A big hit
From Mr Sheridan Morley Sir: A footnote to Paul Johnson (And another thing, 17 February) on the Versailles grandeur of Nancy Mitford.
In 1950 my father Robert invited her to translate a considerable Paris boulevard comedy hit called La Petite Hutte. As The Little Hut it opened in some triumph at Edinburgh a few months later. The morning after the first night, Nancy telephoned Robert to suggest a celebratory dinner at their hotel the following night at 8 p.m. sharp.
Robert explained that, alas, he would be unable to join her much before 11, as he would until then be performing her play. 'You mean,' replied Nancy in astonishment, accustomed only as she was to gala theatrical balls at Versailles, 'that you do it twice?'
Robert did it eight times a week for the best part of the following three years, but it was sadly Nancy's only adventure in playwriting.
Sheridan Morley
London SW11
Previous page
