Quality Street

★★★★ FOUR STARS THE GUARDIAN
NAMED IN TOP 5 CRITICS’ CHOICE IN THE GUARDIAN
★★★★ FOUR STARS LONDON THEATRE REVIEWS
★★★★★ FIVE STARS REMOTEGOAT
NUMBER 1 IN THE ALTERNATIVE TOP 5 – BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE

“With characteristic audacity, the Finborough has chosen to revive this 1902 Regency-set comedy…Louise Hill’s sparkling production reminds one of Barrie’s playful ingenuity and creates some astonishing reverberations…Superbly confected and reminds one that the British dramatic repertory is kept alive largely by small, impoverished theatres like the Finborough.” Michael Billington, The Guardian

Following her sell-out production of J.M. Barrie’s What Every Woman Knows (Time Out Critics’ Choice, ★★★★ Four Stars, The Times, ★★★★ Four Stars, Time Out) at the Finborough Theatre in July this year, director Louise Hill returns to the Finborough Theatre with another rediscovery of a classic comedy by J.M. Barrie to celebrate the 150th anniversary of his birth – his magical 1901 play Quality Street.

Set in the time of the Napoleonic wars, Quality Street is a tale of romance, enchantment and the transformative power of love. As snow falls in Quality Street, Dr Valentine Brown enlists in the army, leaving Miss Phoebe Throssel broken-hearted. Undaunted, she and her sister Susan set up a school and resign themselves to a life of algebra, headaches and unruly pupils.

Ten years pass and a victorious army returns from the Battle of Waterloo. A ball is thrown in their honour, but the years have taken their toll and Phoebe’s dancing days are done. At the ball, every soldier is entranced by a mysterious beauty whom no one has seen before. Will Captain Brown also fall under her spell, or is it still possible to right the wrongs of a decade ago?

Quality Street explores a favourite theme of Barrie’s – the possibility of second chances – in a touching, magical and poignant account of love delayed but not lost.

Quality Street originally opened at the Knickerbocker Theatre, New York, in 1901, produced by Charles Frohman. It then opened at the Vaudeville Theatre, London, in September 1902 and ran for a very successful 459 performances, starring Ellaline Terriss, Seymour Hicks and Marion Terry. It has been unseen in London since 1946. It was filmed in 1927 and again in 1937 with Katharine Hepburn. The play was also the inspiration behind the name of Nestle’s famous sweets which for many years used characters from the play in their advertising.