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Charley's Aunt was first performed in England in 1892. It opened in America in 1893, it was the basis for the hit Broadway musical Where's Charley? written by Frank Loesser and starring Ray Bolger, and it has been produced many times in radio and television formats. t has been filmed nine times, has been translated into virtually every language (in Russia it was titled Hello I'm Your Auntie) and there was a Danish musical version. Short of Shakespeare, this has been one of the most performed plays worldwide.
So, why? What makes it unique? What makes Charley’s Aunt so successful? The first reason is that it is delightfully funny - crazily funny in fact. It’s premise, which relies on the manners of the time, may seem outdated, but in this classic, we find ourselves relating to the errors made in the name of love.
Aside from its obvious comedy, what makes the play exceptional is that it is joyful and good-natured; there is no skepticism found in this play. We follow very reasonable people caught in a very unreasonable situation. The sweet courtships, the lovely manners, the dashing gentlemen and beautiful ladies are brought together in a perfectly created farce that holds absolutely no ill will.
John Simon, theatre critic, wrote that a play becomes a “classic” when it survives the test of time. This play has endured for 118 years, and I hope will go on for many hundreds more.
The University of Tennessee | College of Arts & Sciences | UTK Theatre Department | Knoxville, Tennessee 37996 | 865-974-5161
