Some R Sheridan. Oriel Gray did the adaptation!
Premise
Captain Absolute, son of the wealthy Sir Anthony, poses as a penniless ensign to win the heart of Lydia Languish.
Lydia's aunt is negotiating another match.
Cast
- Patricia Kennedy as Mrs Malaprop
- Patsy King as Lydia
- James Bailey as Sir Anthony Absolute
- Frederick Parslow as Captain Absolute
- Michael Duffield as Bob Acres
- Ann Charleston as Julia
- George Whaley as Faulkland
- Clement McCallin as Sir Lucius O'Trigger
Original play
A restoration comedy from 1775. It was been much produced and adapted.
A copy of it is here.
Other adaptations
It was adapted for ABC radio in Australia in 1954 and in 1958. There was a stage version at the Australian Elizabethan Theatre in Sydney in 1956.
It was filmed by the BBC in 1938, 1948, and 1962. It was done on BBC radio in 1924, 1928 and 1935 (among other times).
It was adapted for Canadian TV in 1955.
It was adapted as an episode of Maverick the TV series in 1959. And for US TV in 1950.
Production
It was shot in Melbourne. Chris Muir directed. It was an expensive production involving fifteen sets.
It was the live TV debut performance from James Bailey, an English actor who toured Australia with Laurence Olivier in 1948 and elected to stay on in the country. The repertoire of that famous tour included a production of another play by Sheridan, School for Scoundrels.
Bailey and Kennedy appeared shortly afterwards in a radio version of Merchant of Venice.
Designer - Paul Cleveland. Design assistant - Peter Cook. Wardrobe - Keith Clarke.
Broadcast
It showed in Sydney on 25 October
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| The Age TV Supplement 1 Sept 1961 p 2 |
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| The Age TV Supplement 1 Sept 1961 p 1 |
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| SMH 23 Oct 1961 p 22 |
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| The Age 1 Sept 1961 p 35 |
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| SMH 23 Oct 1961 p 20 |
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| The Age 6 Sept 1961 p 19 |
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| 25 Oct 1961 p 23 |
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| SMH 23 Oct 1961 p 18 |
From the ABC report of 61/62
DRAMA AND FEATURES
A.B.C.
drama, in radio and television, offered the public a very wide range of
plays from the classics to plays written in Australia. Since the
beginning of its TV service, the A.B.C. has been anxious to encourage
Australian authors to write For the new medium and this, year was able
to present a consecutive season of six local plays, representing about a
quarter of the total TV drama output. These plays, each of
approximately one hour, were an encouraging result of the work that has
been done to interest local writers in TV.
There is increasing
overseas interest in A.B.C. plays. In addition to several A.B.C.
productions accepted by C.B.S. in the U.S.A., telececordings of two
plays were used by Associated Rediffusian in the U.K..
The
popularity of the Australian historical serials telecast in the past
two, years led to the commis- sioning of a third serial, The, Patriots,
dealing with the early days of William Charles Wentworth, his conflict
with Governor Darling and the emergence of demands for democratic rights
and freedoms. This serial in ten episodes was Written by the
Australian, Phillip Grenville Mann, and its production acquired the
co-operative effort of many people, in planning and research as well as
in the studio.
While the classics are expensive in TV, the
presentation of Sheridan's The Rivals in Melbourne and Shakespeare's The
Merchant of Venice in Sydney were well worthwhile, not only
artistically and as entertainment, but as aids to thousands of students
for whom these plays were examination texts.
Of special
interest, too, was the televising of the mediaeval drama, The Play of
Daniel, from the crypt of St. Mary's Cathedral, Sydney.
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