JEANNIE By Aimée Stuart Comes to Finborough Theatre

A 1930s comedy for Christmas, Jeannie by rediscovered female playwright Aimée Stuart will open at the Finborough Theatre for a four-week limited season on Tuesday, 27 November 2018 (Press Nights: Thursday, 29 November and Friday, 30 November 2018 at 7.30pm).

It is 1936 in a "wee one-eyed" town in Scotland. Jeannie is a drudge for her mean controlling father, but dreams of a different life. When she receives a large inheritance, she seizes the opportunity to finally escape to the glamour and sophistication of European travel.

During her stay in Vienna, she encounters Stanley, a washing machine inventor from Yorkshire, and then a real Viennese Count. But Jeannie is no pushover. She knows her own mind, she is a stickler for the truth, and she hates scroungers...

A 1930s version of the Cinderella story, Jeannie is a charming light romantic comedy, ideal for the Christmas season, and unseen in London since 1940.

Jeannie's author Aimée Stuart was one of the West End's most successful female playwrights between the wars - and a fascinating character in her own right - staunchly feminist, and never afraid to tackle controversial subjects which led to some of her plays being banned by the Lord Chamberlain. The original production of Jeannie was an instant hit, transferring both to the West End and Broadway and turning Barbara Mullen who played the title role into a star overnight. It was also filmed with Michael Redgrave and Kay Hammond.

Playwright Aimée Stuart (1886-1981) was born in Glasgow. She first came to prominence when she wrote the passionate memoir, An Airman's Wife (1918). Two further novels were published before she began to write plays with Philip Stuart including Nine Till Six (1930). Jeannie (1936) was the first play she wrote after his early death, followed by a string of further hits including the almost-openly lesbian play Love of Women (1937) and Lace On Her Petticoat (1951). Many of her plays were made into films, and she also wrote additional dialogue for a number of acclaimed films including Leslie Howard's The Gentle Sex (1943) and The Wicked Lady (1945).

Director Nicolette Kay returns to the Finborough Theatre where she directed Seed, Love Child and Hurried Steps. She is Artistic Director of New Shoes Theatre and has directed and toured work in venues as diverse as NIDA in Sydney, Battersea Arts Centre, Lancaster Playhouse, the MAC and the Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh. Her productions and co-translations of plays written by the highly respected feminist writer Dacia Maraini have been featured in publications and anthologies worldwide. She trained as an actress at the Drama Centre London and played leading roles for the Cambridge Theatre Company, in repertory, The Gate Theatre and The Young Vic.

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