Sydney production of an English play. Shown in Melbourne on 5 August.
Directed by Alan Burke who presumably picked this.
Why was it made? Probably Captain Carvallo. But Cold War satire set in Europe?
Premise
A young couple make a suicide pact at a mountain resort.
Matters are complicated by the arrival of two former suitors of the girl, Cornelia.
Cast
- Diana Davidson as Cornelia
- Gordon Glenwright as Carlo Bambas
- Lionel Stevens as Julius Ring
- Barbara Eather
- John Huson
- Don Pascoe
- Hugh Stewart
Original play
It was based on a play by Dennis Cannan, who had written Captain Carvallo, also adapted by the ABC. Cannan died in 2011. Here is an obit. https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2011/oct/17/denis-cannan-obituary
The play debuted in London in 1955. It starred George Cole and Yvonne Mitchell. The play only had a short run. Cole, in his memoirs, blamed this on a newspaper strike. A review of that production in Variety is here.
Other adaptations
The play had been adapted for TV on the BBC in 1955. The BBC adapted it for radio in 1956.
A radio version was performed in Australia in 1955.
Reception
According to director Alan Burke the play received "tiny ratings" like many ABC plays around this time.
The critic from the Sydney Morning Herald wrote that the "oddly uneven ingredients of political satire and romantic farce" that featured in the play "were not mixed with enough smoothness" to make the TV adaptation "entirely satisfying" adding that the play suffered from being reduced to an hour ("hardly gave the players or the ideas time to properly ferment"). However he did think there that "when attractive acting was combined with flexible production" there were "some charming and amusing individual scenes."
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| SMH 16 July 1959 p 6 |
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| The Age 30 July 1959 p 17 |
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| ABC Weekly 15 July 1959 p 31 |
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| SMH 15 July 1959 p 14 |
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| The Age Supplement 30 July 1959 p 2 |
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| Review of 1955 stage production at Variety |
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