YEAR
THE PLAY
THEATRE
Company
PART
Other Cast Members
1984
The Devils
Barbican Pit
Royal Shakespeare Company
De la Rochepozay / Father Ambrose
Peter McEnery
1983/4
Moby Dick
Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
Captain Peleg / The Carpenter
Brian Fox, Nigel Terry,
Philip Madoc
1982
Hamlet
Young Vic, London
First Player / Gravedigger
Edward Fox (as Hamlet)
1979
The Family Reunion
Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
transferred to The Roundhouse
then the Vaudeville, London
Dr Warburton
Edward Fox, Joanna David
1978
One Man Battle
Crime and Punishment
Open Air Theatre,
Regents Park, London
Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
One man show
Marmaladov
Tom Courteney, Leo McKern
1977
Henry V
Open Air Theatre,
Regents Park, London
also
The Tilt Yard, Arundel
Chorus
Clive Arrindell, Celia Imrie
1976
Three Sisters
Cambridge Theatre,
London
Chebutykin
Nigel Davenport, June Ritchie,
Janet Suzman
(directed by Jonathan Miller)
1975
The Cocktail Party
Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester / Manchester Cathedral
Nora Swinburne
1973/4
Agincourt,
The Archer's Tale
Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
and on tour at many venues thereafter
One man show
1973
The Family Reunion
Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
Dr Warburton
Edward Fox, Joanna David,
Nora Swinburne
1971
Mister
The Duchess Theatre, London
Freddie Jones, Delia Lindsay
1970
Mister
The Servants and the Snow
The Lyceum Theatre, London
Greenwich Theatre,
London
Alan Dobie, Dorothy Vernon
Maxine Audley, Adrienne Corri,
Tom Conti
1969
Martin Luther King
Spithead
(opened 19th November 1969)
The Black Swan Winter
Greenwich Theatre, London
Greenwich Theatre, London
Hampstead Theatre Club,
London
The Interlocutor
Nina Baden-Semper, Derek Griffiths
Admiral Lord Howe
Ewan Hooper, Michael Goldie
Sam Pitt
Eric Thompson, Margery Mason
1967
Getting Married
Edinburgh Festival
then New Theatre, Oxford,
Strand Theatre, London
General Bridgenorth
Ian Carmichael, Alec Clunes,
Moira Lister, Googie Withers,
Raymond Huntley, Hugh Williams
1966
The Winter's Tale
The Trojan Women
Edinburgh Festival/
Cambridge Theatre, London
Edinburgh Festival
Camillo
Moira Remond, Jane Asher,
Jim Dale, Diana Churchill
Menelaus
Moira Redmond
1965
SEASON
Dandy Dick
Oedipus The King &
Oedipus At Colonus
Four Thousand Brass Halfpennies
The Wakefield Mystery Plays
Left-handed Liberty
Mermaid Theatre, London
.
.
.
.
.
Sir Tristram Mardon
Sonia Dresdel
Creon
Sonia Dresdel, Bernard Miles
Amphitryon
James Bolam, Freddie Jones
God
James Bolam, Denise Coffey
William Marshal
Bernard Miles, Patrick Wymark,
Sonia Dresdel, Denise Coffey
Freddie Jones
1964
The Gift
Not known
Not known
(produced by Ivan Stanislaw)
1963
The Bacchae
LAMDA Experimental Theatre,
London
James Laurenson,
Freda Jackson, Alfred Burke
1962/3
SEASON
The Alchemist
Peer Gynt
The Merchant of Venice
Measure For Measure
The Old Vic, London
The company included
Leo McKern, Fulton Mackay,
Russell Hunter, Rosalind Knight,
Phyllida Law
Lovewit
Russell Hunter, Fulton Mackay
Troll King
(plus two other parts)
Leo McKern, Rosalind Knight
Antonio
Rosalind Knight
Pompey
Phyllida Law
1962
Two Stars For Comfort
Garrick Theatre, London
Drake
Trevor Howard, Hazel Hughes,
Gabriella Licudi
1961
Becket
The Lady From The Sea
Globe / Aldwych,
London
New Theatre, Oxford
Golders Green Hippodrome /
Queen's Theatre,
London
King Louis of France
Christopher Plummer, Diana Rigg,
Eric Porter
Ballested
Vanessa Redgrave,
Margaret Leighton, Joanna Dunham,
Andrew Cruickshank
1960/61
The Taming of the Shrew
Aldwych Theatre, London
Baptista
Vanessa Redgrave, Diana Rigg
1960
A Piece of Silver
Belgrave Theatre, Coventry /
Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham
Martin Keller
Joyce Heron, Derek Fowlds
1958
The Russian
Theatre Royal,
Nottingham
Emrys Jones
1957
The Country Wife
Head of the Family
Chelsea Palace Theatre, London
Adelphi Theatre,
London
Queen's Theatre,
Hornchurch
Mr Pinchwife
Joan Plowright,
Esme Percy, Robert Stephens, Terence Morgan
Bernard Lulac
Leonard Cracknell
1956
The Caine Mutiny Court Martial
Hippodrome, London
also Bristol Hippodrome
Captain Randolph Southard
Lloyd Nolan, Robert Hardy
1954/55
Bell, Book and Candle
Bell, Book and Candle
Phoenix Theatre, London
Streatham Hill Theatre, London
Sidney Redlitch
Rex Harrison, Lilli Palmer
(then Joan Greenwood),
Athene Seyler.
Esmond took over from Wilfred Lawson in January 1955.
Sidney Redlitch
Joan Greenwood, Athene Sayler
1953
The Emperor's New Clothes
Age of Consent
Facts of the Heart
Ethel Barrymore Theatre,
New York
Bournemouth then
Princes Theatre,
London
Under Thirty Theatre Group,
London
The Baron
Lee J Cobb
Fred Nutting
James Kenney, Mary Merrall
Valerie Taylor,
Joan Haythorne
1952
Montserrat
Miranda, Magistrate,
Family Reunion,
Ring Around the Moon,
Travellers Joy
(plus one other)
Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith
following 6 nights at Arts Theatre, Cambridge
The Bermuda Theatre, Hamilton, Bermuda
(Moral Re-Armament Company)
Juan Salcedo Alvarez
Richard Burton
Nora Swinburne, Eric Berry,
Avice Landone
1951
Heloise
Caesar and Cleopatra /
Antony and Cleopatra
Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith
following 6 nights at Arts Theatre, Cambridge
Opera House, Manchester
St James's Theatre, London
Hugo / Fulbert
Mervyn Johns, Nigel Green
(directed by Michael Powell)
Belzanor (Caesar and Cleopatra)
Menas (Antony and Cleopatra)
Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Peter Cushing, Robert Helpmann
1950
Who Is Sylvia?
Wild Violets
Bartholomew Fair
Criterion Theatre, London
St James's Theatre, London
Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh
Old Vic Company
Williams
Roland Culver, Athene Seyler
Adele Dixon, Charlotte Greenwood
Tom Quarlous
Roger Livesey, Alec Clunes
1949
Caroline
The Arts Club, London
Dr Cornish
Nora Swinburne
1948
The Relapse
The Lyric, Hammersmith,
then The Phoenix Theatre, and/or Apollo Theatre London
Worthy
Paul Scofield,
Michael Goodliffe
1948/9
SEASON
Hamlet
The Taming of the Shrew
The Winter's Tale
Troilus and Cressida
King John
The Merchant of Venice
Royal Shakespeare Company,
Stratford-Upon-Avon
The company included Robert Helpmann,
Claire Bloom, Diana Wynward,
Paul Scofield, John Justin, William Squire, Alfie Bass, Douglas Wilmer, Godfrey Tearle, Anthony Quayle.
.
.
Ghost / Gravedigger
Robert Helpmann as Hamlet
Christopher Sly
Leontes
Thersites
Chatillon
Gratiano
1946
SEASON
Romeo and Juliet
Saint Joan
(March 1946)
Man and Superman
In Time to Come
(May 1946)
Elektra
(June 1946)
The Wiser Have Not Spoken
King's Theatre, Hammersmith
The Travelling Repertory Theatre (TRT)
included Renée Asherson,
Douglas Wilmer, Basil Langton,
Lewis Casson, Michael Goodliffe,
Sibyl Thorndyke
.
.
Mercutio
Renée Asherson (as Juliet)
Robert of Baudricourt
Henry Straker
Senator Lodge
A Messenger
Not known
1944/5
The Three Waltzes
The Prince's Theatre, London
also pre-West End run at Bristol Hippodrome and
The Opera House, Manchester
(October 1944)
Dickie Wessex /
Dick Wessex
Evelyn Laye, Frances Clare
1944
Crisis in Heaven
Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith
Grand Theatre, Blackpool
English Soldier Courage
(first stage role since blinded)
Frances Clare
1943
Seventy Years of Song
Royal Albert Hall, London
Esmond sang in this show
one night only
(16th June 1943)
1940
A Midsummer Night's Dream
The Peaceful Inn
SEASON
The Importance of Being Ernest
Through The Night
The Peaceful Inn
Goodness, How Sad
Open Air Theatre,
Regents Park, London
Duke of York's Theatre, London
King's Theatre, Hammersmith
.
.
.
.
Lysander
Margaret Vines, Esme Percy,
Eadie Palfrey, Maxine Audley, Isabel Dean
Alan Harper
Nora Swinburne
Co-Manager with Wilson Barrett
Not known
Calvin Driscoll
Alan Harper
Not known
1939
(August - December)
SEASON
You Can't Take It With You
The Enchanted Cottage
Tonight at 8.30
Mind Over Murder
Full House
Quality Street
Autumn Crocus
The Middle Watch
French Without Tears
It's a Boy
Goodness, How Sad!
Private Lives
The Green Pack
Tell Her The Truth
Empire Theatre, Edinburgh
Company transferred from London to Edinburgh. Complete list of plays unclear. Esmond performed in some (Quality Street and Autumn Crocus) but others not known..
Co-Manager with Wilson Barrett
1939
(January - July)
SEASON
Tonight at 8.30
Night Must Fall
Sweet Aloes
George and Margaret
Autumn Crocus
Theatre Royal
Fallen Angels
Berkeley Square
Rain
First Stop North
Outward Bound
The Case of the Frightened Lady
The Shining Hour
Love From a Stranger
King's Theatre, Hammersmith
Co-Manager with Wilson Barrett
Commander Peter Gilpin
(Hands Across The Sea)
George Pepper
(Red Peppers)
Danny
Dame May Whitty
Tubbs Barrow
Patricia Burke
Roger Frampton
The Gentleman in Gay Braces
Nora Swinburne
Anthony Cavendish
Enid Sass, Gyles Isham
Maurice Duclos
Irene Handl, Enid Sass,
Tom Pettigrew
Phyllis Barker, Phoebe Kershaw
Rev. Alfred Davidson
Phyllis Monkman
Terence Donnelly
Phoebe Kershaw, Judith Furse
Rev. William Duke
Sergeant Totty
David Linden
Bruce Lovell
1938
The White Guard
Twelfth Night
Crest of the Wave
The Melody That Got Lost
Phoenix Theatre, London
Phoenix Theatre, London
On Tour
Phoenix Theatre, London
Williams
Roland Culver, Athene Seyler
Orsino
Peggy Ashcroft, Michael Redgrave
Frances Clare, Dorothy Dickson, Finlay Currie
Glynis Johns, Dorothy Hyson,
Margaret Rutherford
1937
Van Gogh
Wise Tomorrow
African Dawn
Someone to Dinner /
Nothing Ever Happens
(double bill)
Arts Theatre Club, London
Lyric Theatre, London
Daley's Theatre, London
(demolished 1937)
Richmond Theatre, Surrey
Vincent Van Gogh
Wilson Barrett
Peter Marsh
Nora Swinburne, Martita Hunt,
Diana Churchill, Naunton Wayne
Not known
Nora Swinburne, Frances Clare
Not known
Hermione Baddeley,
Bruce Seton
1936
Night Must Fall
The Melody That Got Lost
The Little Ol' Boy
The Insect Play
Shakespeare Birthday Festival
The King and Mistress Shore
Playhouse Theatre, London
Embassy Theatre,
Swiss Cottage, London
Arts Theatre,
London
Playhouse Theatre, London
The Old Vic, London
The Little Theatre (Adelphi),
London
Danny
Patricia Hayes, Albert Chevalier
Glynis Johns, Kay Walsh, May Hallatt
Not known
Frances Clare, Dorothy Dickson,
Finlay Currie
Parasite / Chief Engineer
Robert Helpmann
Not known
Alec Clunes, John Laurie,
Frank Vosper
Richard, Duke of Gloucester
Joan Maude, Pamela Brown
1934
Hamlet
Streamline
The Three Sisters
.
Sadlers Wells, London
Opera House, Manchester &
Palace Theatre, London
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London
.
Williams
Roland Culver, Athene Seyler
Various roles
(a review)
Gypsy Hood
Stanley Holloway, Eliot Makeham
1933
I Hate Men
Gate Theatre, London
(Not known)
Robert Helpmann
1932
Wild Violets
(Oct 1932 - July 1933)
The Child Born at the Plough
Love For Love
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London
(and on tour)
Barn Theatre, Small Hythe, Kent
Faculty of Arts
Otto Bergmann
Adele Dixon, Jerry Verno,
Charlotte Greenwood,
Jean Cadell
Moses
Valentine
Frances Clare
1931/2
Waltzes From Vienna
Alhambra Theatre, London
Strauss The Younger
1931
Salome
(May 1931)
Rahere
Much Ado About Nothing
(excerpt)
Masque of Comus
Gate Theatre, London
Barn Theatre, Small Hythe, Kent
Barn Theatre, Small Hythe, Kent
(3rd anniversary performance
in memory of Ellen Terry)
Westminster School, London
also director / producer
Young Syrian
Tom Heslewood
Balthazar
The Attendant Spirit
Frances Clare
1930
Mr Eno - His Birth, Death and Life
Hamlet
(May - June 1930)
Charlot's Masquerade
(4 Sept - 15 Nov 1930)
The Arts Club, London
Queen's Theatre,
London
Cambridge Theatre,
London
Munro
Rosencrantz
John Gielgud (as Hamlet)
Not known
1929
The Return of the Puritan
Art and Mrs Bottle
(Oct 1929 - Feb 1930)
Improper People
Maya
The Man I Killed
The Hippodrome, Golders Green, London
Criterion Theatre,
London (and on tour)
Arts Theatre,
London
Studio des Theatres des Champs-Elysees, Paris
Paris
Not known
Michael Bottle
Joan Barry, Betty Stockfield
(Not known)
(Not known)
(Not known)
1928
Today and Tomorrow
Managee and the Robbers
Spare a Copper
The Old Sailor
Bloweth the Wind
To What Red Hell
Fashion;
or,
Life in New York
Contraband
(July 1928)
The Pocket-money Husband
Thunder on the Left
Children's Theatre, London
Gate Theatre, Wyndhams Theatre,
London
Gate Theatre,
London
Prince's Theatre, London
The Arts Club, London
(never staged - cancelled after
disastrous dress-rehearsal)
Kingsway Theatre, London
Today (Today and Tomorrow)
San Too (Managee and the Robbers)
Joan Luxton
Michael Allen
Frederick Peiseley
Colonel Howard
Frances Clare
Hobart
Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies,
Frank Vosper
At least 3 roles
Madeleine Caroll, Emlyn Williams
Mr Richmond
Angela Baddeley, Katie Johnson
1927/8
Yellow Sands
On Tour
Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Arthur Varwell
Frances Clare
1927
Othello
(March 1927)
The Tempest
(November 1927)
Apollo Theatre, London
Lyceum Club Stage Society
The Old Vic, London
Herald
Robert Loraine, Elissa Landi,
Ernest Thesiger
Adrian
(A Lord)
1926
The Return
(May 1927)
The Everyman, Hampstead, London
Phillips / A Sargeant
Peggy Ashcroft, Jean Shepheard,
Charles Bennett
1926/7
SEASON
King John
(September 1926)
Macbeth
(November 1926)
A Midsummer Night's Dream
(Sept / Oct 1926)
Henry V
Oct 1926)
The Tempest
(November 1926)
The Chester Nativity Play
(December 1926)
Twelfth Night
(Dec 26 / Jan 27)
Richard III
(January 1927)
The Winter's Tale
(February 1927)
St Patrick's Day
(Mar / Apr 1927)
Comedy of Errors
(Mar / Apr 1927)
Hamlet
(April 1927)
Dr Syn
Last Night of the Season
(May 6th 1927)
Comedy of Errors (extract)
The Whirling of Time
The Old Vic, London
and on tour of South Coast theatres
In the company:
Margaret Rutherford, John Garside,
Eric Portman, Edith Evans,
Baliol Holloway.
The Lord Bigot
Servant to Macbeth /
Young Siward
Philostrate
(Master of the revels to Theseus)
Duke of Bedford
Adrian
(A Lord)
A Teddy Bear
Fabian
Marquis of Dorset
Dion
Sergeant Trounce
"Officers, Townsfolk, Nuns etc."
Guildenstern
Eric Portman
Juvenile Lead
(Comedy of Errors)
As above
(The Whirligig of Time)
Personality Hastings
1925/6
SEASON
The Merchant of Venice
(September 1925)
Antony and Cleopatra
(November 1925)
Measure For Measure
(November 1925)
The Merry Wives of Windsor
(December 1925)
Harlequin Jack Horner
and the Enchanted Pie
(December 1925)
A Christmas Pantomime
She Stoops to Conquer
(January 1926)
Julius Caesar
(February 1926)
As You Like It
(March 1926)
Everyman
(March 1926)
The Shoemaker's Holiday
(Mar / Apr 1926)
Romeo and Juliet
(April 1926)
Shakespeare's Birthday
(April 23rd 1926)
Much Ado About Nothing
(May 1926)
Trelawny of the Wells
The Taming of the Shrew
The Daughter of the Regiment
opera by Donizetti
The Old Vic, London
In the company:
Margaret Rutherford, John Garside,
Eric Portman, Edith Evans,
Baliol Holloway, Heather Angel.
Messenger
Edith Evans
First Guard
"Officers, Citizens,
Attendants"
"Servants. Merrymakers"
Third Royal Guard
Margaret Rutherford
(as the Fairy with the Long Nose)
Tom Twist
"Citizens, Guards"
Sir Oliver Martext
(A vicar)
"The Players"
Singer, Crowd
Margaret Rutherford, Edith Evans,
Baliol Holloway
Gregory
(Servant to Capulet)
Page, Morris Dancer,
Servant
Watchman
Not known
Bartholomew / A Page
Dancer
1925
Curiosity
The Wild Duck
Pax Robertson's Salon,
Chelsea, London
(First stage appearance)
Pax Robertson's Salon,
Chelsea, London
Arlecchino
Madge Pax Roberston,
Cyril Francis Stanislaw
Old Ekdal
Madge Pax Roberston,
Cyril Francis Stanislaw