Trilby Sub Title Newly Adapted by Micheál Mac Liammoir from the Novel by George du Maurier with Sally Travers AUTHOR Micheál Mac Liammóir, Sally Travers Notes A Note on the Costumes: The sense of recent period, of the humour and nostalgia of the dresses and manners of the last generation but one so widely popular today, was not in vogue in the nineties. George du Maurier published "Trilby" in 1895 and in his novel described a phase of Parisian life that had existed in his youth some thirty years previously. According to his dates, Trilby herself should appear in a crinoline and her male contemporaries in the bottle-green frock coats and peg-top trousers of the '50s and '60s. Yet in his famous illustrations we behold his characters arrayed in the unmistakeable fashions of the last decade of the century. In this production I have endeavoured to follow the date of the black and white drawings rather than that of the text of this masterpiece of sentiment and sensation. Micheal Mac Liammoir Setting A studio in the Place de St. Anatole des Arts, Paris. A corridor of the Salle des Baschibazoucks, Paris. Synopsis Du Maurier's melodrama romantises the bohmemian life of artists. Trilby is a working-class model for a studio in Paris, where she is in love with one of the artists, Little Billee, but cannot marry him, because he's upper class. He becomes famous for his work in London, while she is taken on by Svengali, a musician and hypnotist, who teaches her how to sing beautifully under his spell and she becomes the adored opera singer La Svengali. Adapted/Translated From George Du Maurier PLAY TYPE Adaptation/Translation Number of Acts Full-Length Cast Size Male 22 Cast Size Female 15 Casting Notes Cast Doubling is possible. See Original Production for details. Date of First Production 23 September 1946 Production Presented by Edwards-Mac Liammoir Gate Theatre Productions ORIGINAL VENUE Gaiety Theatre Original Cast Rev. Thomas Bagot Norman Barrs Members of the Audience Nuala Bigger Dodo Denis Brennan Members of the Audience Denis Brennan Members of the Audience Desmond Burne Members of the Audience Diana Campbell Mrs. Bagot Betty Clein Members of the Audience Richard Doyle Taffy Nigel Fitzgerald Gecko Liam Gannon Members of the Audience Mollie Hammond Marthe Beverlie Hooberman Members of the Audience Beverlie Hooberman Members of the Audience Celia Howlin Members of the Audience Dympna Hurll Angele Patricia Kennedy (1) M. Boissy Robert Lepler First Attendant Thomas Lyons Honorine Kay Maher Svengeli Anew McMaster Billee Christopher McMaster Fernande Alexis Milne Members of the Audience Alexis Milne Members of the Audience Richard Murphy Members of the Audience Terence Murray Zouzon James Neylin Members of the Audience James Neylin M. Alexandre Vinard Thomas Nolan Members of the Audience Tom Nolan Sandy Joseph O'Dea Members of the Audience Claudia Ronaldson Members of the Audience Jim Scott Second Attendant John Sheridan (1) Claire Elaine Shillman Members of the Audience Elaine Shillman Trilby Sally Travers Madame Vinard Ginette Waddell Production Team Director Hilton Edwards Set Designer Joss Farrell Lighting Designer Hilton Edwards Costume Designer Micheál Mac Liammóir Musical Director Ernest Broadhurst Manager Hamlyn Benson Set Construction Frank Caffrey (1) Set Painter Peter Dunne Set Painter Joss Farrell Costume Construction Bridie Caffrey CLICK HERE for information on script availability, production rights and translations for this play The information for this entry was taken from the original production programme Printer friendly version