Women of Troy

Summary: This BBC Television production of Euripides’ Trojan Women appears to be the first ancient Greek play transmitted on British television. An 18-minute extract of the production was recorded and survives.
Theatre play: Trojan Women by Euripides [more information]
Play synopsis: A Greek tragedy which presents the situation of the grieving and anxious women of Troy after their men-folk have been killed and they are at the mercy of their Greek captors. The Greek herald Talthybius announces that they are to be distributed amongst the victors - Queen Hecuba to Odysseus and her daughter Cassandra to Agamemnon, etc. The prophetess Cassandra foretells some of the disasters that will befall the Greeks. Andromache, newly widowed wife of the Trojan hero Hector, learns that their infant son Astyanax is to be killed by the Greeks. Menelaus enters and his wife Helen, the cause for which war was fought, persuades him to take her back to Greece. Talthybius enters with the lifeless body of Astyanax and Hecuba prepares to bury her grandson.
Production history: First performed in Greece in 415 BC.
Date of transmission: Sunday 12 January 1958
Time: 9.30-10.50pm
Series: Television World Theatre
Channel: BBC Television
Production company: BBC
Theatre company: [choose none of these]

Credits

Producers

Michael Elliott, Casper Wrede

Lighting

Phil Ward

Playwright

Euripides

Adaptor of Script

Kenneth Cavander

Adaptor of Script

Translator

Drum Player

Designer

Costume Designer

Costume Maker

Costume Maker

Make-up Supervisor

Shirley Peek

Technical Operations Manager

Bryce McCrirrick

Assistant Floor Manager

James [Jimmy] Cellan Jones

Production Assistant

Richmond Harding

Secretary

Betty Harris

Cast

Rosalind Atkinson	Woman of Troy
Brandon Blythe	Soldier of Greece
June Brown	Woman of Troy
Marie Burns	Woman of Troy
Fanny Carby	Woman of Troy
Diana Churchill	Helen
Yvonne Coulette	Woman of Troy
Rosalie Crutchley	Andromache
Peter Dolphin	Soldier of Greece
Peter Dotrice	Soldier of Greece
Avril Elgar	Woman of Troy
Ida Franklyn	Woman of Troy
David Franks	Astyanax
Anita Giorgi	Woman of Troy
Aithna Gover	Woman of Troy
Dilys Hamlett	Cassandra
Margot Hayhoe	Woman of Troy
Noni Hoffe	Woman of Troy
Glyn Jones	Soldier of Greece
Colin Keith-Johnston	Talthybius
Catherine Lacey	Hecuba
Annie Leake	Woman of Troy
Enid Lorimer	Woman of Troy
John Macrae	Soldier of Greece
Sheila Moriarty	Woman of Troy
Helen Nathan	Woman of Troy
Lil Obey	Woman of Troy
Margaret Robertson	Woman of Troy
Dinos Sideras	Soldier of Greece
Ann Stephenson	Woman of Troy
Martin Sterndale	Soldier of Greece
Jean Theobald	Woman of Troy
Patrick Travers	Soldier of Greece
Paul Vieyra	Soldier of Greece
Eileen Way	Woman of Troy
Patrick Wymark	Menelaus

Additional details

Notes: This production is estimated to have been seen by five million viewers (source: ‘Cost to BBC of Competitive Television’, The Times, 13 March 1958, p. 14).
Play tags: ancient Greece; Greek drama; tragedy

Audiovisual sources

Title: Women of Troy (BBC, 1958)
Archive: BBC Information and Archives [more information]
Address
White City
London
UK
Telephone
+44 (0)20 8008 2288
Website
http://www.bbc.co.uk/informationandarchives/
Access
BBC Information and Archives is not open to the public.
Notes: Only an 18-minute extract was recorded.

Title: Women of Troy (BBC, 1958)
Archive: BFI Research Viewing Service [more information]
Address
21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN
UK
Telephone
+44 (0)20 7957 4726
Email
Use the contact form at http://www.bfi.org.uk/form/contact-research-viewing-services
Website
http://www.bfi.org.uk/archive-collections/searching-access-collections/research-viewing-services
Access
The Research Viewing Service is available to non-commercial researchers and to students wishing to view research related material. It allows access to all films and videos designated as ‘viewing copies’ in the BFI National Archive. Viewings take place by appointment, between 10.30am and 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. Charges apply: please see the website for further details.

Print sources

Title: BBC Television: Women of Troy (Newspaper review)
Author/creator: Anonymous
Reference: The Times, 13 January 1958, p. 3

Title: Classics on TV: BFI Southbank programme, 13 June 2012 (Blog article)
Author/creator: Amanda Wrigley (Author)
Reference: http://screenplaystv.wordpress.com/2012/06/13/classics-on-tv-bfi-southbank-programme-13-june-2012, published 13 June 2012

Title: Cost to BBC of Competitive Television (Newspaper article)
Author/creator: Anonymous
Reference: The Times, 13 March 1958, p. 14

Title: Drama: Women, Trojan and Scottish (Magazine review)
Author/creator: Ivor Brown (Reviewer)
Reference: The Listener, 16 January 1958, p. 134
Notes: This review is illustrated by a b&w image from the scene when Helen implores her husband Menelaus not to kill her.

Title: Greek plays: viewing Women of Troy (BBC, 1958) (Blog article)
Author/creator: Amanda Wrigley (Author)
Reference: http://screenplaystv.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/viewing-women-of-troy-bbc-1958, published 30 November 2011

Title: Greek plays: Women of Troy (BBC, 1958) (Blog article)
Author/creator: Amanda Wrigley (Author)
Reference: http://screenplaystv.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/women-of-troy-bbc-1958, published 21 June 2011

Title: Letters to the Editor: Women of Troy (Letter (newspaper))
Author/creator: 'Patient’ (Author)
Reference: The Observer, 2 February 1958, p. 17

Title: Radio Times, 10 January 1958 (Magazine)
Linking notes: pp. 5 and 7

Title: Telepage: Woe is Me! (Newspaper review)
Author/creator: Raymond Bowers (Reviewer)
Reference: Daily Mirror, 13 January 1958, p. 12

Title: Television Notes: Women of Troy. Euripides Up To Date - and Without Poetry (Newspaper review)
Author/creator: Anonymous
Reference: The Manchester Guardian, 13 January 1958, p. 5

Title: What’s Hecuba to Him? (Newspaper review)
Author/creator: Maurice Richardson (Reviewer)
Reference: The Observer, 19 January 1958, p. 14

Title: Women of Troy (1958) (Script)
Author/creator: Kenneth Cavander (Translator)
Archive: BBC Written Archives Centre (WAC) [more information]
Address
Peppard Road
Caversham Park
Reading
Berkshire
RG4 8TZ
UK
Telephone
+44 (0)118 948 6281
Email
heritage@bbc.co.uk
Website
http://www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/research/wac
Access
The WAC is open from 9.30am to 5.00pm on Wednesdays to Fridays throughout the year to academics, postgraduate students and writers by appointment.
Reference: Script Library (microfiche)

Title: World Theatre series: Women of Troy (1958) (Archive file)
Archive: BBC Written Archives Centre (WAC) [more information]
Address
Peppard Road
Caversham Park
Reading
Berkshire
RG4 8TZ
UK
Telephone
+44 (0)118 948 6281
Email
heritage@bbc.co.uk
Website
http://www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/research/wac
Access
The WAC is open from 9.30am to 5.00pm on Wednesdays to Fridays throughout the year to academics, postgraduate students and writers by appointment.
Reference: T5/2438/1
Notes: A full file containing, amongst other things, internal staff memos, budgetary information, lists of properties, caption and photographic requirements, and an Audience Research Report.

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British Universities Film & Video Council