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The Reluctant Debutante by William Douglas Home
This play was produced by Aubrey A Brown on Friday 3 December and Saturday 4 December, 1965. It was our second production in the new Memorial Hall. Notice from the programme that tea-and-biscuits no longer cost sixpence, but had in fact doubled in price to a whole shilling!! This was only going to be for another three months anyway, with future tea-and-biscuits being charged for in cents! When 17-year-old Jane Broadbent comes to London to live with her wealthy father Jimmy Broadbent, her stepmother Sheila feels compelled by her social aspirations to introduce her to society. Jane is bored by the debutante balls she attends and the young men she is introduced to, but becomes interested in a drummer named David Bullock, who has a reputation for leading young women astray. To complicate matters, David Hoylake-Johnston relentlessly pursues Jane, even though she openly detests him. As it turns out, Bullock's reputation is undeserved, but Sheila is convinced otherwise, and she tries to keep him away from Jane. Sheila's garrulous friend Mabel interferes with Sheila's attempts to separate the two in order to secure David Bullock for her own daughter, Clarissa. Fortunately for Jane and David, Sheila's plans fail miserably. The two young people fall in love with each other, and David Hoylake-Johnston proposes to Jane. He also inherits an Italian title of nobility, satisfying Sheila's concerns for Jane's social status. The play was made into a 1957 movie starring Rex Harrison and Angela Lansbury and was also the basis for the 2003 movie What a Girl Wants starring Amanda Byne. The Reluctant Debutante Programme (pdf file, 141,286 bytes)
Photo GalleryUnfortunately, no production photos seem to exist, however to publicise the event, the Drama Group organised a float for the Wyong Parade in November 1965, which carried five cast members throughout the town of Wyong on a very nice sunny day. The four colour shots below are taken from Railway Street (Pacific Highway) Wyong, looking toward the railway station from what currently stands the late-night chemist or Legends bakery or thereabouts. Note that in 1965 there was no pedestrian footbridge over the railway line! The canary islands palm trees were quite profuse along the eastern side of the highway in past days (they were planted in the 1930s as an employment creation scheme), and there are still a few left today. The below pictures are thumbnails. To see the full-sized pictures, simply click on the thumbnail images.
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