Gertrude Bugler
Gertrude Bugler (1897 – 1992[1]) was a British stage actress of the Edwardian Era best known for acting in plays adapted by Thomas Hardy.
Drama critics who came from London to preview the play gave Bugler glowing reviews for her angelic beauty and her naturalistic style of acting.
[12] The Daily News of 20 November 1913 reported that "the performance will probably be remembered by most people as a setting for the debut of Miss Gertrude Bugler" and suggested she might one day play Tess.
[9] The Dorset County Chronicle devoted two columns to its review, reporting that "The 'star' of the company, Miss Gertrude Bugler, naturally and deservedly shone above all others..." and that her voice "conquered the echoes of a very difficult building.
Even to-day there are people who think I am not quite nice to appear in 'Tess',"[22] though the Leeds Mercury responded that acting is about "imaginative interpretation", not "autobiographical expression" so Bugler would "live down the prejudice".
[26] The Daily Mail described is as "less a play in the accepted sense than four outstanding episodes ... told in the language of the book", and reported that the production's "beauty ... lay chiefly in the acting of Tess by Mrs Gertrude Bugler".
[25] The Yorkshire Post likewise reported that the script was "in many cases apparently reproduced from the text" and that Bugler "adds that role to the several of the Wessex heroines in which she has made successes.
[31][32] Hardy had envisaged Sybil Thorndike playing Tess if Bugler declined the role,[1][32] and Lady Forbes-Robertson had enquired about it,[1] but it was eventually taken by Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies.
[10][30] Advance publicity emphasised Bugler's authentic background,[21] her connection with Hardy, and the status of other cast members including Martin Lewis as "the sinister" Alec, and Barbara Gott.
[44] The Illustrated London News attributed this to the play itself coming to life in later scenes where "the best-trained artist could not be more sincere or more poignantly effective".
[45] The Civil and Military Gazette added that "in the heart-breakingly moving finale at Stonehenge she recaptures for us, just for a few moments, the fleeting haunting beauty of the book.
in The Sketch lamented that "so much has been lost in the adaptation for the stage that nothing producer or player can do makes sufficient compensation" and "the unwisdom of rooting up an amateur actress from her surroundings."
It must in fairness be recorded that the majority of an enthusiastic audience appeared to answer these questions in the affirmative"[48]The play had a successful run of sixty performances.
[49][50] After finishing its run, the play toured to King's Theatre, Hammersmith and the Hippodrome Margate, after which Bugler and two other actors withdrew.
[10] After enjoying her moment in the sun, Bugler, now married with a daughter and an ailing mother (who later died in 1940), stopped acting and returned to Dorchester, living to the age of 95.
[54] Bugler later wrote about her experiences in Personal Recollections of Thomas Hardy, published by The Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society in 1962.
