BECKY SHARP

Becky Sharp: translation

Based on William Makepeace Thackeray's novelVanity Fair,LangdonMitchell's four-act play opened on 12 September 1899 at the Fifth Avenue Theatre for 116 performances starringMinnie Maddern Fiske, Maurice Barrymore, andTyrone Power, despite attempts by theTheatrical Syndicateto prevent its opening. Syndicate honchos were angered that Mrs. Fiske and her husband, producerHarrison Grey Fiske, were attempting to break the Syndicate's monopoly. Mrs. Fiske played unscrupulous social climber Becky Sharp, who rises from poverty to high society via a secret marriage to Rawdon Crawley, although she also accepts financial aid from the Marquis of Steyne. When the two men learn of her deception, she manages to retain her social position by charming two other gentlemen. Mrs. Fiske, who had one of her greatest successes inBecky Sharp, revived the play in New York in 1904 and 1911, and frequently performed it on tour. She also appeared in a 1915 silent motion picture version calledVanity Fair, and under its original title Mitchell's play was one of the first all-color feature films in 1935. Remakes and television* productions have abounded andBecky Sharpwas frequently revived on stages, including a short-lived 1929 production byThe Players, directed by Dudley Digges.