The Vale of Shadows

Summary

1955 BBC production of Eurydice by Jean Anouilh, under the title The Vale of Shadows.

Theatre play

Point of Departure [Eurydice] by Jean Anouilh (1910-1987) [more information]

Play synopsis

'Orpheus, an out of work musician, meets Eurydice in the buffet of a provincial railway station in France. They instantly fall in love and spend the night together. The next morning Eurydice runs away as she feels that she cannot live up to Orpheus’ ideals and she is killed. M Henri approaches Orpheus and tells him to accompany him to the Gates of Death. He will arrange for Eurydice to be released. When Eurydice reaches the gate Orpheus must walk ahead and not look back. He looks back.' Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_of_Departure_%28play%29.

Production history

'Point of Departure is the English title for the play Eurydice by Jean Anouilh, adapted by Kitty Black. Anouilh wrote it in 1941 when Paris was occupied by Germany and it was performed in London in 1950 starring Dirk Bogarde.' Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_of_Departure_%28play%29.

Date of transmission

Tuesday 26 July 1955

Time

8.45-10.15pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Rudolph Cartier

Playwright

Jean Anouilh (1910-1987)

Translator

Lothian Small

Composer

John Hotchkis

Designer

Stephen Taylor

Cast

Frank Atkinson	Station Waiter
Roger Delgado	Matthew Gunton
Hilda Fenemore	Second Actress
Rose Howlett	Cashier
Arthur Lowe	Police Clerk
Andrea Malandrinos	Stage Manager
Bernadette Milnes	First Actress
Laurence Payne	Musician
Eric Pohlmann	Alfredo Dulac
Ellen Pollock	Eurydice’s Mother
Cyril Shaps	Hotel Waiter
Anthony Sharp	Vincent
Philip Stainton	Musician
Jeannette Sterke	Eurydice
André Van Gyseghem	Stranger

Additional details

Play tags

French drama; Greek myth

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 22 July 1955 (Magazine)

Linking notes

article, p. 4; listing with image from the production, p. 26

Title

The Good and the Beautiful (Magazine review)

Author/creator

Philip Hope-Wallace (Author)

Reference

The Listener, 4 August 1955, p. 195

Notes

'I cannot call [The Vale of Shadows] my favourite Anouilh; his irony and the compassion and disgust have been more finely used in other formulae by this master man of the theatre, but I salute the BBC’s boldness which puts on a play which is never likely to appeal to more than, say, 2,300,000 people.'