The First 400 Years
| The First 400 Years | |
|---|---|
 Ad in The Age 3 Oct 1964 | |
| Written by | William Sterling |
| Directed by | William Sterling |
| Starring | Keith Michell Googie Withers |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Running time | Part 1 - 35 mins Part 2 - 35 mins |
| Production company | ABC |
| Original release | |
| Release | 8 July 1964 (Part 1 - Melbourne)[1] |
| Release | 7 July 1964 (Part 2 - Sydney),[2] |
| Release | 7 October 1964 (Part 2 - Melbourne) |
The First 400 Years is a 1964 Australian television play. It was filmed in Adelaide. The stars were performing in the play around Australia for JC Williamsons.[3][4]
It screened in two parts.[5]
Premise
[edit]A collection of scenes from the plays of William Shakespeare.
Part One was more comic consisting of:[6]
- the wooing scene from Taming of the Shrew
- Katherin's plea to the Royal Court in Henry VIII
- the scene with Lance and his dog from Two Gentlemen of Verona
- the church scene between Beatrice and Benedict in Much Ado About Nothing.
Part two was more serious consisting of:
- two scenes from The Merchant of Venice
- the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet
- the closing scene from Hamlet.
Cast
[edit]- Googie Withers
- Keith Michell
- Jeannette Serke
- Joan MacArthur
- Raymond Westwell
- Bruce Barry
- Alston Harvey
- Malcolm Phillips
- John Derum
Original play
[edit]The show was based on a play directed by Raymond Westwell for J.C. Williamsons. It premiered in Melbourne on 23 April 1964, the 400th anniversal of Shakespeare's birth.[7]
"What a profligate waste of costumes," wrote Column 8 in Sydney Morning Herald.[8]
Production
[edit]It was rehearsed and filmed in one day and the ABC's studios in Adelaide. Sterling said "Fortunately the stage production was almost ideal for TV> I tried to place the cameras in such a way that there was very little adjustment of movement and although the studio was smaller than the stage acting area, the production transposed well."[9]
Reception
[edit]The Sunday Sydney Morning Herald reviewer said it "lit up the screen... these couple of superb artists in action. My only complaint is that 30 minutes was not long enough."[10]
One viewer called it "dull, flat and unprofitable."[11]
References
[edit]- ^ "TV Guide". The Age. 7 October 1964. p. 18.
- ^ "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 6 July 1964.
- ^ "TV adapts Shakespeare from stage". The Canberra Times. Vol. 38, no. 10, 893. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 7 July 1964. p. 11. Retrieved 15 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Googie's Seven Roles". Sydney Morning Herald. 7 December 1964. p. 15.
- ^ "Part 1 of the First 400 Years". The Age. 1 October 1964. p. 13.
- ^ "TV Guide". The Age. 2 July 1964. p. 31.
- ^ O'Neill, Josephine (5 April 1964). "Curtain Call". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 83.
- ^ Granny (24 June 1964). "Column 8". p. 1.
- ^ "The First 400 Years". The Age. 2 July 1964. p. 13.
- ^ Marshall, Valda (12 July 1964). "TV Merry Go Round". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 90.
- ^ "Producers and the Drama Cameras". The Age. 16 July 1964. p. 29.
External links
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