SCREEN PLAYS
BBC
Arthur Miller on the small screen 3: The Crucible
Arthur Miller’s (1915-2005) American tragedies have not only proved to be extremely popular on both British professional and amateur stages for more than half a century but they have also enjoyed a longstanding place at the heart of English literature curricula in schools. It is not surprising, therefore, to discover that at least twelve productions of his plays have been transmitted on British television networks over a forty-year period from 1957 to 1997. This third in a series of four posts considers the three extant productions of The Crucible transmitted in 1959 (Granada), 1968 (Rediffusion) and 1981 (BBC), with a special focus on the last of the three for which a viewing copy exists in the archives. Continue reading
‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore (BBC, 1980)
Roland Joffé’s film adaptation of John Ford’s play ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, produced for BBC Television, is rare in a number of ways. This is the only British television production of the Caroline tragedy, and indeed the medium’s only presentation of a drama by the playwright. Filmed by director of photography Nat Crosby, ‘Tis Pity… is one of a small number of television adaptations of classic theatre plays to be shot on 16mm film on location. And since its first transmission on 7 May 1980, it has been exceptionally hard to see, with no repeat showing, no VHS or DVD release and not even any fragments on YouTube. Tonight’s (sold out) presentation at BFI Southbank as part of the ‘Classics on TV: Jacobean Tragedy on the Small Screen’ season, organised with Screen Plays, is a rare opportunity to see it. Continue reading
Stage 2: The Duchess of Malfi (BBC, 1972)
Shooting on videotape on location at Chastleton House, James MacTaggart achieves a fluid and compelling production of John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi that is entirely credible – which is far from easy through the second-half bloodbath. Among its strengths are a vibrant performance by Eileen Atkins as the Duchess and some truly remarkable chiaroscuro camera work. Continue reading
Hamlet at Elsinore (BBC / Danmarks Radio, 1964), part 1
One of the most significant of all television Shakespeare productions on television was produced nearly fifty years ago as a contribution to the quatercentenary celebrations of the playwright’s birth. The idea for a television version of Hamlet recorded on location at the castle where the events are set originally came from Danmarks Radio. The project became one of the earliest major European co-productions and was pioneering in its exclusive use of outside broadcast cameras to record a drama. It also resulted in a distinguished adaptation that is engaging, insightful and often thrilling. Continue reading
Late-Night Line-Up: The Marowitz Hamlet (BBC, 1969)
By way of an hors d’oeuvre to the forthcoming Screen Plays season Classics on TV: Jacobean Tragedy on the Small Screen at BFI Southbank, this post is devoted to a controversial 1960s adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The drama known as The Marowitz Hamlet, a ‘condensed’ version of which was filmed by the BBC in 1969, has a radically re-worked and fractured text, startlingly stylised playing, a white box for a set and the small cast in modern dress with heavy make-up. Hamlet here is challenging and experimental, and despite being only available in a faded 16mm copy, of considerable interest. Continue reading
Catching up
As you may have noticed, we have not been quite as active on the blog as before. In part this is because my colleague Amanda Wrigley has started her maternity leave – and indeed has given birth to Matilda and Dylan. Many congratulations to Amanda and her husband Dez! (Not that this will mean that we will be denied Amanda’s invaluable writings here in the coming months.) Meanwhile, this post is a way of catching up with our forthcoming season as well as a couple of recent blog posts elsewhere which may be of interest. Continue reading
Arthur Miller on the small screen 1: Death of a Salesman
Arthur Miller’s (1915-2005) American tragedies have not only proved to be extremely popular on both British professional and amateur stages for more than half a century but they have also enjoyed a longstanding place at the heart of English literature curricula in schools. It is not surprising, therefore, to discover that at least twelve productions of his plays have been transmitted on British television networks over a forty-year period from 1957 to 1997. This first in a series of four posts considers the three known productions of Death of a Salesman: a 1957 Play of the Week production by Granada for ITV; a BBC Play of the Month production in 1966; and, finally, David Thacker’s five-part production for BBC Schools in 1996. Continue reading
Theatre 625: Simon and Laura (BBC, 1964)
Alan Melville is far from a household name today, but from the 1940s to the early 1970s he was a prolific writer for both stage and screen. His television credits include The Very Merry Widow (BBC, 1967-1969) and Misleading Cases (BBC, 1967-1971), and for a time he hosted the popular television discussion The Brains Trust(1951-61). ‘One of his gifts,’ his obituary in The Times noted, ‘was to be engagingly topical at short notice,’ (Anon., 27 December 1983, p. 10) and this quality was certainly on view in his 1954 comedy Simon and Laura. The target of his gentle satire was television, which following the broadcast of the Coronation the previous year was rapidly becoming a mass medium. In 1955 the play was adapted as a British film, and almost exactly a decade after its West End premiere it was presented by BBC2 in the Theatre 625 strand. Continue reading
David Bowie in Baal (BBC, 1982)
BFI Southbank screened the hour-long BBC adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s early play Baal a month or so before Christmas. Viewing this 1982 production on that occasion I marvelled that anything so bleak, austere and radical could possibly have been screened at 9.25pm on a Tuesday evening on BBC1. Originally shown under the title David Bowie in Baal, the adaptation (which can be found in full on YouTube) also has a newly topical sense this week with the news that the star will in March release The Next Day, his first studio album for a decade. Continue reading
Christmas past at the BBC: the second half of the 1950s. Part 2
Leafing through the Christmas edition of the Radio Times this year made me think back to the television fare offered to viewers in Christmases long past. I thought I’d glance back at the BBC Television offerings from the second half of the 1950s, part of the period for which I’ve been engaged in collecting data for the Screen Plays database. The BBC Television viewer usually had a good choice between productions of stage plays which had a festive or seasonal connection and others which had not (but it is noticeable that these latter plays tended already to have an established reputation on the stage). There were also, of course, the usual sprinkling of pantomimes, some of which were televised from theatres with others presented especially for television; however, there do appear to be fewer pantomimes or other festive offerings televised in the new year period as the decade comes to a close and a subtle shift in taste towards a more realistic and socially engaged television drama. This five-year survey is published in two parts: Part 1, covering 1955-56, was published on 28 December and today appears Part 2 on the 1957-59 period. Continue reading
