Record Number: 31662

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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'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

24 Jan 1940

Country:

England

Time

evening

Place:

city: Reading
county: Berkshire
specific address: Hillsborough, 4 Glebe Road

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary reactive unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Muriel Stevens

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

n/a

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

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Text Being Read:

Author:

William Makepeace Thackeray

Title:

Vanity Fair

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Unknown

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

31662

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=31662, accessed: 16 April 2024

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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).