Thark is a farce by the English playwright Ben Travers. It was first given at the Aldwych Theatre, London, the fourth in the series of twelve Aldwych farces presented at the theatre by the actor-manager Tom Walls between 1923 and 1933. It starred the same cast members as many of the other Aldwych farces. The story concerns a reputedly haunted English country house. Investigators and frightened occupants of the house spend a tense night searching for the ghost.
The piece opened on 4 July 1927 and ran for nearly a year. Travers made a film adaptation, which Walls directed in 1932, with most of the leading members of the stage cast reprising their roles.
Background
The actor-manager Tom Walls produced the series of Aldwych farces, nearly all written by Ben Travers, and starring himself and Ralph Lynn, who specialised in playing "silly ass" characters. Walls assembled a regular company of actors to fill the supporting roles, including Robertson Hare, who played a figure of put-upon respectability; Mary Brough in eccentric old lady roles; Ethel Coleridge as the severe voice of authority; Winifred Shotter as the sprightly young female lead; and the saturnine Gordon James.
Walls and his team had already enjoyed three substantial hits at the Aldwych, with It Pays to Advertise (1923), which had run for 598 performances; A Cuckoo in the Nest (1925, 376 performances); and Rookery Nook (1926, 409 performances).
Thark was Travers's third playscript for the company, and his first original plot, following two earlier adaptations from his novels. The play opened on 4 July 1927 and ran for 401 performances until 16 June 1928.
Original cast
Hook – Robertson Hare
Warner – Ann Furrell
Cherry Buck – Ena Mason
Lionel Frush – Kenneth Kove
Mrs Frush – Mary Brough
Sir Hector Benbow – Tom Walls
Ronald Gamble – Ralph Lynn
Lady Benbow – Ethel Coleridge
Kitty Stratton – Winifred Shotter
Jones – Gordon James
Whittle – Hastings Lynn
Synopsis
Act I
Sir Hector Benbow's library in his flat in Mayfair. An autumn evening. Benbow is the legal guardian of Kitty Stratton. On her behalf he has negotiated the sale of her large country house, Thark, to the nouveau riche Mrs Frush. Owing to a misunderstanding with his butler, Hook, and maid, Warner, Benbow has two conflicting dinner dates. One is with Mrs Frush, who is now unhappy about buying the house; the other is with Cherry Buck, a young woman on whom Benbow's roving eye has lighted. Both engagements are at risk because Lady Benbow, who is away, has unexpectedly declared her intention of returning home forthwith. Benbow asks his nephew Ronny to look after Cherry; Ronny agrees to do so, though worried that his fiancée, Kitty, will be unreasonably jealous if she finds out that he has been taking other young women to dinner à deux. Kitty arrives. Ronny resourcefully makes out that he is taking Mrs Frush to dinner on behalf of Sir Hector. He is alone in the room when Cherry is announced. In panic he introduces her to Lady Benbow and Kitty as Mrs Frush, whom neither has met. Cherry plays along with him, out of mischief, as does Sir Hector, out of necessity. Ronny is leaving with the supposed Mrs Frush when the real one is shown in. Lady Benbow and Kitty jump to more-or-less correct conclusions.
Act II
The same. Next morning
Ronny sends Hook to bring Cherry back to the flat to explain to Kitty that Ronny is innocent. Mrs Frush's son Lionel falls for Kitty, exchanges barbed banter with Ronny, and rushes off to buy flowers for Kitty. Cherry returns, but in exonerating Ronny she necessarily incriminates Sir Hector. A precarious domestic harmony is restored. Lionel returns and is much taken with Cherry, whom he invites to lunch. Mrs Frush arrives and complains to Benbow that she has bought the house without being warned that it is haunted. Kitty, conscience-stricken, offers to go to Thark to investigate the supposed ghost. Ronny insists on accompanying her. Lady Benbow does likewise, and reluctantly Benbow agrees to join them. He recruits a highly nervous Hook to complete the party.