 A COUNTRY GIRL
or Town and Country Life
a musical play in two acts; libretto by James T Tanner. Lyrics
by Adrian Ross. Additional lyrics by Percy Greenbank. Music
by Lionel Monckton. Additional songs by Paul Rubens.
Daly's Theatre, London, 18 January 1902
Daly's Theatre, New York, 22 September 1902 (112 perfs)
Herald Square Theatre 29 May 1911
L'Olympia, Paris, October 1904
Synopsis
ACT 1
Squire Challenor presided benevolently over the little country
village where his manor house lay, and disposed of much of his family
fortune in an attempt to alleviate the local unemployment problem
by reopening the tin mines which had once been the region's principal
source of income. The Squire's son, Geoffrey, spent his youth in
the company of Marjorie Joy and occasionally with the village flirt,
Nan.
On the Squire's death, Geoffrey found he needed to find a way
to replenish his funds. Leasing the manor to the rich and ambitious
Sir Joseph Verity, Geoffrey set off to sea to seek his fortune.
Marjorie too left the village but Nan stayed at home spending time
with Sir Joseph and his son Douglas and a number of other gentlemen.
At the opening of act one it is five years since Geoffrey left
the village, and the Veritys are well installed at the manor. Sir
Joseph has plans for Douglas to be elected to Parliament for the
borough. And he has even more pressing intentions of a different
kind towards the influential society lady, Mrs Quinton Raikes, recently
legally decreed a widow following the disappearance of her husband
in the Himalayas.
Mrs Raikes keeps him at an arm's length but although she has position,
she is distinctly short of money. She agrees that Madam Sophie should
stay at the manor as a friend to compensate for not being able to
pay her bill. Sophie is in seventh heaven, for this is the village
where she grew up and she is delighted to be able to show her old
friends how she has risen in the world.
While the electioneering, the flirting and the social-climbing
go on, Geoffrey Challoner and his faithful factotum Barry arrive
back in town. Barry swiftly gets the local situation weighed up
and sees that the villagers would much prefer to elect Geoffrey
to Parliament than the unenthusiastic Douglas. Douglas can't make
any serious progress with either the electorate or, more importantly
to him, with Nan.
It is the homecoming season in Devonshire, for Marjorie joy has
also come back from London where, unbeknown to all at home, she
has become a singing star under an assumed name. She is longing
to see Geoffrey again. Although she is now a fine lady, she wants
him to find her as he left her and, hiding her fine clothes, she
dons her old blue dress and sunbonnet for their meeting.
Geoffrey's ship has come from the Orient and he has brought with
him some Eastern passengers, the Rajah of Bhong and his intended
bride, the Princess Mehelaneh. They are by no means a traditional
pair, for the Rajah is an Englishman and the Princess a young lady
of a distinctly feminist turn. She has insisted on being brought
to Britain to be presented at the local Emperor's court before her
marriage to the Rajah, and he is strangely anxious to get their
business over and leave the country again.
The cause of his fears is made plain when he bumps into Lord Anchester,
an old acquaintance from the days when he was an Englishman. The
Rajah, it appears, was once the husband of Mrs Quinton Raikes. It
was to escape his wife that he went off to the Himalayas. When he
is informed that, according to British law, he is dead he is quite
happy to remain that way. The Princess, on the other hand, is not
so anxious to be on her way. She has learned from Barry that in
England one may choose (within reason) one's preferred spouse and
she is soon busy sizing up alternatives to her nervous Rajah.
Barry has been having a fine time whipping up support for Geoffrey's
unwitting Parliamentary candidature. Now he has an attempt at filling
his master's empty purse by selling off the worthless old tin mine
to Verity on the pretext that providing work for the locals will
earn his son the votes he needs to win the election. He also indulges
in a bit of chit-chat with a fancy lady from the manor only to find
that she is no lady but his old sweetheart, Sophie.
Barry's meddling produces problems as well as successes. The Princess,
who has installed herself at the manor, has decided that her choice
of husband shall be Geoffrey whom she will set up at her side in
her native land. Barry is delighted at such an advantageous bit
of matchmaking and, without realising the harm he is doing, talks
about the affair to Marjorie Joy. As the finale begins, and the
villagers welcome Geoffrey to the polls, the Princess publicly stakes
her claim. Geoffrey, politely kissing her hand, declines the oriental
match. Marjorie, who has seen only the kiss, has gone, back to London
and the stage.
ACT 2
At Lord Anchester's London house a bal à la Directoire is being held to which all the principals in turn arrive to join
in the ensemble. There is Nan, the Rajah accompanied by the Princess,
desperately avoiding his widowed wife and longing for the happy
land of Bhong, Sophie, still under the social protection of Mrs
Raikes who clearly hasn't yet paid her dressmaker's bill, and Marjorie
Joy in her London persona as Miss Montague exerting a strange fascination
over Geoffrey who finds in her an amazing resemblance to his lost
sweetheart. Most surprisingly, there is Barry, disguised as an old
lady to get in past the doorman.
Nan has another go at the Princess who has still not renounced
her pretensions to Geoffrey, while Barry ends up quarelling with
Sophie who has seen through his disguise and is determined to give
him plenty to be jealous about. Sir Joseph Verity, on the other
hand has not penetrated the disguise and makes such heavy approaches
to the 'lady' that Barry is obliged to seek refuge in the arms of
the surprised Rajah.
In the hearing of Miss Montague, Geoffrey squarely refuses the
Princess's renewed offer in favour of the love of his 'little country
girl' and, when Lord Anchester requests the actress to favour the
company with a song, she obliges revealing her double identity to
a grateful Geoffrey. In the gilded galleries of Belgravia, the simple
country girl gets her simple country boy while the rest of the company
pair off in happy imitation.
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