Conversation at Night

Summary: 1969 BBC production of Conversation at Night by Friedrich Dürrenmatt.
Theatre play: Conversation at Night with a Despised Character: A Curriculum for Our Times by Friedrich Dürrenmatt [more information]
Play synopsis: 'The play is a duologue between a prominent liberal writer in an unnamed European dictatorship and the state assassin. Confronted in his own study, the writer attempts to defend his freedom of expression in the face of the assassin’s advocacy of the status quo. The play is more than a Platonic dialogue however, also discussing "what the executioner calls ‘the art of dying’, of accepting death without rebellion, bitterness or terror", as The Times reported, with the writer ultimately able to accept his demise with a quiet dignity.' Source: http://www.britishtelevisiondrama.org.uk/?p=1494.
Production history: 'Conversation at Night started out as a German radio play in 1952 and transferred to the Munich stage the same year. It came to Britain as a radio play first, translated and produced by Christopher Holme for the BBC’s Third Programme in 1963. The stage version premiered in London in 1966.' Source: http://www.britishtelevisiondrama.org.uk/?p=1494.
Date of transmission: Thursday 8 May 1969
Time: 9.05-9.35pm
Series: Thirty-Minute Theatre
Channel: BBC2
Production company: BBC

Director

Rudolph Cartier

Producer

Innes Lloyd

Lighting

Jim Richards

Playwright

Friedrich Dürrenmatt

Translator

Robert David MacDonald

Designer

Martin Johnson

Script Editor

Derek Hoddinott

Cast

John Gielgud
Alec Guinness

Title: British Television Drama: Conversation at Night (1969) (Blog article)
Author/creator: Oliver Wake (Author)
Reference: http://www.britishtelevisiondrama.org.uk/?p=1494, dated 23 May 2011

Title: Radio Times, 1 May 1969 (Magazine)
Linking notes: cover image; article and brief mention, p. 3, columns 1 and 4;

This record has been viewed 507 times.