She Stoops to Conquer; or, The Mistakes of a Night

Summary: 1939 BBC live studio production of Oliver Goldsmith’s comedy She Stoops to Conquer; or, The Mistakes of a Night.
Theatre play: She Stoops to Conquer; or, The Mistakes of a Night by Oliver Goldsmith [more information]
Play synopsis: In this comedy the wealthy countryman Mr Hardcastle arranges for his daughter Kate to meet Charles Marlow, the son of a wealthy Londoner, hoping the pair will marry. Unfortunately Marlow is nervous around upper-class women, yet the complete opposite around women of lower-class, thus Kate ‘stoops to conquer’ by posing as a maid, hoping to put Marlow at his ease; he falls for her and they become engaged. The main sub-plot is the secret romance between Miss Constance Neville, another young woman who lives with the Hardcastles, and Marlow’s friend George Hastings, who also become engaged.
Production history: First performed in London in 1773.
Date of transmission: Sunday 26 March 1939
Time: 9.05-10.35pm
Channel: BBC Television
Production company: BBC

Producer

Playwright

Cast

Origination: Live from studio
Vision original: Monochrome
Later transmissions: Presented again at 3.00pm on Monday 3 April 1939.
Notes: The same cast performed a modern version of the play, written for television by Giles Playfair, on 16 and 24 April 1939.
Extant status: No archival copy is known to exist.
Play tags: 18th-century setting; class issues / differences; comedy

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