Episode two of Love and War.
Premise
An anti-war fanatic falls victim to anarchy of his own making.
In the 1880s four soldiers, led by Sgt Musgrave, arrive to recruit in a small village in north England. They discover the miners are on strike and the mayor and parson welcome the soldiers to sort it out.
The sergeant is a sinister figure who thinks he is God. He hauls a skeelton to the mast and threatens the crowd with a Maxim gun.
Most of the action takes place in the bar of Mrs Hitchcock where Miss Walker is a barmaid.
Cast
- Wynn Roberts as Sergeant Musgrave
- Sean Scully
- Richard Meikle
- Edward Hepple
- Michael Boddy
- Don Crosby
- Neva Carr Glynn as Mrs Hitchcock
- Alice Fraser
Original play
The play was by John Arden. It debuted in England in 1959 at the Royal Court. Linsday Anderson directed and Dudley Moore provided the music.
You can read the play here. A 1964 Age profile on Arden is here because he was in Australia theat year. Arden wrote a script for Ned Kelly in the early 60s that was not used. His adaptation of Goethe's Storm appeared on ABC's Wednesday Theatre in Feb 1967 see here.
Other adaptations
It was adapted for TV by ITV in 1961.
It was filmed for Canadian TV in 1962. The BBC filmed it in 1965.
It was performed on stage in Sydney in 1961, and Melbourne in 1964. Bob Ellis was in the 1961 production with Bruce Beresford and John Bell. The 1964 Melbourne production was a financial disaster only lasting nine performances.
Why do an Australian TV version?
Production
It was shot in Sydney under the direction of John Croyston.
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| Canberra Times 4 Sept 1967 p 15 |
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| SMH TV Guide 11 Sept 1967 p 1 |
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| SMH 13 Sept 1967 p 14 |
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| SMH TV Guide 11 Sept 1967 |
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