Now to the bookends of Gilbert Bayes's great frieze, just round the corners in Stacey Street (left) and St Giles' Passage (right). Here Bayes places the stars of the only plays he mentions by name - George Bernard Shaw's St Joan, and Khaki. The figures are ushered in by angels holding back curtains.
After a try-out in New York, St Joan was staged in London in 1924. The star was Sybil Thorndyke, and the figure on the frieze has Sybil's square jaw.
The attack on the officer corps attracted the unfavourable attention of the Lord Chamberlain, who insisted on substantial changes before it could be staged, as outlined in Great War Fiction.
After a try-out in New York, St Joan was staged in London in 1924. The star was Sybil Thorndyke, and the figure on the frieze has Sybil's square jaw.
Khaki, staged in 1924, was a vehicle for Ernie Lotinga, a music hall comic whose stock character was an everyman called Josser. In the play, Josser is in the Army on the Western Front, outwitting everyone, including his officers, the French and the Germans with his quick and cunning mind. Lotinga went on to make a series of films as Josser.
The attack on the officer corps attracted the unfavourable attention of the Lord Chamberlain, who insisted on substantial changes before it could be staged, as outlined in Great War Fiction.
The common thread is socialism and pacifism. No wonder these panels are safely round the corner, where everyone will miss them.
