Malvina of Brittany

Jerome Klapka Jerome (1859-1927) was an English author best known for the humourous travelogue Three Men in a Boat (1889). In 1877 he decided to try his hand at acting under the stage name Harold Crichton. He joined a repertory troupe who tried to produce plays on a shoestring budget often drawing on the meager resources of the actors themselves to purchase costumes and props. He tried to become a journalist writing essays satires and short stories but most of these were rejected. Over the next few years he was a school teacher a packer and a solicitors clerk. Finally in 1885 he had some success with On the Stage-and Off a humourous book the publication of which opened the door for more plays and essays.