A Sleeping Clergyman

A Sleeping Clergyman
Original theatre programme
Written byJames Bridie
Date premiered29 July 1933[1]
Place premieredMalvern Festival Theatre
Original languageEnglish
Setting
  • A Club in Glasgow
  • A Lodging Near the High Street, Glasgow
  • A Victorian Bedroom; A Seaside Cliff Nea

A Sleeping Clergyman is a 1933 play in Two Acts by James Bridie.[2][3] Directed by H. K. Ayliff, it opened at Malvern's Festival Theatre in July 1933, before moving to London's Piccadilly Theatre in September, where it ran for 230 performances.[4] It then transferred to Broadway's Guild Theatre in October 1934, where it closed after 40 performances.[5] It was revived, again with Robert Donat, at London’s Criterion Theatre in 1947.[6]

Plot

Hereditary evil runs through three generations of a medical family, in the 'conflict of social morality and natural desires'[7] - the dissolute and murderous Camerons (from 1867 to 1935) - before a son and daughter finally redeem the family name.[8][9]

Original cast

  • A Sleeping Clergyman ... Godfrey Baxter
  • Dr. Cooper ... Wilson Coleman
  • Dr. Coots ... Alexander Sarner
  • Wilkinson ... Frank Moore
  • Charles Cameron the First ... Robert Donat
  • Mrs. Hannah ... Beatrix Feilden-Kaye
  • Dr. Marshall ... Ernest Thesiger
  • Harriet Marshall ... Dorice Fordred
  • Cousin Minnie ... Sophie Stewart
  • Aunt Walker ... Isabel Thornton
  • Wilhelmina Cameron ... Dorice Fordred
  • John Hannah ... Bruce Belfrage
  • A Sergeant ... Arthur Hambling
  • A Constable ... John Rae
  • Charles Cameron the Second ... Robert Donat
  • Donovan ... Walter Roy
  • Lady Todd Walker ... Eileen Beldon
  • Sir Douglas Todd Walker ... Evelyn Roberts
  • Hope Cameron ... Dorice Fordred
  • Little Thing ... Phyllis Shand
  • Dr. Purley ... Whitmore Humphreys
  • Lady Katherine Helliwell ... Pamela Carme
  • Dr. Coutts ... Alexander Sarner
  • A Medical Student ... Kenneth Fraser

Adaptations

The play was later adapted for radio and broadcast on the BBC's Saturday Night Theatre on 1 January 1949.[10] A televised version was also broadcast by the BBC, in its Sunday Night Theatre slot on 11 January 1959.[11]

References

  1. ^ ""A Sleeping Clergyman" Ernest Thesiger as Dr. Marshall Malvern Festival July 29, 1933 Birmingham Repertory Theatre August 14 - 26, 1933 Alhambra Theatre, Glasgow August 28 - September 2, 1933 Piccadilly Theatre, London September 19, 1933 - March 24, 1934 230 perf Guild Theatre, New York October 8 - November 10, 1934". ernestthesiger.org.
  2. ^ Bridie, James (1934). A Sleeping Clergyman: A Play in Two Acts. Dodd, Mead.
  3. ^ "1933 A Sleeping Clergyman". Robert Donat Theatre Gallery. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  4. ^ Wearing, J. P. (2014). The London Stage 1930-1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel (2 ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. p. 305. ISBN 9780810893047.
  5. ^ "A Sleeping Clergyman". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  6. ^ Diary of Majorie Elsby: entry July 3rd 1947
  7. ^ Riach, Alan (27 September 2021). "Perennially provocative". The National. p. 27. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  8. ^ Royle, Trevor (1984). Macmillan Companion to Scottish Literature. Macmillan International Higher Education. p. 210. ISBN 9781349075874. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  9. ^ "A Sleeping Clergyman". British Universities Film & Video Council. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  10. ^ "Saturday Night Theatre 1943-1960". Sutton Elms. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  11. ^ "A Sleeping Clergyman (1959)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 21 November 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2018.


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