Character guide

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.