Captain’s Brassbound Conversion

Summary

1953 BBC live studio production of George Bernard Shaw’s drama Captain’s Brassbound Conversion.

Theatre play

Captain Brassbound’s Conversion by [George] Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) [more information]

Play synopsis

Set in Morocco where Lady Cicely Waynflete is on holiday with her brother-in-law, Sir Howard Hallam, an eminent judge. They journey to the predominantly Muslim interior of the country which is thought to be hostile to Christians, accompanied by Captain Brassbound who proves to be even more sinister than his reputation as a smuggler would suggest.

Production history

Written in 1899 for Ellen Terry but it was some years before she could act in it at the Court Theatre, London.

Date of transmission

Tuesday 24 March 1953

Time

8.45-10.30pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Director

Dennis Vance

Playwright

[George] Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

Sets / Settings

Barry Learoyd

Cast

Basil Appleby	Bluejacket
Edgar K. Bruce	Cadi
John Colicos	Sidi el Assif
Noel Davis	Redbrook
Leslie Dwyer	Drinkwater
James Dyrenforth	Captain Kearney
John Gregson	Captain Brassbound
John G. Heller	Hassan
David Horne	Sir Howard Hallam
John Laurie	Rankin
Margaret Lockwood	Lady Cecil Waynflete
John Ruddock	Osman
Anthony Valentine	Page
Ronald Woodroofe	Marzo
Martin Wyldeck	Johnson

Additional details

Origination

Live from theatre

Vision original

Monochrome

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

19th-century setting; Christianity; Islam; Morocco, as theme or setting; North Africa, as theme or setting

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 20 March 1953 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing and article by James Doran, p. 26