The Twelve Pound Look

Summary: 1950 BBC live studio production of J. M. Barrie’s one-act comedy The Twelve Pound Look.
Theatre play: The Twelve Pound Look by J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) [more information]
Play synopsis: This one-act comedy satirizes Victorian marriage. ‘On the eve of his knighthood, Harry Simms is full of the great things he considers he has achieved. A typist has been hired to answer the messages of congratulation. She turns out to be his former wife, Kate, who was so oppressed by his hardness and petty mindedness that she secretly learned to type and left him as soon as she had earned 12 pounds, the price of a typewriter. She is quite contented with her lot, and her fearlessness and humor contrast strongly with the cowed and joyless expression of the second Lady Simms who, when Kate has gone, asks the price of a typewriter’ (source: http://www.stageplays.com/products/the_twelve_pound_look).
Production history: First performed c. 1910.
Date of transmission: Tuesday 25 April 1950
Time: 8.30-9.00pm
Channel: BBC Television
Production company: BBC