1066 - AND ALL THAT A Comic History with Music in Three Acts Book and Lyrics by REGINALD ARKELL; Music by ALFRED REYNOLDS Based on the Memorable History of the Same Name by W. C. SELLAR and R. J. YEATMAN. The play produced by HERBERT M. PRENTICE in association with ARCHIBALD DE BEAR. The Orchestra under the direction of ALFRED REYNOLDS Produced at the Strand Theatre, London, 1935 The complete programme and original cast members' names. "What good did history ever do me?" moans the Common Man, settling down for a nap while his wife and son traipse round the waxworks. His dreams recall those items from long-ago school lessons most likely to stick, however imperfectly, in the non-historian's mind: Alfred burning the cakes; Canute inventing sea bathing; King John losing his washing, and Henry VI marrying VIII wives - or vice versa. From the Roman Conquest to the Space Age, history is hilariously proved to consist only of the bits you can vaguely remember. Each scene is complete in itself with linking comments from a Compère. For the Chorus Boundless opportunities for full employment, for Sir Francis Drake may have to be a Roman soldier in the first sketch, and a stage-door Johnnie by the Naughty Nineties; while Nell Gwynn might first have appeared as a Crusader's erring wife, and returns as a Gaiety Girl. The suggested doubling schedule calls for a minimum of eight girls and fifteen men but, obviously, the more the merrier. This history (!) is subject to infinite variety in the hands of an inventive producer. The Roles Apart from the Common Man and the Compère, few of the characters appear in more than one scene - but with almost a hundred characters to cover in the complete work there is plenty of scope The Scenes There are twenty-six scenes, nearly all played in curtains with a few properties to each sketch. One or two drop-cloths are suggested to give added interest to some episodes, but the Wardrobe Mistress is likely to be busier than the Stage Manager MUSICAL NUMBERS: We're Going Home When This Old War's Fini Beards The Four Georges The Same Old Hat The Puritan and the Cavalier King Canute
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