The Infinite Shoeblack

Summary

1939 BBC Television studio production of The Infinite Shoeblack by Norman Macowan.

Theatre play

The Infinite Shoeblack by Norman Macowan (1877-1961) [more information]

Play synopsis

The play is set in Edinburgh and Cairo immediately before, during and after the First World War.

Production history

MacOwan’s play was staged as early as April 1929 at the Arts Theatre (source: The Times, 1 April 1929, p. 8).

Date of transmission

Wednesday 15 February 1939

Time

3.00-4.40pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Moultrie R. Kelsall (1901-1980)

Playwright

Norman Macowan (1877-1961)

Cast

Hector Abbas
Seymour Burke
Aileen Callander
Philip Cunningham
Alan Hamilton
Charles Hickman
Tracy Holmes
Pola Nirenska
Barbara Nixon
Frances Ross-Campbell
Walter Roy
Henrietta Russell
Arthur Seaton
Anthony Shaw
Sophie Stewart (1908-1977)	Mary
James Urquhart	Andrew
Winifred Willard

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Later transmissions

Presented again ay 9.00pm on Monday 20 February 1939

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

Egypt, as theme or setting; Scotland, as theme or setting; wartime, as theme or setting

Print sources

Title

Broadcasting: Queen’s Hall Concert (Newspaper listing)

Reference

The Times, 15 February 1939. p. 8

Title

Radio Times, 10 February 1939 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing, p. 16 and article by ‘The Scanner’, p. 15