The Cocktail Hour

The Cocktail Hour is a comedy of manners by A. R. Gurney. It premiered in June 1988 in San Diego, California at the Old Globe Theatre and, on October 20, 1988, in New York City at the Off Broadway Promenade Theatre. The original cast consisted of Keene Curtis as the father, Bradley; Nancy Marchand as the mother, Ann; Bruce Davison as their son John; and Holland Taylor as their daughter, and John's younger sister, Nina. It was directed by Jack O’Brien, who at that time was the Artistic Director of the Old Globe.

Like many of Gurney’s plays, The Cocktail Hour is a comedy exploring the world of upper-class families in the Northeastern United States. A review in The New York Times described it as "an examination of an overprivileged family that fights domestic battles while downing drinks."

The setting is an upper-class home in the 1970s. The play opens on Bradley and Ann having preprandial cocktails with their middle-aged, ostensibly single son and daughter. The cocktail hour stretches out because "the maid doesn't know how to cook a roast". So the little family carries on consuming increasing amounts of alcohol leading to increasing arguments. Their son, John, is an editor at a publishing company and a part-time playwright. He has written a play that seems to present an unflattering picture of the family, and the parents are upset. The discussion of John's play, which is also called The Cocktail Hour, gives Gurney a lot of opportunity to lampoon the theatre scene.

Happy hour

Happy hour is a marketing term for a period of time in which a public venue, such as a restaurant, bar, bowling alley, stadium, or state or county fair, offers discounts on alcoholic drinks, such as beer, wine, and cocktails. Free Hors d'oeuvres, appetizers and discounted menu items are often served during Happy hour.

Origin

The words "happy" and "hour" have appeared together for centuries when describing pleasant times. In act I, scene 2 of William Shakespeare's King Henry V (said to have been written in about 1599), for example, King Henry says, "Therefore, my lords, omit no happy hour That may give furtherance to our expedition . . . ." The use of the phrase, "Happy Hour," to refer to a scheduled period of entertainment, however, is of much more recent vintage.

One possible origin of the term "Happy Hour," in the sense of a scheduled period of entertainment, is from the United States Navy. In early 1913, a group of "home makers" called the "Happy Hour Social" organized "semi-weekly smokers" on board the U.S.S. Arkansas (BB 33). The name "Happy Hour Club," "Happy Hour Social Club," and similar variants, had been in use as the names of social clubs, primarily by women's social clubs, since at least the early 1880s. By June 1913, the crew of the USS Arkansas had started referring to their regularly scheduled smokers as "Happy Hours." The "Happy Hours" included a variety of entertainment, including boxing and wrestling matches, music, dancing and movies. By the end of World War I, the practice of holding "Happy Hours" had spread throughout the entire Navy.

Cocktail hour (disambiguation)

Cocktail hour may refer to:

Cocktail Hour (film)

Cocktail Hour is a 1933 American Pre-Code romantic drama film produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures and starring Bebe Daniels. This film was directed by Victor Scherzinger.

A copy of the film is preserved in the Library of Congress.

Cast

References

External links