The Dry Little Thorn

Summary

1947 BBC live studio production of Gordon Daviot’s biblical play The Dry Little Thorn.

Theatre play

The Dry Little Thorn by Gordon Daviot (1896-1952) [more information]

Play synopsis

Biblical play. ‘The far-away, long-ago story of Abraham and those two women, Sara and Hagar - the one his wife without child, the other the serving-maid who, in the convention of those spacious times (and what a gift to the dramatist!) was permitted by the wife to present Abraham with an heir.' (The Scanner, ‘The First "Eternal Triangle" ', Radio Times, 29 August 1947, p. 29.)

Production history

Produced in London in 1947. The play previewed at the Stratford Memorial Theatre in October 1947, a month after the television production.

Date of transmission

Thursday 4 September 1947

Time

8.30-10.00pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Michael Barry

Playwright

Gordon Daviot (1896-1952)

Adapted for Television by

Michael Barry

Sets / Settings

Stephen Bundy

Costume Designer

Stephen Bundy

Cast

James Donald	Larsa
Winifred Hill
George Howe	A Scribe
Douglas Hurn
Jenny [Jeannie?] Laird	Hagar
André Morell	Abraham
Marie Ney	Sara
Prudence Rennick
Andrew Smith
Malcolm Sommers	Ishmael
Peggy Thorpe-Bates	Milcah
Alan Wheatley	Lot

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Later transmissions

Presented again at 3.00pm on Friday 5 September 1947.

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

biblical stories

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 29 August 1947 (Magazine)

Linking notes

article, p. 29; listing, p. 32