Contract between the General Theatre Corporation Ltd., and Norah Blaney and Gwen Farrar, concerning their engagement at the Empire Holborn and the London Palladium, June and July 1930. Dated 30 June 1930. Printed contract with typed and ms addition.

Printed standard contract on cream paper headed: 'General Theatre Corporation Ltd., Registered Offices - 52, Haymarket, London, SW1', dated with an ink stamp 30 June 1930, engaging Norah Blaney and Gwen Farrar to appear for a week at the Holborn Empire from 30 June 1930 for a fee of £140 for 12 performances and a week at the London Palladium commencing 28 July 1930 for a fee of £210 for 14 performances. Stamped by the theatrical agency W. Foster Horsfield Limited. The obverse is printed with twenty clauses regarding matters including copyright, injury and the management's right not to pay artistes if theatres are closed 'by reason of national mourning, war, fire, strikes or lockouts'. The reverse is printed with the names of the variety theatres The London Palladium, The Empire, Penge, The Hippodrome Leeds, The Hippodrome, Southend, The Hippodrome Boscombe, The Hippodrome, Southampton, The Hippodrome Portsmouth, The Hippodrome, Derby, The Astoria Cinema, London, The Hippodrome Liverpool, The Hippodrome, Newcastle, The Hippodrome Birmingham, and The Hippodrome, Devonport, and Rules and Regulations with which artistes must comply, including not 'giving expression to any vulgarity on stage' or being in the theatre 'in a state of intoxication'.

Given by the British Theatre Association

This came to the museum as part of a small collection compiled by Norah Blaney, mainly consisting of cuttings and photographs relating to the careers of Norah Blaney and Gwen Farrar.

This contract, kept by Norah Blaney, refers to engagements with Gwen Farrar at the Empire Holborn and the London Palladium in June and July 1930.

Norah Blaney and Gwen Farrar first worked together at the end of the First World War, entertaining the troops in Belgium and France with Lena Ashwell's concert party, with Norah Blaney as the pianist and Gwen Farrar as a cellist, performing with a constant flow of repartee. They appeared in leading London and variety theatres between about 1921 to 1924, as well as in the 1921 cabaret show Pot Luck! with Jack Hulbert and Beatrice Lillie; and the 1923 André Charlot revues Rats starring Alfred Lester and Gertrude Lawrence, and Yes! at the Vaudeville Theatre, Strand, London. In May 1924 they opened in another Charlot revue, The Punch Bowl, at the Duke of York's Theatre, London, with Alfred Lester, Sonnie Hale and Hermione Baddeley. They worked independently in the late 1920s but came together in 1930 for this production. They made a farewell appearance at the London Palladium in February 1932 but worked together again briefly to entertain the troops during the Second World War before the death of Gwen Farrar in 1944.

S.5034-2009