By LUKE VOOGT
He wrote a West End hit, but few know his name. LUKE VOOGT discovers Oscar Asche, one of Geelong’s greatest playwrights.
When people think of Geelong acting stars, Portia De Rossi and Guy Pearce spring to mind.
But few remember Oscar Asche – a Geelong boy who wrote one of the greatest West End plays of all time – Chu Chin Chow.
The play ran continuously at His Majesty’s Theatre for five years, a 40-year record.
Asche made 200,000 pounds for writing the show alone ($36m in today’s money) and 500 pounds a week as its lead actor and producer ($92,000).
Flamboyant and bombastic, Oscar’s huge appetites would see him fade into obscurity, despite being one of the West End’s greatest playwrights.
Maroochydore historian Chrissy Fletcher travelled to Geelong and England in search of archives, newspaper clippings and birth certificates to write a biography of Asche.
“He was a brilliant actor and producer but he was hopeless with finances, a gambler who flew by his heart and not his head,” she said.
Oscar Asche was born in Geelong in 1871 and spent his first six years in Yarra Street, while his parents ran Mack’s Hotel overlooking the waterfront.
He lived at various hotels his parents owned and managed in Melbourne and Sydney, meeting travelling actors who inspired his fascination with theatre.
Oscar’s father wasn’t keen on the idea. According to his autobiography, Oscar “just missed a right-hand swing” when he suggested a stage career.
At 18 years of age Oscar was a large man, and had won several heavyweight amateur boxing bouts.
After a lucky win at the races, he took to country NSW with his horse, greyhound and wirehaired terrier, and a pocket edition of Shakespeare’s plays.
When he returned home Oscar and his mother put on private theatricals at their Sydney home.
Just after his 20th birthday, Oscar moved to Norway, then England, to pursue his acting career.
His father was forced to sell the Royal Hotel in Sydney during the 1890s depression, and stopped Oscar’s weekly allowance.
Oscar lived on the street and slept under bridges, according to his autobiography.
“I don’t know how much creative license he’s taken in his autobiography – you’ve got to remember he was a playwright and an actor,” Chrissy said.
Oscar joined a Shakespearian theatre company where he rose to fame and met actress and future wife Lily Brayton.
Together, they created a theatre company, and Oscar launched his playwright career, with Kismet, an oriental spectacular which captivated the public.
He searched futilely for years his next big hit, until he and Lily launched Chu Chin Chow at His Majesty’s Theatre in August 1916.
The play would run until July 1921 and is still the second-longest-running West End play.
Swarms of soldiers on leave from the war flocked to see the spectacular scenery and scantily clad women.
“The glamour, music and vitality was such a contrast to the hardship in the trenches,” Chrissy said.
“Over its five-year run, three million people saw Chu Chin Chow.”
Oscar directed and played the lead role of Abu Hasan and Lily played Zahrat al Kulub – roles they would play nearly 2000 times.
Oscar’s appetites became legend in London theatrical circles.
“He was easy fodder for Sydney bookkeepers on his Australian tours,” Chrissy said.
“He was eating a 2lb or 3lb steak every night and drinking a bottle of whisky.”
He had a taste for luxury too, bringing his Rolls Royce and chauffeur from England to drive across Australia during a tour.
Lily refused to accompany him on his last Australian tour after a scandalous affair with Chu Chin Chow chorus girl Rose Martin, with whom he later had a daughter.
The downslide into obesity and financial trouble continued for Oscar, after he returned from his last trip to Australia in 1924.
Oscar’s theatre company collapsed in 1926 and he filed for bankruptcy the same year.
Lily was comfortably settled at Marlow and Oscar turned to her for help, she rented him a house in her garden
It was there he died of stroke on 26 March 1936 and his brilliance was lost to the world.
