Customer Reviews

Bobbles and Plum - Four Satirical Playlets by Bertram Fletcher Robinson & PG Wodehouse

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It was a thrill to be reading some of Wodehouse's early work that had been lost for over 100 years and even more so when you find that his early work was much more edgy than his later work. The writer describes the playlets as similar to 'have I got news for you' and I would add The New Statesman to that analogy as well. The notes are helpful too as some of the references definitely need to be put into the context of the time. A gem and a wonderful find.

The core of the book is the re-publication of four playlets written by Wodehouse and Bertram Fletcher Robinson from 1903 to 1906. The book opens with a short eulogy to Robinson on his death in 1907 written by Jessie Pope (whom Wodehouse also knew) followed by a Foreword by Hilary Bruce [Chairman of the P G Wodehouse Society (UK)]. There is then a thirteen-page introduction by Norman Murphy and Tony Ring which summarises the careers of the two men, hypothesises on their meeting during the 'Parrot Poems' craze and discusses their subsequent collaboration in the playlets and Robinson's commissioning short stories from Wodehouse.

We then get the four playlets which deal with the political and social events of the time that everybody talked about. There was some comment in 'The Observer' newspaper on Wodehouse being 'political' (26 July 2009), but the writer of this article had not realised that, from the time Wodehouse got work on 'The Globe' in 1903, that was his job. He had to turn out a humorous column each day on what was topical and, in the early 1900s, that meant Chamberlain and Tariff Reform, the split among the Conservatives and Liberals over Tariffs and Home Rule for Ireland, Suffragettes, the activities - and expenditure - of the new London County Council, the Entente Cordiale and Gaiety Girls marrying into the aristocracy.

It may seem all very dated today. Of course it is but, if you have read 'The Parrot and Other Poems', you will already have a feel for the period. In any event, the playlets (49 pages in total) are followed by 36 pages of explanatory notes.

An interesting, enjoyable publication though slightly marred by occasional typos including, I regret to say, 'Woodhouse' for Wodehouse.

The following review was written by Roger Johnson and published in The District Messenger: The Newsletter of The Sherlock Holmes Society of London (Issue 295, July 2009):

The latest fruits of Paul Spiring's research are found in Bobbles and Plum: Four Satirical Playlets by Bertram Fletcher Robinson and P G Wodehouse (MX Publishing Ltd, 335 Princess Park Manor, Royal Drive, London N11 1JN; £9.99 or $16.95). The play, never intended for performance, appeared variously in the Daily Express, Vanity Fair and The World between 1903 and 1907. They're part of the tradition of satire that continues today, and though they date from a more respectful era they aim some pretty sharp darts at the politicians. Moreover, they're clever, well-written, and funny. The full annotations help us appreciate just how clever they are, and how harmoniously the two authors worked together. Wodehouse was just starting a career that would last another seventy years. Robinson's career was about to be cut short. Who can say what he might have achieved?