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Martins Bank Society of the Arts (Music Section) in The Beggar’s
Opera by John Gay
Staged: 12th to 16th February 1952 at the Crane Theatre Liverpool
 February 1952
sees the death of His Majesty King George VI, a massive blow to a country
still appreciative of the role he and Queen Elizabeth played in the Second
World War, and of his sense of duty in becoming King upon the abdication of
his brother Edward VIII. Life must go
on however, and the following week Martins Bank Society of the Arts Stages
“The Beggar’s Opera” at the Crane Theatre in Liverpool. No-one would or could expect these two
events to be associated with each other, but this is clearly in the mind of
Martins Bank Magazine as it attempts rather tenuously to defend the
Production from some adverse criticism in the local press. Their article
continues by giving any number of reasons why perhaps this Opera should NOT
have been staged, ranging from “bawdiness” to “a lack of popular tunes” and
“a score that can only be satisfied by near-professionals”. At the same time,
a number of individuals are praised for their excellence, so this has to be
one of the most unusual and inconsistent reviews of a performance, by the
Magazine. We have searched the local newspapers from February 1952 to see if
we can find what exactly is being said. However, only one article has so far
come to light, from the Runcorn Weekly News (you can read it further down
this page), and there is no hint of any adverse criticism for “The Beggar’s
Opera”…
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 Those
who have read the press criticisms of the Music Section's production of
“The Beggar's Opera” at Crane Theatre for five nights, February 12th to
16th, may have received the impression that our show was somewhat roughly
handled. It was, of course,
unfortunate that the week of production was that following the death of our
beloved King: neither the players nor their audiences were in the right
mood to get the best out of this opera. The performances improved each
night, however, and by the last night the standard was well up to amateur
standard. Our own criticism is mainly of the choice of this somewhat bawdy
opera, well-known though it is. It
is a difficult opera for amateurs, as the first act lacks opportunity for
chorus work and makes demands of the actors and the solo voices which can
only be satisfied by near-professionals.
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Macheath (E W Gittins) with the ladies of the town
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Macheath (E W Gittins) with the beggars of the town
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It does not contain many popular
tunes and the sordid setting and dialogue stray rather far from the realm
of light entertainment, which is all our audiences ask. J. Balfour
Thompson, who also produced, made a very good job of the Fagin-like
character of Peachum and was very well matched by Eugenie Koop as Mrs.
Peachum. The part of Polly Peachum was played by Brenda Stephens, whose
voice has developed and improved very pleasingly and whose acting of the
part was charming. Betty Spencer Hayes as Lucy Lockit put over a
performance of hate and vindictiveness which was quite startling to those
who know her off stage and her singing was equal to the demands of the
part. Brenda and Betty were very well paired in this opera. E. W. Gittins
as the profligate and villainous Macheath sang, in our opinion, better than
he has sung in any opera since the Society was formed, and his
characterisation was quite convincing.
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Jean Hayes J Balfour Thompson Colin d’Arcy Skelton Bill Brookes
Jas Robertshaw Sandra Jones Kathleen M Tiplady and Betty Parker
Image © Martins Bank Archive
Collections – Colin d’Arcy Skelton
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Betty Spencer-Hayes E W Gittins and Brenda Stephens
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Sheila Mealey was the
discovery of the production and though the part of Jenny Diver was not a large
one she was outstanding: we shall hear more of her in the future. We cannot
help but agree with all sections of the press in their praise of Bill
Brookes for his portrayal of the beggar. It was a little gem, both of
make-up and acting. Colin Skelton's performance as the Player was also
extremely creditable. As for the members of Macheath's gang, as a crowd or
as individuals they were quite excellent and what a relief it was when we
reached this stage of the performance to hear some really good chorus work
as a change from all the solo numbers.
Other principals who made a valuable contribution to the performance
were Jas. Robertshaw as Lockit, Albert Jones as Filch, George Oxton as Mat
of the Mint, Anne M. Proven as Diana Trapes, P. L. Tiplady as the Drawer
and C. E. Bresnan as the Turnkey. The members of Macheath's gang were R.
Bretherton, F. W. Cowan, R. G. Dakin, R. Fairclough, F. A. Goodman, S. A.
Greenhalgh and A. P. Swinton. The women of the town were portrayed by
Barbara O. Butler, Ursula M. Clarke, JoyceV.
Comes, Jean Hayes, Audrey Jennings, Evelyn Jones, Muriel Jones, Sandra
Jones, Betty Parker, Lillian M. Stubbs, Kathleen M. Tiplady and Mildred M.
Williams. H. Spencer Hayes was the Hon. Musical Director and Harold F.
Boothman the Hon. Accompanist.
 “At Liverpool, in Opera”…
Miss Betty Spencer Hayes of Runcorn further established
her reputation as a singer and actress when, on the closing four nights of
last week, she filled the role of Lucy Lockit in “The Beggar’s Opera”. The
performance presented by the Martins Bank society of The Arts, was held at
Crane theatre, Liverpool.
Miss Hayes won the approbation of the Press critics
who congratulated her upon “taking this ‘waspish’ character extremely well
and with great spirit” and “upon attacking the music of Lucy with most
refreshing vigour”.
Her father, Mr H Spencer Hayes, the musical
director and conductor ,had the assistance of a well-balanced orchestra as,
with discretion, he handled the lovely airs.
Runcorn
Weekly News, 22 February 1952
Image and Text © Reach PLC and Find my Past,
created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.
Image and Text reproduced with kind permission
of The British Newspaper Archive
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Intellectual Property Rights © Martins Bank
Archive Collections 1988 to date.
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