Venus Observed
Venus Observed is a play in blank verse by the English dramatist and poet Christopher Fry. It was first performed on 18 January 1950 at the St James's Theatre, London, with the following cast:
- The Duke of Altair – Laurence Olivier
- Edgar, his son – Denholm Elliott
- Herbert Reedbeck, his agent – George Relph
- Dominic, Reedbeck's son – Robert Beaumont
- Rosabel Fleming – Valerie Taylor
- Jessie Dill – Brenda de Banzie
- Captain Fox Reddleman, the Duke's butler – Fred Johnson
- Bates, the Duke's footman – Thomas Heathcote
- Hilda Taylor-Snell – Rachel Kempson
- Perpetua, Reedbeck's daughter – Heather Stannard
- Director – Laurence Olivier
- Set designer – Roger Furse
- Composer – Herbert Menges
- Costume designer – Margaret Furse
Scenes:
- The Observatory Room at Stellmere Park, the Duke's mansion
- The Temple of the Ancient Virtues, Stellmere Park
1957 British TV Adaptation
The play was filmed for British TV in 1957.[1]
1960 Australian TV Adaptation
| Venus Observed | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Alan Burke |
| Distributed by | ABC |
Release date | 2 November 1960 |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
The play was adapted for Australian TV in 1960.
It was directed by Alan Burke who had directed a stage production at the Arrow Theatre in Melbourne in 1952.[2][3]
Cast
- Walter Sullivan as Duke of Altair
- Rachel Lloyd as Perpetua
- David Bluford as Edgar
- Jacqueline Kott as Rosabel
- Gwen Plumb as Jessie
- Ria Sohier as Hilda
- Hugh Stewart
Reception
The critic for the Sydney Morning Herald called it a "a pleasantly competent piece of work... a production rich in setting, with exactly the right kind of faded spaciousness you would expect in such a household.... It will be good to see more productions of this calibre.[4]
References
- ^ Venus Observed 1957 Adaptation at IMDB
- ^ "Mr. A. BURKE NEW PRODUCER FOR REPERTORY". The Canberra Times. Vol. 26, , no. 7592. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 19 December 1951. p. 4. Retrieved 10 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ "Stage 'VENUS OBSERVED' IS A FINE PLAY". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 32, 868. Victoria, Australia. 7 January 1952. p. 2. Retrieved 10 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Venus Observed". Sydney Morning Herald. 3 November 1960. p. 5.
- Fry, Christopher (2007). The Plays of Christopher Fry, 2. London: Oberon. ISBN 978-1-84943-746-2.
External links
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