A Sleeping Clergyman Explained
| A Sleeping Clergyman |
| Setting: | - A Club in Glasgow
- A Lodging Near the High Street, Glasgow
- A Victorian Bedroom; A Seaside Cliff Nea
|
| Date Of Premiere: | 29 July 1933[1] |
| Original Language: | English |
| Place: | Malvern Festival Theatre |
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]
Notes and References
- Web site: “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.
- Book: Bridie, James. A Sleeping Clergyman: A Play in Two Acts. Dodd, Mead. 1934.
- Web site: 1933 A Sleeping Clergyman. Robert Donat Theatre Gallery. November 20, 2018.
- Book: Wearing, J. P.. The London Stage 1930-1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield. 2014. 9780810893047. 2. 305.
- Web site: A Sleeping Clergyman. Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. November 20, 2018.
- Diary of Majorie Elsby: entry July 3rd 1947
- News: Riach. Alan. 27 September 2021. Perennially provocative. 27. The National. 27 September 2021.
- Book: Royle, Trevor. Macmillan Companion to Scottish Literature. Macmillan International Higher Education. 1984. 9781349075874. 210. November 25, 2018.
- Web site: A Sleeping Clergyman. British Universities Film & Video Council. November 25, 2018.
- Web site: Saturday Night Theatre 1943-1960. Sutton Elms. November 20, 2018.
- Web site: A Sleeping Clergyman (1959). https://web.archive.org/web/20181121120209/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7ee05b1a. dead. 21 November 2018. British Film Institute. November 25, 2018.
