1905 – Frederick Harrison & Cyril Maude

Frederick Harrison & Cyril Maude

Tree was followed by Frederick Harrison and Cyril Maude, the latter of whom, in 1905, left to take over the Playhouse Theatre. Harrison however stayed on until his death in 1927. The era was filled with fascinating productions, not least Somerset Maugham’s first venture in playwriting, ‘Lady Frederick’, Maeterlinck’s charming parable ‘The Blue Bird’, Ibsen’s ‘Ghosts’ and J M Barrie’s ‘Mary Rose’, starring the young Fay Compton, who was to return playing ‘Ophelia’; to John Barrymore’s ‘Hamlet’.