A Phoenix Too Frequent is a one-act stage comedy in blank verse by Christopher Fry, originally produced at the Mercury Theatre, London in 1946. It has been adapted for television numerous times, in Britain and other countries, but has been less frequently revived in the theatre.

The play depicts a grieving widow in Ancient Greece gradually finding the attractions of a young soldier outweighing her determination to join her husband in the underworld.

Background and first production The Mercury Theatre, in Notting Hill Gate, London, was opened by Ashley Dukes in 1933. Part of its brief was to present new, experimental drama, and before the Second World War plays by T. S. Eliot, W. H. Auden, Christopher Isherwood and others were presented there.Trewin, J. C., and Sayoni Basu. "Dukes, Ashley (1885–1959), playwright and theatre critic", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved 4 October 2020. After the war the Mercury continued to present new plays. In April 1946 the theatre staged a double bill, comprising the first British performance of The Resurrection by W. B. Yeats and the world premiere of Fry's A Phoenix Too Frequent."The Mercury: Plays by Poets", The Stage, 2 May 1946, p. 7 Both works have small casts: four performers in the first and three in the second.

Fry took as his inspiration Jeremy Taylor's retelling of a tale from Petronius.Wiersma, Stanley. "Christopher Fry's A PhoenixToo Frequent: A Study In Source and Symbol", Modern Drama, December 1965, pp. 293–302 He took the title from Robert Burton's translation of lines from an epigram of Martial, lamenting his lost love, in comparison with whom "a peacock's undecent, a squirrel's harsh, a phoenix too frequent".Fry, title page

Original cast Dynamene – Hermione Hannen Doto – Eleanor Summerfield Tegeus – Alan Wheatley The play was directed by E. Martin Browne.Mercury Theatre: Two Plays by Poets", The Times, 26 April 1946, p. 6

Plot The scene is the tomb of the recently dead Virilius, near Ephesus.Fry, unnumbered introductory page Dynamene, the grieving widow, has determined to remain in the tomb until she can join Virilius in the underworld. The play opens with the first night of gloomy fast and broken sleep, disturbed at 2 a.m. by Tegeus, a soldier. He has been put on guard over the bodies of six criminals hanged nearby. He is drawn by the light in the tomb and enters. Dynamene, encouraged by her maidservant Doto, gradually finds Tegeus so attractive that she opts for life with him rather than death with Virilius.Fry, p. 32

They discover that in Tegeus's absence from his post one of the dead bodies has been cut down; this neglect of his duties renders Tegeus liable to court martial. He decides to kill himself rather than face the disgrace. Dynamene suggests that they substitute the body of Virilius. Tegeus is appalled, but she persuades him: How little you can understand! I loved His life not his death. And now we can give his death The power of life. Not horrible: wonderful! Dynamene, Tegeus and Doto drink a toast to the memory of Virilius as the play ends.Fry, pp. 41–43

Revivals and adaptations Revivals

A Phoenix Too Frequent was revived at the Arts Theatre, London on 20 November 1946. Hannen again played Dynamene, Joan White played Doto and Paul Scofield played Tegeus. The director was Noel Willman. The production ran for 64 performances.Roy, p. 50 A production directed by John Crockett toured Britain in 1950 and 1951, presenting the play in a double bill with Chekhov's farce The Proposal."Appleby hears the Compass Players", Penrith Observer, 28 March 1950, p. 6; "Repertory", The Stage, 22 June 1950, p. 12; and "Exuberant Production by Compass Players", Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail, 27 January 1951, p. 4

The play was staged at the Fulton Theatre, Broadway on 26 April 1950, and closed after five performances. Nina Foch played Dynamene, Richard Derr Tegeus and Vicki Cummings Doto."A Phoenix Too Frequent", Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 4 October 2020 According to Emil Roy in a 1968 study of Fry, the early withdrawal of the piece was "largely because of faulty acting" and being coupled in a double bill with an unsuitable companion piece. A later American production was staged by Writers Theatre in 2001, directed by Michael W. Halberstam with Karen Janes Woditsch as Dynamene, Sean Fortunato as Tegeus and Maggie Carney as Doto.Christianson, Richard. " Early Fry still charms", Chicago Tribune, 28 September 2001. Retrieved 4 October 2020 A planned 2020 production by American Players Theatre was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic."A Phoenix Too Frequent", American Players Theatre, 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020

Television adaptations The first television broadcast was in June 1946 on BBC Television, based on the original Mercury stage production, featuring Hannen, Summerfield and Wheatley."A Phoenix Too Frequent", BBC Genome. Retrieved 4 October 2020 There were further BBC television versions in 1951, featuring Jessie Evans, Diana Graves and John Justin,"A Phoenix Too Frequent", BBC Genome. Retrieved 4 October 2020 1955, featuring George Cole, Jessie Evans and Noelle Middleton,"A Phoenix Too Frequent", BBC Genome. Retrieved 4 October 2020 and 1972, featuring Lynn Farleigh as Dynamene, William Gaunt as Tegeus and Julia Sutton as Doto."A Phoenix Too Frequent", BBC Genome. Retrieved 4 October 2020

In 1955 a version was broadcast on West German television. The cast consisted of Sigrid Marquardt, Käte Jaenicke and Günther König. The following year, a production was broadcast on Danish television.

A version aired in 1957 on Australian television, on the ABC at a time when Australian drama production was rare. Produced by Paul O'Loughlin, it aired live in Sydney on 24 July 1957, and a recording was later broadcast in Melbourne. The cast consisted of Dinah Shearing as Dynamene, James Condon as Tegeus and Audrey Teesdale as Doto.

Between 1959 and 1966, adaptations were transmitted by television stations in Switzerland (1959, featuring Ingeborg Luescher, Beatrice Schweizer and Wolfgang Schwarz), Finland (1960), West Germany (1963, featuring Dinah Hinz, Charles Brauer and Angelika Hurwicz), Austria (1966, with Christiane Hörbiger, Carla Hagen and Walter Reyer), and Australia (1966, featuring Lynette Curran as Dynamene, Sean Scully as Tegeus and Fay Kelton as Doto, directed by Oscar Whitbread).

Radio adaptations The BBC broadcast adaptations in 1947, featuring the original Mercury cast,"A Phoenix Too Frequent", BBC Genome. Retrieved 4 October 2020 and in 1976, featuring Sarah Badel, Gawn Grainger and Patsy Rowlands."A Phoenix Too Frequent", BBC Genome. Retrieved 4 October 2020

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