There’s Always Juliet

Summary

1951 BBC live studio production of John van Druten’s comedy There’s Always Juliet.

Theatre play

There’s Always Juliet by John van Druten (1901-1957) [more information]

Play synopsis

'The comedy opens with Leonora Perrycoste, a very attractive young English lady, at the telephone trying to learn the identity of a handsome American she has just met at a tea party. In the midst of her naive inquiries, Dwight Houston, the young American in question, appears in her flat, having been impelled to visit her by an urge similar to her own. They are instantly off in a madcap adventure, loving each other but wondering. After two days they feel that they understand each other perfectly. Suddenly he is recalled to America, He proposes. She hesitates, and reluctantly they part. As soon as he has gone Leonore realizes that her discretion is the poorest part of her valour. Just as she has begun to feel that for her the world has ended, Dwight, at a last moment’s reprieve, returns for three more days’ grace. Leonora, not going to miss another chance, readily accepts him, and as the curtain falls Dwight salutes his mother-in-law over the long distance telephone’. (Source: http://www.samuelfrench.com/p/6161/theres-always-juliet; accessed 10 January 2014.)

Production history

Performed from 12 October 1931 at the Apollo Theatre, London, and at the Empire Theatre in New York from 15 February 1932.

Date of transmission

Tuesday 3 July 1951

Time

8.30-10.00pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Leonard Brett

Playwright

John van Druten (1901-1957)

Cast

Robert Beatty	Dwight
Margaret Johnston	Leonora
John Robinson	Peter
Beatrice Varley	Florence

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

comedy

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 29 June 1951 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing, p. 41; article by Lionel Hale ‘In Holiday Mood’, p. **