Red Peppers

Summary

1991 Knaves Acre production for BBC of Red Peppers by Noël Coward.

Theatre play

Red Peppers by Noël Coward (1899-1973) [more information]

Play synopsis

Short comic play with music. ‘George and Lily Pepper are a husband-and-wife act in touring music hall. Onstage at a provincial theatre, their act is a mess. In their act, George and Lily are dressed as sailors and sing "Has Anybody Seen our Ship?" In white tie and tails as a pair of flâneurs, they sing "Men About Town". Offstage in their dressing room between the two numbers, the argumentative couple "drink beer, eat steaks, comb their wigs, slang each other mercilessly and then join forces to slang the manager".[3] They also slang the theatre’s musical director, which backfires when he later vindictively speeds up at the end of their second number, turning their final exit into a disastrous scramble.' Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Peppers.

Production history

'Red Peppers is a short comic play by Noël Coward, one of the ten plays that make up Tonight at 8:30, a cycle written to be performed across three evenings. [...] The play was first produced in 1935 in Manchester and on tour and played in London (1936), New York (1936-1937) and Canada (1938). It has enjoyed several major revivals, and has been adapted for film and numerous times for television.' Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Peppers.

Date of transmission

Sunday 21 April 1991

Time

8.35-9.05pm

Channel

BBC1

Production company

BBC; Knaves Acre

Credits

Director

Bryan Izzard

Producer

Bryan Izzard

Playwright

Noël Coward (1899-1973)

Adapted for Television by

Bryan Izzard

Cast

Joan Collins	Lily Pepper
Richard Dempsey	Alf
Moyra Fraser	Mabel Grace
Henry McGee	Mr Edwards
Anthony Newley	George Pepper
Reg Varney	Bert Bentley

Additional details

Play tags

comedy; divorce; theatre or acting, as theme

Audiovisual sources

Title

Red Peppers (BBC, 1991)

Archive

BBC Information and Archives [more information]

Address

White City
London
UK

Telephone

+44 (0)20 8008 2288

Website

http://www.bbc.co.uk/informationandarchives/

Access

BBC Information and Archives is not open to the public.

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 11 April 1991 (Magazine)

Linking notes

article, p. 6; listing and image on p. 13