author
Mark Ambient
1860–1937
Best remembered for helping create the hit Edwardian musical comedy The Arcadians, this English playwright and actor brought wit, theatrical flair, and a light comic touch to the stage. He also wrote farces such as Oh! Susannah!, showing an easy feel for lively dialogue and crowd-pleasing humor.
1 Audiobook
Oh! Susannah! A Farcical Comedy in Three Acts
by Mark Ambient
About the author
Writing under the pen name Mark Ambient, Harold Harley was an English actor and dramatist born in Rastrick, Yorkshire, on June 20, 1860. He was educated at Mill Hill School and at King's College, Cambridge, where he graduated in 1884.
He is most closely associated with The Arcadians, the popular 1909 Edwardian musical comedy he wrote with Alexander M. Thompson. The show became his best-known success and helped secure his place in British theatre history. He also wrote stage comedies and farces, including Oh! Susannah!, a lively three-act comedy that has remained available to modern readers through Project Gutenberg.
Ambient died in Brighton on August 11, 1937. Although he is not a widely known name today, his work still offers a glimpse of the bright, playful entertainment that appealed to early 20th-century theatre audiences.