Mildred on the Marne: Mildred Aldrich, Front-line Witness 1914-1918
As part of my research for my biography on Mildred Aldrich, I was given access to Mildred’s papers and journals held at the Schlesinger Library, Harvard University. I would like to thank Ellen M. Shea and all the research assistants and library staff for their kindness, help and patience. I couldn’t have completed this book without them. I also feel very proud that a copy of this book is held in the Schlesinger Library and at other universities across the world.
David will be featured on the BBC Radio 3 programmes for Composer of the Week dedicated to Ivor Novello. Due to be broadcast on Boxing Day for five days. See the Christmas schedules for details – we will add a link to this site as soon as it becomes available.
I was really impressed by this assessment of what I do that I discovered on the internet. It made me realise that we never really see ourselves as others do; and appreciate what we do even less.
Bridging the worlds of stage and scholarship
“David Slattery-Christy is an English playwright, biographer, and novelist whose work traverses the territories of theatre, history and musical drama. Born in Oxford in 1959, he studied journalism at City University London, and later added a teaching qualification at Lancaster and a master’s degree in the arts (with distinction) from the University of Central Lancashire.
From his early training in drama at London Theatre Arts, Slattery-Christy developed a deep affinity for the stage, alongside his literary ambitions. His theatrical career includes acclaimed plays such as Forever Nineteen, After the Tone, and The Post Card, which have been staged in London, toured across Britain, and even reached audiences in New York. His 2021 production Naturally Insane! The Life of Dan Leno, a dramatic portrait of the great Victorian music-hall comedian, played at London’s Criterion Theatre and toured nationally, earning praise for its blending of tragedy and comedy.
Yet theatre is only one strand of his creative tapestry. Slattery-Christy has emerged as a leading modern biographer and cultural historian, particularly in his work reviving interest in early twentieth-century British musical and theatrical figures. He is perhaps best known as the author of Ivor Novello – My Life & In Search of Ruritania in which he combines archival rigour with narrative sensitivity to reanimate the career of the composer-actor. He has also written Edwardian Beauty -The Life and Times of Lily Elsie, a study of the Edwardian star of The Merry Widow, and Mildred on the Marne, a war-era biography of the American journalist and pacifist Mildred Aldrich.
His sensitivity to musical theatre has led him to collaborate with musical institutions and film projects. He served as an Ivor Novello consultant on Robert Altman and Julian Fellowes’s Oscar- and BAFTA-winning film Gosford Park, contributing to the film’s musical authenticity. He also adapted Novello’s 1935 musical Glamorous Night, and directed a 50th-anniversary concert in London’s West End in honor of Novello’s legacy. His expertise has been drawn upon by the BBC in documentaries and even in radio programming: he has been script adviser and a guest contributor on Composer of the Week episodes on Radio 3 dedicated to Novello.
In recent years, Slattery-Christy has continued to push boundaries. His interest in blending biography, drama, and historical fiction is evident in his novel Flyte or Fancy, which imagines intersections between the world of Evelyn Waugh and the social mores of upper-class England. He is also developing new dramatic projects: Elvira & I, a play about Puccini and his wife, premiered in festival form, and he has written a play about the historian A. L. Rowse and Nazi conspirator Adam von Trott, provocatively titled Other People’s Fu**ing – An Oxford Affair.
At the heart of his career is a twin devotion: to reviving forgotten voices and bridging the worlds of stage and scholarship. Slattery-Christy has cultivated a reputation as a careful researcher, an intuitive dramatist, and a steward of cultural memory. His work finds purchase where actor and archivist meet — where the ghosts of Edwardian stages and wartime letters might be reimagined for contemporary audiences. Whether through lyric biography or theatrical invention, he continues to explore the resonances of past lives in our own time.”
Image: David Slattery-Christy – Oxford
David was born in Oxford, England, in 1959. He graduated from London’s City University with a BA (Hons) Degree in Journalism. In addition to this he has a Teaching Degree from Lancaster University and a Masters Degree in the Arts from the University of Central Lancashire. He continues his professional development with courses at the University of Oxford. Prior to this he attended London Theatre Arts to study drama, and then worked extensively in the performing arts industry as a playwright, producer and director. His stage plays include the award winning Forever Nineteen, After The Tone and The Post Card – which enjoyed London and New York productions, as well as touring nationally in the United Kingdom. His most recent play Naturally Insane! The Life of Dan Leno explores the Victorian comedian’s life and work and toured in the UK prior to performances in London’s West End at the Criterion Theatre in 2021 starring BGT finalist Steve Royle.
David was the script advisor and guest interviewee for the week on BBC Radio 3 Composer of the Week dedicated to Ivor Novello. With Donald Macleod, Rosy Runciman and Billy Differ. Produced by Luke Whitlock for the BBC. His biography [My Life & In Search of Ruritania] on Novello, along with Novello’s own autobiography My Life, was published as a special edition in 2023: “David is the absolute authority on Novello, and this new edition including Novello’s own My Life is a bit of a must…” [Alexandra Coghlan – The Sunday Times]
His involvement in adapting the libretto for Ivor Novello’s 1935 musical Glamorous Night resulted in him directing the 50th Anniversary Concert to celebrate the life and work of Ivor Novello at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in London’s West End. Subsequently he has worked as the Ivor Novello Consultant on Julian Fellowes and Robert Altman’s Oscar and BAFTA winning film Gosford Park, and contributed to the BBC Documentary on the life of Novello, The Handsomest Man in Britain. He is the author of In Search of Ruritania, a biography on Ivor Novello – featured on BBC Radio 2 with Don Black as part of the Great War Centenary celebrations 2014. Anything But Merry! The Life and Times of Lily Elsie a biogrpahy of the Edwardian actress and singer who found fame in Lehar’s The Merry Widow; the novel The Mistletoe Haunting – Legend of Minster Lovell, and Mildred on the Marne: Mildred Aldrich, Front-line Witness 1914-1918. He is currently developing a new play based on the relationship between opera composer Puccini and his wife titled Elvira & I – Puccini’s Scandalous Passions! which had its world premiere at Lytham Festival 2017 with critical praise, and also a play based on the relationship between historian A.L. Rowse and Adam von Trott titled Other People’s Fu**ing – An Oxford Affair. He has most recently been the script advisor and guest of the week on the BBC Radio 3 Composer of the Week programmes dedicated for the first time to Ivor Novello, broadcast as a Christmas Special for 2016. He was also a consultant on the BBC Antques Roadshow for an Entertainment Special due to be broadcast later in 2017.
2016 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL – BBC RADIO 2 – COMPOSER OF THE WEEK
David is guest of the week and also script consultant for these programmes.
1/5 – Keep The Home Fires Burning – 26th December at 12 noon.
2/5 – The Next Valentino – 27th December at 12 noon.
3/5 – Glamorous Night – 28th December at 12 noon.
4/5 – Singing For World Peace – 29th December at 12 noon.
5/5 – Novello Does Time – 30th December at 12 noon.