page_title: The Lyons Mail (play)
section_title: Revivals
hierarchical_section_title: The Lyons Mail (play) / Revivals
caption_attribution_description: English: H. B. Irving in the 1908 revival of 'The Lyons Mail' at the Shaftesbury Theatre (1908)
context_page_description: The Lyons Mail is an 1877 drama by Charles Reade based on his play The Courier of Lyons. The new version was written for Henry Irving for performance at the Lyceum Theatre.
  Reade's play was based on the 1796 Courrier de Lyon case in Revolutionary France, drawing inspiration from a previous play based on the case by the French writers Paul Siraudin and Louis-Mathurin Moreau. Reade had written the play specifically for the actor Charles Kean. It had its début on 26 June 1854 with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in attendance.
  The roles of Joseph Lesurques and Dubosc were played by the same actor. In the original production this was Henry Irving. Later the roles were played by his son H. B. Irving, Bransby Williams at the Lyceum Theatre and John Martin Harvey at the Savoy Theatre, who had played Joliquet in the 1891, 1893 and 1898 revivals at the Lyceum, among other actors. At the Lyceum the role of Jeanette was often played by Ellen Terry.
  The play's backdrops by Hawes Craven used in the productions at the Lyceum were destroyed in a fire in 1897 at the theatre's scenic store in Bear Lane in Southwark.
context_section_description: In 1906 Irving's son H. B. Irving revived The Lyons Mail at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, himself playing the dual roles of Joseph Lesurques and Dubosc, with his wife Dorothea Baird in the cast. 
  Mr. H.B. lrving's opening night of the Shaftesbury on Thursday was made historical by the enthusiasm of the audience. Old friends of his distinguished father and many well-wishers gave him a magnificent "send off." He emerged triumphantly from the ordeal of comparison in the great twin parts of Lesurques and Dubosc in The Lyons Mail, that picturesque melodrama which has been given a niche in dramatic fame far above its deserts by the genius of Irving the elder. When at the close on Thursday night Mr. H.B. Irving expressed the hope that he had made the play interesting, both to those to whom it was new and to those who were familiar with it in the old days at the Lyceum, there was one great shout of "You have". The earnestness of the performance could not be resisted, and those who critically opined that it lacked a trifle in power were overwhelmed. The new Irving is worthy to play his father's parts. 
  The actor Bransby Williams (wearing Irving's costumes from the original production) revived The Lyons Mail at the Lyceum Theatre in 1923 followed by that of John Martin Harvey at the Savoy Theatre in 1930.
caption: Lesurques is reprieved - H. B. Irving in the 1908 revival at the Shaftesbury Theatre
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