Truus, Bob & Jan too! posted a photo:

Vintage British postcard. Rotary Photo, E.C., 117512 M. Photo by Foulsham and Banfield, London. Lily Brayton as Marsinah in the play Kismet.

Kismet was a three-act play written in 1911 by Edward Knoblauch/ Knoblock. It was produced by Oscar Asche and first staged at the Garrick Theatre, London, on 19 April 1911. Asche rewrote the play and starred himself as the beggar Haji, who poses as a prince. He drowns the evil Wazir of Police, catches the eye of the Wazir's voluptuous wife, serves as Emir of Baghdad, and sees his daughter wed to the handsome Caliph, who has posed as a gardener. Next to Asche, Lily Brayton starred as his daughter Marsinah. The play was a gigantic success.

After a successful tour with Kismet in Australia in 1911–12, Asche, upon his return to London, revived Kismet. Asche and Brayton also appeared in a 1914 film adaptation. Afterward, more film adaptations followed in 1920, 1930 and 1944. Asche repeated his role as Haji in the 1930 and 1944 film versions. In 1953, the story was adapted into the musical by Robert Wright and George Forrest, which in turn was adapted into a 1955 film.

Sources: English Wikipedia, IMDb.

Elizabeth "Lily" Brayton (23 June 1876 – 30 April 1953) was an English actress and singer, known for her performances in Shakespeare plays and for her nearly 2,000 performances in the First World War hit musical 'Chu Chin Chow'. From the 1900s, Lily Brayton was the wife and regular co-actor of British actor Oscar Asche. In 1914 she acted opposite Asche in her only film, Kismet, directed by Leedham Bantock.

What began as a tiny space above the founder’s stables became the beating heart of the city’s performing arts. Its leader Jimmy Fay reflects on recent hits and reveals what audiences can expect from the theatre’s anniversary year

‘The Lyric gives voice to everyone in Northern Ireland,” says the theatre’s boss, Jimmy Fay. “It’s a beacon.” Fay views the 2026 programme, celebrating 75 years of the Lyric, as an opportunity to showcase current creative talent, as well as honouring the theatre’s past.

One of the plays from the repertoire that Fay was keen to revive is Christina Reid’s Tea in a China Cup, from 1983. With a cast including Marie Jones, the new production – which runs in May – is directed by Dan Gordon, who performed in the original. Reid’s play traces the daily lives of Protestant working-class women in Belfast across three decades, from the second world war to the Troubles, with humour and poignancy.

MALAYSIA: Universiti Malaya has apologised after a theatre scene deviated from the vetted script and violated competition rules, resulting in the performance being ruled ineligible.

But some are saying this is nothing new, and it has happened before, but this time it is getting more attention because it happened at the UM, a very prestigious institution in Malaysia.

The institution also says it will investigate the suggestive theatre scene that went viral after public outcry.

The controversy arose from a clip filmed during the Universiti Malaya Theatre Carnival (KARVITER).

The footage showed a male and female actor alone together on a bed under dimmed lighting. The male actor is seen slowly crawling forward suggestively while the female actor begins to lie down, shortly before the sequence is interrupted.

The university said it takes the matter seriously and acknowledges the concerns raised by the public. It said the scene constitutes a clear violation of competition rules.

Users on X are saying this is not the first time a university play runs out of script, particularly when it comes to suggestive acts.

The user posted a video showing what they say is a student in a sexually explicit act.

One commenter said that besides UM, UPM isn’t spared either. “This theatre issue has actually been around for a long time. It’s only viral now because UM did it.

“Here’s an old video from UPM in 2019. This time it’s the woman on top of the man… kind of the reverse .”

Another had this to say on the moral standing in Universities:

UM’s Karviter. Doing indecent acts openly, and being afraid of being criticised openly.”

The user also asked what type of education is being dispensed at the institution to make students act the way they did during the play.

They twisted the title of the play, ‘Asrama-ra’ to ‘berasmara’, meaning (making love).

The story went wild on threads, with some saying they thought UM was a great university, while others stated the acts during the play showed serious failings, blaming the lecturers in the process.

Another commenter shared: “Surely those students should have rehearsed. Why wasn’t it filtered? As lecturers, why didn’t you advise that it was inappropriate to be staged? Only after it went viral did a statement come out… Very embarrassing. This is serious, not a joke. Issues like this seem to encourage immorality. Back then, if we performed, we would be corrected — okay, this part needs to be cut off. So I think UM lecturers were very careless.”

The incident has since drawn wider discussion about creative boundaries and supervision in student productions.

This article (Universiti Malaya apologises after theatre scene deviates from script, sparks backlash) first appeared on The Independent Singapore News.