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Waiting for an Omnibus in the Lowther Arcade on a Rainy Day: A Farce, in One Act cover

Waiting for an Omnibus in the Lowther Arcade on a Rainy Day: A Farce, in One Act

Chapter 5: Transcriber’s Note
By John Maddison Morton
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About This Book

The play takes place during a downpour in a crowded covered arcade where sheltering shoppers and passersby collide and converse. A matchmaking mother and her daughter, an enthusiastic suitor about to marry, a wealthy bachelor relative, a tailor, and a beadle trade witty banter and comic observations while umbrellas, crowding, and polite etiquette cause minor frictions. Through rapid entrances, exits, and misunderstandings about courtship and money, the one-act farce satirizes social manners and the mercenary side of matrimonial arrangements, relying on timing, physical business, and verbal repartee to drive its compact comic action.

Transcriber’s Note

This transcription is based on two sets of scans of the Lacy edition, both of which are available through the Hathi Digital Library. The first set is from a copy held by the University of Iowa:

hdl.handle.net/2027/iau.31858023944576

The second set is from a copy of Volume 15 of Lacy’s Acting Edition of Plays held by the University of Michigan, starting at page 323 of the scans:

hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015067453046

Because of issues related to publication, the condition of the scanned copies, and the scanning process itself, both sets were used for the transcription.

The following changes were made to the text:

  • Title page: Milliner’s Holiday—Changed to “Milliners’ Holiday”, the correct title of the play.
  • p. 5: As you say, it doesn’t rain here—I don’t know why it should’nt, but it doesn’t!—Changed “should’nt” to “shouldn’t”.
  • p. 8: FANNY. (R ) Ask mamma!—Added a period after “R”.
  • p. 12: O’WALKER. (impatiently) Oh) confound it—there—Changed closing parenthesis after “Oh” to an exclamation mark.
  • p. 12: Ill swear to it—Change “Ill” to “I’ll”.
  • p. 14: That’s no affair of your’s, sir—Changed “your’s” to “yours”.
  • p. 14: B. B’s. so dreadfully jealous—Changed “B. B’s” to “B. B.’s”.
  • p. 18: I’ve paid you and I’m saisfied—Changed “saisfied” to “satisfied”.