Betsy Baker! or, Too Attentive by Half; A Farce, in One Act

Chapter 2: Characters.

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About This Book

A brisk one-act farce that follows a self-absorbed husband and his exasperated wife as domestic idiosyncrasies and professional rivalries set off comic disturbances. An officious partner, a persistent laundress called to deliver household items, and gossip about a threatened marital separation generate a string of misunderstandings, boasts, and thwarted errands. Rapid entrances, costume changes, and exaggerated manners lampoon vanity and social pretension, driving a succession of humorous reversals and reconciliations that highlight the absurdities of marital life and petty ambition in a compact stage piece.

First performed at the Royal Princess’s Theatre,
On Wednesday, November 13th, 1850.

Characters.

MR. MARMADUKE MOUSER	...	Mr. KEELEY.
MR. CRUMMY	...	Mr. J. VINING.
MRS. MOUSER	...	Miss MURRAY.
BETSY BAKER (a Laundress)	...	Mrs. KEELEY.

Costumes.

MOUSER—Shawl pattern dressing gown, light brown vest, and fashionable dark grey check trousers. Second Dress—Exchanges gown for dark blue coat.

CRUMMY—Fashionable black Oxonian coat, light drab vest, and light grey trousers.

MRS. MOUSER—White muslin dress with amber satin ribbons over an amber satin dress, fashionable lace cap, &c.—Second Dress—Light blue silk mantilla over the above, white silk drawn bonnet.

BETSY BAKER—Pink print dress with very short sleeves, laundress’s blue check apron, neat laced boots.

Time in Representation—45 minutes.