CHRISTOPHER FRY'S PLAY
Sir-yYour correspondent, L. Assheton Harbord writes "that the Stratford Players are not regarded as ‘tops’ in England . . . the regular Company is not at all outstanding," etc. I can only presume that he has not seen this Company of recent years. In 1948 the Company included Robert Helpmann, Esmond Knight, Anthony Quayle, Paul Schofield, Claire Bloom, Diana Wynyard and Heather Stannard. The name of Edmund Purdom appeared in small parts and walk-ons. In 1949 Godfrey Tearle, Leon Quartermaine, Anthony Quayle, Harry Andrews, Michael Gwynn, William Squire, Edmund Purdom and Diana Wynyard were in the Company. In 1950, besides John Gielgud and Peggy Ashcroft, there were Alan Badel, Harry Andrews, Andrew Cruickshank, Leon Quartermaine, Rosalind Atkinson, Barbara Jefford and Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies. It is worth noting that in 1950 Sir John Gielgud played Cassius in Julius Caesar with Barbara -Jefford as Calpurnia. It is to our loss that Barbara Jefford did not also play her same role in the film version. Perhaps your correspondent has heard of some of these names, picked at random from the cast lists of those years? Consulting Shakespeare’s Histories at Stratford, 1951, by J. Dover Wilson and T. C. Worsley, I find the cast list containing such well-known names as those of Michael Redgrave, Alan Badel, Richard Burton, Anthony Quayle and again, Barbara Jefford. The name of Christopher Fry is recognised by all authorities on postwar drama. They may or may not admire his style but no one denies his importance on the English stage. He has been compared with Anouilh, mentioned with Eliot and spoken of with Shakespeare.
Can anyone detiy Bruc@ Mason’s right to use superlatives. when writing on his most successful play?** I shall always regret not having seen the original production but I have seen Pamela Brown play Ophelia, Claudia and Marie in The River Line and I can imagine her delightful. performance as Jennet. However, I do not on this score value Barbara Jefford’s less. Miss Jefford came 12,000 miles to play to us, not
Miss Brown.
M.J.
B.
(Rotorua).
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19550311.2.12.2
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 32, Issue 815, 11 March 1955, Page 5
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340CHRISTOPHER FRY'S PLAY New Zealand Listener, Volume 32, Issue 815, 11 March 1955, Page 5
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