A Hundred Years Old

Summary: 1948 BBC live studio production of the comedy by Serafín Álvarez Quintero and Joaquin Álvarez Quintero in an English version by Helen and Harley Granville-Barker.
Theatre play: A Hundred Years Old by Serafín Álvarez Quintero (1871-1938) and Joaquin Álvarez Quintero (1873-1944) [more information]
Play synopsis: A sentimental comedy involving a very old man and a young girl. ‘It is about Papa Juan, a sprightly old fellow who is within a few days of celebrating his hundredth birthday. A hundred-year-old man and his relatives are like the well-known pebble in the pool and its widening circle of ripples, but Papa’s birthday, he insists, will be celebrated at a party which will bring together all the surviving members of his large and scattered clan. Papa Juan will be pleased to see them all, the rich and the poor, the wicked and the virtuous; but not all will be pleased to see each other.' (Kenneth A. Hurren, Radio Times, 29 October 1954, p. 26)
Production history: Published in Helen and Harley Granville-Barker’s English translation in 1928 in Boston by Little, Brown, and Company. It was played at Prince’s Theatre, Bristol in 1928-29.
Date of transmission: Sunday 18 January 1948
Time: 8.30-10.15pm
Channel: BBC Television
Production company: BBC

Producer

Harold Clayton

Playwright

Joaquin Álvarez Quintero (1873-1944)

Playwright

Serafín Álvarez Quintero (1871-1938)

Translator

Harley Granville-Barker (1877-1946)

Translator

Helen Granville-Barker (?-1950)

Sets / Settings

Barry Learoyd

Cast

Origination: Live from studio
Vision original: Monochrome
Later transmissions: Presented again at 3.00pm on Tuesday 20 January 1948.
Notes: This presentation was a revival of Harold Clayton’s production in 1946 but with an almost entirely new cast, with the exception of Helen Haye who played her original role of Dona Marciala.
Extant status: No archival copy is known to exist.
Play tags: comedy; generational relations or conflict; Portuguese drama

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