Happy as Larry

Summary

1948 BBC live studio production of Donagh McDonagh’s Irish fantasy Happy as Larry.

Theatre play

Happy as Larry by Donagh McDonagh (1912-1968) [more information]

Play synopsis

An ‘Irish fantasy’, described sometimes as ‘a ballad opera’ and a ‘melodrama in ballade’, Happy as Larry, which is written in verse, features a group of tailors who travel back in time to alter the course of dark deeds in Dublin fifty years before.

Production history

Written in 1946 and produced in 1947, first at the Mercury Theatre and then at the Criterion.

Date of transmission

Sunday 9 May 1948

Time

8.30-9.45pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

George More O’Ferrall (1907-1982)

Playwright

Donagh McDonagh (1912-1968)

Sets / Settings

Barry Learoyd

Cast

Wilfrid Brambell	First Tailor
Edward Byrne	Seamus
Brian Carey	Third Tailor
Denis Carey	Second Tailor
Yvonne Coulette	Atropos
Fred Johnson	Doctor
W. A. Kelly	Fourth Tailor
Sheila Manahan	Widow
Elspeth March	Mrs Larry
Liam Redmond	Larry
Phyllis Ryan	Lachesis
Christopher Steele	Gravedigger
Sally Travers	Clotho

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Later transmissions

Presented again at 3.00pm on Friday 14 May 1948.

Notes

A significant number of the original cast from the stage production also appeared in this television presentation including Sheila Manahan, Fred Johnson, Edward Byrne, Christopher Steele and Wilfrid Brambell.

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

fantasy; Irish drama; melodrama; Republic of Ireland, as theme or setting; verse drama

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 7 May 1948 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing, p. 26; articles by J. C. Trewin, ‘Happy as Larry’ and John Swift, ‘A New Irish Star’, pp. 24 and 25