The Good Companions · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in The Good Companions by J. B. Priestley.
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Inigo Jollifant
major
Also known as Mr. Jollifant, Jollifant, Inigo
Inigo drifts through Washbury Manor with amused contempt for its routines, half in love with Daisy Callander and wholly allergic to effort. When Felton coolly walks off with both the girl and the afternoon, Inigo's sulk curdles into a chuckle and a resolve to escape. His itch for something livelier than schoolmastering makes him the restless spark the troupe will need.
Jess Oakroyd
major
Also known as Jesiah Oakroyd, Mr. Oakroyd, Jess Oakroyd, Oakroyd
Jess measures life in pints, pipes, and meat-and-tater pie, and finds lodgings a rare treat after years of domestic scolding. His dour humor and stubborn decency anchor the group when plans collapse and everyone is trudging home through the dark. He is the troupe's plain-spoken conscience, the man who keeps thinking about supper and insists something will turn up.
Elizabeth Trant
major
Also known as Miss Trant, Miss Elizabeth Trant, Elizabeth, Trant
For years Elizabeth has been the sister who held herself in too much, quietly submerged by a dutiful life. Now she is thrilled, flustered, and gloriously busy, defending her absurd frolic against Hilda's horrified inspections and Lawrence's talk of swindlers. Her courage in signing on as manager gives the troupe its improbable backbone and its warmest, most surprising heart.
Susie Dean
major
Also known as Miss Susie Dean, Miss Dean, Susie, Dean
Susie takes people off, sings, dances, and squeezes her companions' arms when the night turns gloomy, refusing to let despair have the last word. Her sparkle draws audiences and holds the company together when bookings fail and morale sags. She is the troupe's engine of charm, the reason strangers like Miss Thong go twice and cry when the show breaks up.
Joe Brundit
supporting
Also known as Mrs. Joe Brundit, Joe, Mrs. Joe, Brundit
Joe grumbles about lodgings and longs for a home of his own, yet he is the solid, sensible chap everyone gravitates toward for a pipe and a glass of bitter. He talks about his George, listens to Jess on Lily, and works the little Pavilion set without fuss. His easy comradeship gives the wandering company a workingman's ballast beneath the greasepaint.
Jimmy Nunn
supporting
Also known as Mr. Jimmy Nunn, Mr. Nunn, Jimmy, James Nunn
Jimmy's pompous gravity is itself a comic turn, so that merely sitting still and talking business he remains droll in spite of himself. He sizes up talent with one eye closed, pronounces on Elsie's shortcomings, and produces his notebook like a conjurer's prop. His practical knowledge of circuits, costs, and opening-night nerves is exactly what Miss Trant needs to turn a frolic into a going concern.
Morton Mitcham
supporting
Also known as Mr. Morton Mitcham, Mr. Mitcham, Mitcham
Mitcham haunts the Sandybay Pier's Refreshment Room, where he is a great favourite with the staff and patrons, swapping half-remembered tales of foreign cities with anyone who will listen. He is quietly in despair about the unaccepted Bournemouth offer, and watches the troupe's younger members with the smug perplexity of a man who has decided youth itself has gone to the dogs. His scheming and self-importance make him a persistent friction point as the Good Companions try to hold their season together.
Jerry Jerningham
supporting
Also known as Jerningham, Mr. Jerry Jerningham, Mr. Jerningham, Jerry
Jerry drifts through the troupe with a coolness that sets him apart from the eager professionals around him, arriving barely in time to make up for the opening chorus and keeping his own counsel. On the night of Susie's benefit, a solitary box at the Gatford Hippodrome has been taken by someone unknown, and Jerry, who might know something about it, is not asked. His aloofness and possible scheming make him a quiet source of unease as the company's fortunes reach their turning point.
Elsie Longstaff
supporting
Also known as Alice, Elsie, Miss Elsie Longstaff, Miss Longstaff
Elsie finishes her run with the Good Companions at Mundley after a tearful, bouquet-strewn Benefit Night, then steps straight into a wedding with her Bert, who insists on doing everything in style. She admires him all the more for stopping the car to buy the ring, and her departure opens the door for a new soubrette, Miss Mamie Potter. Her exit marks one of the small, affectionate partings that show how the troupe keeps shedding and gaining members as it moves.
Joby Jackson
supporting
Also known as Jackson, Joby, Mr. Joby Jackson, Mr. Jackson
Joby sets out his rubber dolls and his boastful signs with great satisfaction, then turns his attention to his neighbour, the seedy, booming Professor, with whom he trades gossip about Doncaster and the rural circuit. He is a shrewd judge of patter and a man who has known the Professor off and on for years, and he shares his running commentary with Mr. Oakroyd, who listens with delight. His easy, worldly talk gives the wandering world of the troupe its texture and its humour.
Monte Mortimer
supporting
Also known as Monte, Mr. Monte Mortimer, Mr. Mortimer, Mortimer
Mortimer holds court in a crowded bar, buying drinks, promising Tuesdays, and treating Inigo's songs as a lucky break for the young man rather than a favour to himself. Inigo, fortified by two enormous cocktails, refuses to be overawed and demands that Mortimer see a friend of his — a girl in the concert party he calls a genius — before any songs change hands. Mortimer's paternal amusement and his horror at being told 'I don't give a damn' reveal the gulf between the great man's world and the troupe's, and his interest in Inigo's work becomes a hinge on which the company's future may turn.
Effie Longstaff
minor
Also known as Effie, Miss Effie Longstaff, Longstaff
Elsie's sister, another young woman in the chorus.
Miss Thong
minor
Also known as Thong, little Miss Thong
A diminutive and eccentric performer in the company.
Sam Oglethorpe
minor
Also known as Sam, Mr. Oglethorpe, old Sam, Oglethorpe
An old friend of Jess Oakroyd from Yorkshire.
Lady Partlit
minor
Also known as poor Lady Partlit, Dear Lady Partlit
A wealthy but troubled patroness of the arts.
Mr. Fauntley
minor
Also known as Fauntley, And Fauntley
A local businessman and potential investor in the troupe.
Mamie Potter
minor
Also known as Miss Mamie Potter, Miss Potter, Mamie, Potter
A young actress in the company.
Nobby Clarke
minor
Also known as Nobby, Nobby Clarke
A minor performer and stagehand.
Mr. Memsworth
minor
Also known as the Memsworth, the great Memsworth, Memsworth
A theatrical agent or manager of some repute.
Eric Tipstead
minor
Also known as Mr. Tipstead, Mr. Eric Tipstead, Tipstead, Eric
A nervous and put-upon husband in a comic subplot.
Mrs. Tipstead
minor
Also known as Mrs. Eric Tipstead, Mrs. Tipstead
Eric's domineering wife.
Mr. Pitsner
minor
Also known as Mr. Pitsner of Felder, Pitsner, Master Pitsner
A mournful theatrical manager from Felder.
Poppleby
minor
Also known as Mr. Poppleby
A minor functionary or performer.
Ethel Golliver
minor
Also known as Ethel, Miss Ethel Georgia, Miss Georgia, Ethel Georgia
A redoubtable actress in the company.
Herbert Dulver
minor
Also known as Mr. Herbert Dulver, Mr. Dulver, Herbert, Dulver
A gigantic, purple-faced publican.
Mrs. Tarvin
minor
Also known as Tarvin, the Tarvin, poor old Tarvin
An older woman involved in the theatrical world.
Mr. Truby
minor
Also known as Mr. Truby of Cheltenham, Truby
A Cheltenham businessman who comments on others.
Mr. Medworth
minor
Also known as Medworth, Mr. James Medworth
A smart man mentioned in theatrical circles.
Fred Smith
minor
Also known as Fred, Smith, Fred Smith, Alf, Willy
A minor character, possibly a stagehand.
Mrs. Sugden
minor
A landlady or local woman.
Mrs. Chillingford
minor
A member of the Chillingford family.
Mr. Tarvin
minor
Also known as Tarvin, And Mr. Tarvin
Husband of Mrs. Tarvin.
Uncle Arthur
minor
Also known as Art, Uncle Arthur, Arthur
A relative of one of the characters.
Mrs. Oakroyd
minor
Also known as Oakroyd
Jess Oakroyd's wife.
Harry Briggs
minor
Also known as Briggs
A minor acquaintance.
Hugh McFarlane
minor
Also known as Dr. Hugh McFarlane, Dr. McFarlane, Hugh
A Scottish doctor who appears in the story.
Jim Summers
minor
Also known as Summers, the angry Summers, James Summers, Jim
A redoubtable and angry performer.
Mr. Chillingford
minor
Husband of Mrs. Chillingford.
Mrs. Purton
minor
Also known as Purton, And Purton
A local woman.
Mr. Ashworth
minor
A minor character.
Big Annie
minor
Also known as Annie, the formidable Annie
A formidable woman.
Dorothy Chillingford
minor
Also known as Dorothy
A member of the Chillingford family.
Daisy Callander
minor
Also known as Daisy, Daisy Callander of Washbury Manor
A young woman from Washbury Manor.
Mrs. Rathbury
minor
Also known as Rathbury
A local woman.
Mr. Rathbury
minor
Husband of Mrs. Rathbury.
Robert Fauntley
minor
Also known as Herbert, Albert
A relative of Mr. Fauntley.
Sir Joseph Higden
minor
Also known as Higden, Sir Joseph, Joe
A local dignitary and patron.
Tommy Muss
minor
Also known as little Tommy Muss, Tommy, Tom
A young boy who appears briefly.
Old Rob Roy
minor
Also known as Rob Roy, Rob, Bert
An old performer, now amorous.
Mr. Milbrau
minor
Also known as Milbrau, Mr. Milbrau of Messrs. Felder
A partner in the firm Felder and Hunterman.
Ted Oglethorpe
minor
Also known as Ted, Ted Oglethorpe, Good old Oglethorpe
Sam Oglethorpe's son.
Mr. Timpany
minor
Also known as Timpany, Mr. E. G. Timpany
A minor theatrical figure.
Freda
minor
Also known as the fair Freda
A fair-haired young woman.
Mr. Mason
minor
Also known as Mason
A minor character.
Mrs. Mounder
minor
Also known as Mounder
A minor female character.
Mrs. Buttershaw
minor
Also known as Buttershaw
A local woman.
Mr. Grudy
minor
A minor character.
Mr. Dickenson
minor
Also known as Dickenson
A minor character.
Albert Tuggridge
minor
Also known as Albert
A minor character.
Lily Jack
minor
Also known as Lily, Jack
A minor character.
Mrs. Nunn
minor
Jimmy Nunn's wife.
Joe Clapham
minor
Also known as Joe, Joseph, Mr. Joe
A minor character, possibly a Brundit alias.
Mr. Porson
minor
A minor character.
Mr. Tanker
minor
Also known as the genial Mr. Tanker, Tanker
A genial minor character.
Mrs. Cullin
minor
A minor female character.
Miss Larch
minor
A minor female character.
Milly
minor
A minor female character.
Carrie Caddy
minor
Also known as Carrie, Caddy
A minor female character.
Mr. Droke
minor
Also known as old Droke
An old man.
Mr. Alfred Nott
minor
Also known as Mr. Nott
A minor character.
Lawrence Newent
minor
Also known as Lawrence
A minor character.
Mr. Wenderby
minor
A minor character.
Mrs. Mason
minor
Wife of Mr. Mason.
Mrs. Hodney
minor
Also known as old Mrs. Hodney
An old woman.
Mr. Thorley
minor
Also known as old Thorley, Thorley
An old man.
Sergeant Comrie
minor
Also known as Comrie
A police sergeant.
Mr. Summers
minor
Also known as Summers
Possibly related to Jim Summers.
Mrs. Bevison-Burr
minor
A minor female character.
Coral Crawford
minor
A minor female character.
Mr. Porry
minor
Also known as Porry
A minor character.