Quaker girl looks for a new life in the city

IN this week’s Memory Lane, we take a look back at a performance by Bacup Waterside Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society.

Our regular Memory Lane contributor, Peter Fisher, has sent us a selection of pictures from The Quaker Girl, performed by the society in November 1939.

Proceeds from the performance of this three-act musical play were divided between Waterside Methodist Church and the Bacup Central Aid Fund.

The Quaker Girl tells the story of Prudence, who is not as prim and proper as a Quaker girl is expected to be.

She does not want to lead a Quaker life, so when lovable rogue Tony comes along, she succumbs to his advances.

Tony comes to attend the wedding of his friend Captain Charteris and his bride Princes Mathilde. The couple defy the Law of France by returning to the country after their runaway marriage.

Madam Blum, head of a fashionable dressmaking shop in Paris, suggests that Prudence should join her in the city and set the Parisians a new style, and Prudence happily follows her advice, with Tony at her side.

After a three-day honeymoon, Captain Charteris is called away, and the princess is left with Madam Blum, her former employee.

In order to evade the law, the princess has to disguise herself as one of Madam’s mannequins.

Meanwhile, Prudence discovers she has a rival for Tony’s affection – Diane. Diane is a Parisian actress, who places Tony’s letters (as she thinks) in Prudence’s pocket.

However the letters turn out not to be Tony’s, but the Minister of the Interior’s. The minister shows his gratitude to Prudence for returning the letters by declaring Princess Mathilde’s marriage lawful in France and giving her permission to remain in the country.

Tony finds out that Prudence has acted as a heroine and all ends happily.

Our pictures this week show the front cover of the souvenir programme (top left) and the cast members in their costumes.

Did you see the show in 1939, or were you a member of Bacup Waterside Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society?

If these pictures bring back memories, please get in touch.

Many thanks to all our nostalgia contributors.