The Mollusc

Summary

1949 BBC live studio production of Hubert Henry Davies’ Edwardian comedy The Mollusc, with the cast of the Arts Theatre Club production who had staged the play earlier in the year.

Theatre play

The Mollusc by Hubert Henry Davies (1869-1917) [more information]

Play synopsis

Edwardian comedy. ‘The Mollusc tells the tale of society lady Dulcie Baxter, an arch-manipulator who has raised laziness to the level of an artform. Her downtrodden husband and her children’s governess are both wrapped around her finger. Or would be if she could be bothered. Her brother arrives from Colorado and determines to teach her the error of her ways, and it’s the battle between these two that drives the comedy.' (Ged Quayle, review of The Lady of Leisure, Liverpool Playhouse, 2006; http://britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/ladyleisure-rev; accessed 26 July 2014)

Production history

Originally produced at the Criterion Theatre in 1907; revived at the Arts Theatre in London in 1949.

Date of transmission

Tuesday 9 August 1949

Time

8.30-10.00pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Campbell Logan

Playwright

Hubert Henry Davies (1869-1917)

Sets / Settings

Barry Learoyd

Cast

Jack Allen	Tom Kemp
Vivienne Bennett	Mrs Baxter
Thea Holme	Miss Roberts
Patrick Waddington	Mr Baxter

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Later transmissions

Revived for a presentation at 8.15pm on Tuesday 22 July 1952.

Notes

Cast chenges for the 1952 revival were as follows: Ronald Ward (Tom Kemp), Clive Morton (Mr Baxter) and Muriel Pavlow (Miss Roberts).

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

comedy; Edwardian drama

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 5 August 1949 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing, p. 39; brief article, p. 36