Australian TV Plays: The Little Woman (18 Oct 1961)

Original Australian TV play from Pat Hooker. Well, it was a one act play.Directed by Bill Bain.

Premise

In a plush suburb on Sydney's North Shore, Marjorie, a young bride, an ex-typist from Brisbane, arrives home to find a series of surprises in store for her: her husband Henry, a wealthy Sydney businessman, keeps his wives instead of divorcing him, and they live together in a state of bliss; the new bride is his sixth. The household is run by Vera, his first wife. The others are a beatnik, a secretary, a glamour girl and a cook.

The police arrive to investigate the house. The husband stays out of the play until the ast scene.

Cast

Sophie Stewart as Vera
Wendy Blacklock as Majorie Marshall, an ex typist from Brisbane
Moya O'Sullivan as Kay, the secretary
Brigid Lenihan as a beatnik Estella, who plays the tuba
Janice Copeland as Veronica, the cook
Valerie Hughes asJoanna, the glamorous one
Brian Anderson
Edward Hepple
Kerry Francis

Original play Production

Hooker was working as a shorthand typist in a city office in 1959 when she wrote the story at home in the evenings. She wrote it as a stage play and it was included in a night of one-act plays at the Genesian Theatre.

Production

To help it reach a wider audience, Patricia studied a book on TV technique and decided to revise the script as a TV play. The play takes place in real time.

It was shot in Sydney and took 60 minutes. Sophie Stewart moved to Australia in May 1960. She said she had only seen three Australian plays - the Doll, the Shifting Heart and the One Day of the. Year. "I was impressed with all of them. If Australia can produce plays like these it has a definite place in world theatre."

It was the TV debut of Valerie Heighes who had been on stage in The Seven Year Itch.

It was directed by Bill Bain and designed by Geoffrey Wedlock.

According to a letter from Rex Rienits to Bill Bain Hooker rewrote the script after input from Rienits.

Reception

The Sunday Sydney Morning Herald said it was "bright, breezy and well paced from start to finish. And while the theme (Henry keeps six wives)may raise a few "tut tuts" in some quarters it was handled with such racy good humour and wit that only the most straightlaced could quibble".

The Sydney Morning Herald called it "a merry little farce" in which "the plot skidded and skated a bit" but praised the "splendid" performances of Wendy Blacklock and Sophie Stewart.