Spring 1600

Summary

1949 live studio production of Emlyn Williams’ Spring 1600, a romantic comedy about Shakespeare’s acting troupe. Jessice Spencer (Ann Byrd) and Andrew Cruickshank (Richard Burbage) had recently taken these roles in a production at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith.

Theatre play

Spring 1600 by Emlyn Williams (1905-1987) [more information]

Play synopsis

Emlyn Williams’ romantic comedy is about runaway Ann Byrd who, disguised as a boy, arrives in London where she meets Shakespeare and his actors and becomes the first actress on the British stage in the premiere of Twelfth Night.

Production history

First produced in 1934.

Date of transmission

Sunday 26 June 1949

Time

8.30-10.00pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Douglas Allen

Playwright

Emlyn Williams (1905-1987)

Music

Herbert Menges

Conductor

Herbert Menges

Sets / Settings

Stephen Bundy

Cast

Margery Bryce	Mistress Byrd / Another visitor
Ysanne Churchman	Grizzy Frost
Andrew Cruickshank	Richard Burbage
Rupert Davies	Henry Condell
Roy Dean	Tom Day
John Fitzgerald	Kit Cooper
Winifred Hill	Mother Harelip
Barry MacGregor	Salathiel Pavy
Miles Manderson	George Pearce
Joan Maude	Lady Coperario
Cameron Miller	Ned Pope
Edna Morris	Winifred Burbage
Michael Nightingale	Robert
Harry Quashie	Nebuchadnezzar
Clive Ryder	Master John Kynaston
Jessica Spencer	Ann Byrd
Barry Steele	Ben Cook
John Vere	Augustin Phillips
Tom Webster	Jeremy
Victor Woolf	Will Kempe

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Later transmissions

Presented again at 8.30pm on Thursday 30 June 1949.

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

17th-century setting; comedy; theatre or acting, as theme

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 24 June 1949 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing, p. 30; article by Lionel Hale, ‘Emlyn Williams’ Spring 1600’, p. 29