Basil Rathbone: The Painted Laugh

A four-act play by Leonid Andreyev (translated by Khyva St. Albans with assistance of I. Afonin and O. Tubukin). Performed at the Garrick Theatre in London on November 16 and 25, 1921. Producers: Oswald Marshall, Khyva St. Albans; Stage Manager: Eric Lugg; Scenic Design: Zarah Alexeieva; Scenery: James A. Fraser; Music: Lucien Wurmser; Costumes: H. and M. Rayne, Max Berman; Wigs: William Clarkson, Gustave; Licensee and Lessee: Charles B. Cochran; Presenter: Zarah Alexeieva

The Painted Laugh is an adaptation of Leonid Andreyev's Russian circus play He Who Gets Slapped, written in 1916. The underlying theme is the eternal struggle between the rich man and the poor man, and the love of a woman.

The story is about a poor scientist named Tot, who became a clown in a circus after his ideas were stolen by a wealthy baron. He performs stunts, he gets slaps, and the public laughs. Tot falls in love with Consuela, the lovely young equestrienne. She is also being wooed simultaneously by Bezano the jockey, and by the rich (and old) Baron Renyar.

Consuela, who has a keen perception of the advantages of riches, decides to marry the Baron, but Tot, who knows of the Baron's wickedness, urges her to take instead either himself or the jockey. She declines, whereupon he incites the jockey to kill the Baron and carry her off. The jockey, however, is conventional in his loving, and will have none of it. In order to "save" Consuela from the wicked Baron, Tot poisons Consuela and himself. The Baron obligingly commits suicide.

Khyvia St. Albans, an American actress, worked with I. Afonin and O. Tubukin to translate Andreyev's melodrama from the Russian. In September 1921, she arrived in England and entered into an arrangement with Mr. Julian Frank, who was presenting The Edge o' Beyond at the Garrick Theatre, to rent that theatre for a series of twelve matinees of The Painted Laugh. The Edge o' Beyond had matinees on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, leaving Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays available for The Painted Laugh.

She engaged Basil Rathbone, Margaret Halston, and a few other British stage actors to play the leading roles. The rest of the cast were Russian actors, most of whom were refugees.

The company rehearsed for five weeks. Special scenery was made, elaborate costumes were designed, and special music for the production was composed by Lucien Wurmser, of the Odeon, Paris.

In her autobiography, Champagne from my Slipper, Ruby Miller, star of The Edge o' Beyond, recalled, "Miss St. Albans, who lacked nothing in self-confidence, promised to show English actresses how to act in her portrayal of Consuela. It was all very intriguing and, eager to be taught, I attended the first performance with Lady Annesley and Gertrude Page. Despite the wonderful acting of Basil, Margaret, and the unfortunate refugees, I was far from impressed. Miss St. Albans gave what I thought to be a dire performance, and the gallery expressed their feelings in no uncertain manner. The next day the press did not bandy words about her."

After the first matinee performance on Wednesday, November 16, reviews were harsh.

"A Russian play 'The Painted Laugh,' by Leonid Andreieff, just staged at a London matinee, is one of those things that make people wonder why they were thought worth doing. It is a play of circus life, full of talk. For two acts nothing happens, and the audience becomes tired and bewildered." —The Yorkshire Evening Post, November 17, 1921

The Painted Laugh

The strange medley of characters presented in the above play had but a short life. The principal personage is Tot, a clown, who in conception reminds one curiously of Dostoievsky's wonderful creation, Prince Myshkin. He comes to the circus to forget his past life, and there falls in love with Consuela, "the Queen of the Tango on Horseback." Consuela is to marry a rich, elderly baron for his money, and to prevent this Tot poisons her and himself. The baron goes off and commits suicide. That is all the story; but any interest there is in the play is in the character of Tot. He is shown as a strange, hysterical, mystical creature, who lapses into extraordinary trance-like states when he sees visions. In one scene he has a queer visitor who is dressed exactly as he was when he first came to the circus. It would appear to be his own dead self.

Tot was magnificently played by Mr. Basil Rathbone, who kept one's interest in the play the whole time he was on the stage. Miss Margaret Halstan played well as a lion tamer who is upset because her lions do not love her. Consuela was curiously handled by Miss Khyva St. Albans, who stretched the naivete of her character almost to breaking point. Mr. Oswald Marshall did well as Consuela's objectionable old father. Mr. Stanley Turnbull acted well the part of the Baron Renyar.

—The Era, November 23, 1921

"The Russian tea-rooms installed at one or two of our theatres stand more chance of holding the public than the new Russian play just produced at the Garrick. 'The Painted Laugh,' by Leonid Andrieff, is a return to the introspective methods of Tchekov and all those things which the English playgoer is accustomed to associate with Russian drama. It appeals to the highbrow rather than the ordinary man and woman. ... One of the best things about 'The Painted Laugh' is its title." —The Midland Daily Telegraph, November 21, 1921

"The play is involved and cumbersome but it gave Mr. Basil Rathbone, in the part of the clown, and Miss Margaret Halstan, as the lion tamer, the opportunity for some fine acting. Miss Khyva St. Albans, whose first appearance in England it was, took the part of Consuela, but did not display any particular histrionic ability." —The Scotsman, November 17, 1921

No performer enjoys reading such negative reviews, but producer and lead actress Khyva St. Albans was apparently devastated by them. She decided to leave town—without telling anyone and without paying anyone involved in the production of the play!

The next performance of The Painted Laugh was scheduled for Friday afternoon, November 18. The audience had gathered at the Garrick Theatre that afternoon, and all the actors except one were ready to appear. Khyva St. Albans had sent a message to the theatre to say that she would be late. Just before the curtain was to be rung up, the manager received a message stating that Miss St. Albans had met with an accident and would be unable to appear. An apology was made from the stage; the playgoers were told that there would be no performance of the play that day, but that when it was held again they would be guaranteed good seats. The admission money was refunded.

Verification was sought from the Hotel Cecil, where the actress and manageress had been staying with a friend, Mrs. Sanger, who was understood to be assisting her in the production. It was learned that Miss St. Albans paid her bill and both women left the hotel with all their trunks in a taxi.

It was later learned that Miss St. Albans' bank account had been emptied and closed. Clearly, she had no intention of returning.

The disappearance of Khyva St. Albans meant financial loss to all of the cast, stage hands, electricians, and all the other workers who had been engaged by her to take part in the production. Many of the artistes, none of whom had been paid, were poor Russian refugees. Miss St. Albans owed £230 to her company, and £220 to Julian Frank, the general manager of the theatre, for rent, advertising, and expenses for rehearsals.

Julian Frank wished to help the members of the company who had been left in the lurch, and so a special charity matinee was given the following Friday with Ruby Miller in the role of Consuela, the Circus Girl. The theatre was packed on November 25 for the benefit matinee and the press turned up in full force. The performance went off without a hitch, and the cast was rewarded with applause. All the proceeds from that performance were divided amongst the cast and crew.

Ruby Miller rose to the challenge of learning the part of Consuela in just one week while continuing to appear in nine performances of The Edge o' Beyond. In spite of the hard work and long hours, she wrote, "I loved the part of Consuela and enjoyed playing it once the initial agony was over." (Champagne from my Slipper, p. 90)

Basil Rathbone stated that, although he was willing to do the benefit matinee for the refugees, he would not think of appearing again in a play that he felt sure the public would not come and see. (quoted in the Edinburgh Evening News, November 21, 1921)

MYSTERY OF AN ACTRESS
Sudden Disappearance from London

Two telegrams, one in German from "Schmidt" asking for £50 for a piece of music and the other in code, a number of broken eggshells, and a few worn articles of attire, all left in a bedroom a the Hotel Cecil, are the only traces of Miss Khyva St. Albans, the young Russian-American actress, whose mysterious disappearance on Friday is the sensation of theatrical London.

Police assistance has been sought to solve the mystery, Scotland Yard being concerned with the fact that Miss St. Albans, while in this country, failed to register within the time allowed for doing so. The only conjecture of the police is that she has gone to Germany, but up to last night no clue as to her whereabouts had been obtained. The audience had all assembled at the Garrick Theatre on Friday afternoon, and the artistes were ready to appear in "The Painted Laugh," which was being produced by Miss St. Albans, when it was found that she was not in the building. Just before the curtain was to be rung up, the manager received a telephone message to say that, owing to an accident, she was unable to appear.

An exhaustive search was at once begun, and messages were sent to the Hotel Cecil, where Miss St. Albans had been staying with a Mrs. Saenger. It was learned, however, that the two women, having settled their hotel account, had left about one o'clock. It was afterwards discovered that they had drawn all their money out of the bank and closed the account on that day. Their passports were vised a little later, and it is possible that this may prove valuable in aiding the police in their search.

Mr. Julian Frank, lessee of the Garrick, holds a returned cheque for £170 given by Miss St. Albans, and the whole of the cast, including Mr. Basil Rathbone and Miss Margaret Halstan, have not been paid a penny for their services, nor has any recompense been given to the Russian refugees who were engaged as "supers."

The following extraordinary story was told by Mr. Frank: "She came to me through a well-known actress, and asked if I could allow her to produce Andreief's last play, The Painted Laugh, which she had translated from the Russian. She was to engage the company, provide the scenery, and I was merely to rent her the theatre for certain matinees. Eventually we came to a mutual understanding that the rent for the theatre was to be paid over before the commencement of each performance.

"On the afternoon of the first performance, Wednesday, we took £29 in the house. Before it commenced I asked Mrs. Saenger, with whom Miss St. Albans lived at the Hotel Cecil for a cheque for the rent and also a few incidentals incurred in printing. I was given a cheque for £170, which was not met next morning.

"A promise that everything would be paid the next day reassured me. As on the afternoon of the second performance Miss St. Albans was late in arriving at the theatre, we telephoned to her hotel, but without result. The audience were sitting in the theatre waiting. Suddenly there came a telephone message, 'Miss St. Albans has met with a serious accident and cannot appear.' All money was at once returned with an apology.

"Apparently, according to the hotel authorities, they had been living on eggs for weeks, and I know they ate nothing but eggs, for at lunch I have seen them decline any food but eggs 'slightly scrambled.'"

—Birmingham Daily Gazette, November 21, 1921

The announcement that Khyva St. Albans had vanished and the mystery of her whereabouts occupied newspaper reporters for several days.

Miss St. Albans and Mrs. Sanger had not been seen since they left Hotel Cecil on November 18. No address was supplied to which letters might be addressed, and no possible destination was stated. In view of the fact that Julian Frank had not received from Miss St. Albans the rent money for the use of the Garrick Theatre, he at once put the matter into the hands of the police.

From a cablegram from Berlin found in the women's hotel room, it was inferred by the police that they had gone there. Further investigation revealed that the two women had their passports vised for France on the morning of the day they disappeared. The police discovered neither woman had registered as an alien, and a gathering of creditors brought statements Miss Albans was either of Russian or German-American parentage.

Mr. Oswald Marshall, stage manager for The Painted Laugh, received the following letter, dated November 18, from the Russian Consul-General:

"Sir, I have just heard from my unfortunate countrymen who were engaged by Miss St. Albans to take part in her production at the Garrick Theatre that Miss St. Albans has disappeared without paying her artists, etc. At the same time I received a letter from Miss St. Albans, enclosing three sealed enveloped addressed to Mrs. Zorn M. Alexis, alias M. Alexis Geerechin, and Mr. and Mrs. Doldyreff, which, on being handed over to the addressees, were found to contain £11. I thought it my duty to let you know about it since I was told you were very kind to my compatriots and were anxious about the losses they unfortunately sustained. Miss St. Albans obtained a visa from the French Consul-General this morning, and apparently left for France by the 11 a.m. train."

A fresh development occurred on November 21, when authorities learned that Khyva St. Albans had arrived in Paris. The missing actress was found!