I don’t know how I know the story of The Monkey’s Paw. Perhaps it was done as a play at Castle Park or read to us there? It is a short story published in 1902 and subsequently adapted for stage, screen and the wireless. The genre, if you don’t know it, is spooky, chiller,thriller.
In Bring on the Girls, co-authored by PG Wodehouse and Guy Bolton, the latter tells of being asked to lunch at The Dramatists’ Club, which met in the private dining-room of a hotel in Northumberland Avenue. Present were Sir Arthur Pinero (President), JM Barrie, Ian Hay (Secretary), four more members and “a rather colourless looking fellow with blondish, greying hair”.
“Who’s that? ” whispered Guy. “Jacobs.” “Not WW?” “There’s only one Jacobs.”
“There certainly is”, said Guy reverently. He knew practically all Jacobs by heart.
You will have guessed that WW Jacobs wrote The Monkey’s Paw, although that is not his usual genre which was humorous short stories and novels. He was tremendously successful churning out books and stage adaptations from 1896 until 1926, although he lived until 1943. I wonder if his stories are readable today? On the one hand it’s a good sign that Guy Bolton, Rupert Hart-Davis and George Lyttelton were admirers but on the other hand they may be very dated. The jury is out on this case and Three Men in a Boat (1889) has retained most of its appeal.
The Monkey’s Paw probably was performed at Castle Park. It was certainly done at my Irish school in the 1950s and I had a starring role. My memorable line, upon which the plot seemed to depend was: ‘It’s a bat brick.’ delivered with great force. I never understood what a bat brick was.
I had a part in The Last Up Train at Castle Park without any idea as to what an Up Train was.