the first play I had ever designed so I was terribly excited, though there was nowhere to paint the sets except outside the theatre in Hampstead High Street, and the costumes all had to be made in a kind of basement there."
She stayed in New York after travelling there for the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production of The Vortex, becoming Artistic Director for Eva la Galliene's Civic Repertory Theatre, for whom she directed John Gabriel Borkman
John Gabriel Borkman
John Gabriel Borkman is the penultimate composition of the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, written in 1896.-Plot:The Borkman family fortunes have been brought low by the imprisonment of John Gabriel who used his position as a bank manager to illegally speculate with his investors' money...
on Broadway in 1926. Her designs for Broadway included The Cradle Song (1927), This Year of Grace
This Year of Grace
This Year of Grace is a revue with a book, music, and lyrics by Noël Coward.It opened in London on March 22, 1928 at the London Pavilion and ran nearly ten months, with a cast featuring Sonnie Hale, Maisie Gay, Jessie Matthews, Sheilah Graham and Tilly Losch among others. Doris Zinkeisen was one of...
(1928), Bitter Sweet
Bitter Sweet
Bitter Sweet is an operetta in three acts written by Noël Coward and first produced in 1929 at Her Majesty's Theatre in London. It ran for a very successful 967 performances....
(1929), Autumn Crocus
Autumn Crocus (play)
Autumn Crocus is a 1931 play by the British writer Dodie Smith. It was Smith's first play written under the pseudonym of C.L. Anthony. It follows a single schoolteacher who goes on holiday to the Tyrol and falls in love with the married owner of the hotel in which she is staying.Directed by Basil...
(1932), Private Lives
Private Lives
Private Lives is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It focuses on a divorced couple who discover that they are honeymooning with their new spouses in neighbouring rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetually stormy relationship, they realise that they still have feelings for...
(1931), Design for Living
Design for Living
Design for Living is a comedy play written by Noël Coward in 1932. It concerns a trio of artistic characters, Gilda, Otto and Leo, and their complicated three-way relationship. Originally written to star Lynn Fontanne, Alfred Lunt and Coward, it was premiered on Broadway, partly because its risqué...
(1933), Conversation Piece
Conversation Piece (musical)
Conversation Piece, billed as "A Romantic Comedy with Music", is a musical written by Noel Coward. It premiered at His Majesty's Theatre, London, on 16 February 1934, and ran for 177 performances over five months...
(1934), Point Valaine (1935), Tonight at 8:30
Tonight at 8:30
Tonight at 8.30 is a cycle of ten one-act plays by Noël Coward. In the introduction to a published edition of the plays, Coward wrote, "A short play, having a great advantage over a long one in that it can sustain a mood without technical creaking or over padding, deserves a better fate, and if,...
(1936), Excursion (1937), Dear Octopus
Dear Octopus (play)
Dear Octopus is 1938 play by the British writer Dodie Smith. It was first staged at the Queen's Theatre with John Geilgud and was a major success.-Adaptation:...
(1939) and Set to Music
Set to Music
Set to Music is a musical revue with sketches, music and lyrics by Noël Coward.Produced by John C. Wilson, the Broadway production opened on January 15, 1939 at the Music Box Theatre, where it ran for 129 performances...
(1939).
Calthrop continued to work as a designer in Britain until 1964. She also designed some films, including four Coward adaptations, in the 1940s. In 1940 she published her first and only novel, Paper Pattern. During World War II, she served in the Mechanical Transport Corps. She also illustrated the Noel Coward Song Book (1953). She died at the age of 85.
Stage works
The dates given are for the West EndWest End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
productions unless otherwise specified:
- The Vortex, (Everyman, Hampstead); Dick WhittingtonDick Whittington and His CatDick Whittington and His Cat is an English folk tale that has often been used as the basis for stage pantomimes and other adaptations. It tells of a poor boy in the 14th century who becomes a wealthy merchant and eventually the Lord Mayor of London because of the ratting abilities of his cat...
(1924) - Spring Cleaning; On With the DanceOn With the Dance (musical)This article is about the 1925 musical revue. For the 1920 film, see On with the Dance . For the 1975 Upstairs, Downstairs episode, see On With the Dance....
; Easy VirtueEasy Virtue (play)Easy Virtue is a three-act play by Noël Coward. He wrote it in 1924 when he was 25 years old, and it is his 16th play. The play had a successful first run in New York in 1925 and then opened in London in 1926...
; Hay FeverHay FeverHay Fever is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1924 and first produced in 1925 with Marie Tempest as the first Judith Bliss. Laura Hope Crews played the role in New York...
(1925) - The Queen Was in the ParlourThe Queen Was in the ParlourThe Queen Was in the Parlour: a romance in three acts is a play by the English writer Noel Coward. Belonging to the Ruritanian romance genre, its title is drawn from a line in the nursery rhyme Sing a Song of Sixpence...
(1926) - Home Chat; SiroccoSiroccoSirocco, scirocco, , jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and reaches hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe. It is known in North Africa by the Arabic word qibli or ghibli Sirocco, scirocco, , jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind...
; The Cradle Song (Broadway) (1927) - This Year of GraceThis Year of GraceThis Year of Grace is a revue with a book, music, and lyrics by Noël Coward.It opened in London on March 22, 1928 at the London Pavilion and ran nearly ten months, with a cast featuring Sonnie Hale, Maisie Gay, Jessie Matthews, Sheilah Graham and Tilly Losch among others. Doris Zinkeisen was one of...
(revue); Come With Me (1928) - The Cradle Song; The Master BuilderThe Master BuilderThe Master Builder is a play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It was first published in December 1892 and is regarded as one of Ibsen's most significant and revealing works.-Performance:...
; Bitter SweetBitter SweetBitter Sweet is an operetta in three acts written by Noël Coward and first produced in 1929 at Her Majesty's Theatre in London. It ran for a very successful 967 performances....
(Broadway); The Black Ace (1929) - Private LivesPrivate LivesPrivate Lives is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It focuses on a divorced couple who discover that they are honeymooning with their new spouses in neighbouring rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetually stormy relationship, they realise that they still have feelings for...
; Autumn CrocusAutumn Crocus (play)Autumn Crocus is a 1931 play by the British writer Dodie Smith. It was Smith's first play written under the pseudonym of C.L. Anthony. It follows a single schoolteacher who goes on holiday to the Tyrol and falls in love with the married owner of the hotel in which she is staying.Directed by Basil...
; Bitter SweetBitter SweetBitter Sweet is an operetta in three acts written by Noël Coward and first produced in 1929 at Her Majesty's Theatre in London. It ran for a very successful 967 performances....
, CavalcadeCavalcade (play)Cavalcade is a play by Noël Coward. It focuses on three decades in the life of the Marryotts, a quintessential British family, and their servants, beginning at the start of the 20th century and ending on New Year's Eve in 1929....
(1931) - Words and MusicWords and Music (musical)Words and Music is a musical revue with sketches, music, lyrics and direction by Noël Coward. The revue introduced the song "Mad About the Boy", which, according to The Noël Coward Society's website, is Coward's most popular song...
(1932) - Three SistersThree Sisters (play)Three Sisters is a play by Russian author and playwright Anton Chekhov, perhaps partially inspired by the situation of the three Brontë sisters, but most probably by the three Zimmermann sisters in Perm...
; Design for LivingDesign for LivingDesign for Living is a comedy play written by Noël Coward in 1932. It concerns a trio of artistic characters, Gilda, Otto and Leo, and their complicated three-way relationship. Originally written to star Lynn Fontanne, Alfred Lunt and Coward, it was premiered on Broadway, partly because its risqué...
(Broadway) (1933) - Conversation PieceConversation Piece (musical)Conversation Piece, billed as "A Romantic Comedy with Music", is a musical written by Noel Coward. It premiered at His Majesty's Theatre, London, on 16 February 1934, and ran for 177 performances over five months...
(1934) - Point Valaine (Broadway) (1935)
- Mademoiselle; Tonight at 8:30Tonight at 8:30Tonight at 8.30 is a cycle of ten one-act plays by Noël Coward. In the introduction to a published edition of the plays, Coward wrote, "A short play, having a great advantage over a long one in that it can sustain a mood without technical creaking or over padding, deserves a better fate, and if,...
(Broadway) (1936)
- Excursion (Broadway); You Can't Take it With You (1937)
- Operette; Jack and the Beanstalk (1938)
- All Clear; Dear OctopusDear Octopus (play)Dear Octopus is 1938 play by the British writer Dodie Smith. It was first staged at the Queen's Theatre with John Geilgud and was a major success.-Adaptation:...
(Broadway); Set to MusicSet to MusicSet to Music is a musical revue with sketches, music and lyrics by Noël Coward.Produced by John C. Wilson, the Broadway production opened on January 15, 1939 at the Music Box Theatre, where it ran for 129 performances...
(Broadway) (1939) - Cousin Muriel (1940)
- No Time for Comedy; Blithe SpiritBlithe Spirit (play)Blithe Spirit is a comic play written by Noël Coward which takes its title from Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem "To a Skylark" . The play concerns socialite and novelist Charles Condomine, who invites the eccentric medium and clairvoyant, Madame Arcati, to his house to conduct a séance, hoping to...
(1941) - Present LaughterPresent LaughterPresent Laughter is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1939 and first staged in 1942 on tour, alternating with his lower middle-class domestic drama This Happy Breed...
; This Happy BreedThis Happy BreedThis Happy Breed is a play by Noël Coward. It was written in 1939 but, because of the outbreak of World War II, it was not staged until 1942, when it was performed on alternating nights with another Coward play, Present Laughter. The two plays later alternated with Coward's Blithe Spirit...
(1943) - The Gay Pavilion (1945)
- Pacific 1860Pacific 1860Pacific 1860 is a musical written by Noël Coward. The story is set in a fictional Pacific British Colony during the reign of Queen Victoria. It involves a visiting Prima Donna and her conflict between love and career...
(1946) - Present Laughter; Peace In Our TimePeace In Our Time (play)Peace In Our Time is a two-act play written in 1946 by Noel Coward. It has 8 scenes and a cast of 22 speaking roles. The play focuses on a small group of Londoners in a pub close to Sloane Square, in an alternate past where Germany won the Battle of Britain and successfully invaded and occupied...
(1947) - Ace of ClubsAce of Clubs (musical)Ace of Clubs is a 1950 musical written, composed and directed by Noël Coward. The show is set in a 1949 London nightclub called "Ace of Clubs". Nightclub singer Pinkie Leroy falls in love with a sailor. Pinkie and her lover get mixed up with gangsters, a lost package and a missing diamond necklace...
(1950) - The Vortex (1952)
- The Edwardians (1959)
- The Bröntes (recital, 1964)
Filmography
- In Which We ServeIn Which We ServeIn Which We Serve is a 1942 British patriotic war film directed by David Lean and Noël Coward. It was made during the Second World War with the assistance of the Ministry of Information ....
(1942) - This Happy BreedThis Happy Breed (film)This Happy Breed is a 1944 British drama film directed by David Lean. The screenplay by Lean, Anthony Havelock-Allan and Ronald Neame is based on the 1939 play of the same title by Noël Coward...
(1944) - Brief EncounterBrief EncounterBrief Encounter is a 1945 British film directed by David Lean about the conventions of British suburban life, centring on a housewife for whom real love brings unexpectedly violent emotions. The film stars Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway and Joyce Carey...
; Blithe SpiritBlithe Spirit (film)Blithe Spirit is a British fantasy comedy film directed by David Lean. The screenplay by Lean, Anthony Havelock-Allan, Ronald Neame, and Noël Coward is based on Coward's 1941 play of the same name...
(1945) - The Fighting O'FlynnThe Fighting O'FlynnThe Fighting O'Flynn is a 1949 American film that was directed by Arthur Pierson. The film's screenplay by Douglas Fairbanks Jr. is based on the novel of the same name by Justin Huntly McCarthy. The film starred Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as The O'Flynn, Helena Carter as Lady Benedetta, Richard Greene...
(1949) - The Astonished HeartThe Astonished Heart (film)The Astonished Heart is a 1950 drama film directed by Terence Fisher. It stars Celia Johnson and Noel Coward and is based on his play The Astonished Heart.-Plot:...
(1950)
External links
- "Gladys E. Calthrop" at the IBDB database
- G. E. Calthrop at the IMDB database
- "Gladys Calthrop". Images at the National Portrait Gallery
- Image of Calthrop and Coward, 1924
- Painting by Calthrop