Larger than Life

Summary

1952 BBC live studio production of Larger Than Life, Guy Bolton’s stage adaptation of Somerset Maugham’s novel Theatre.

Theatre play

Larger than Life by Guy Bolton [more information]

Play synopsis

An adaptation, originally written for the stage, of Somerset Maugham’s 1937 novel Theatre. An earlier version of the play was presented under the title Theatre.

Production history

Staged in London in 1950 and published by Samuel French in 1951.

Date of transmission

Tuesday 2 September 1952

Time

8.15-10.00pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Eric Fawcett

Playwright

Guy Bolton

Original Book by

W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)

Sets / Settings

Stephen Taylor

Cast

Christine Finn	Avis Crichton
Ian Fleming	Wilson
Hugh Kelly	Tom Fennell
Jessie Royce Landis	Julia Lambert
Michael Newell	Roger
Anthony Nicholls	Sir Charles Temperley
Bennett O’Loghlen	Stage Manager
Betty Shale	Evie
Barbara Shaw	Dolly de Vries
Hugh Sinclair	Michael Gosselyn
Middleton Woods	Stage Doorkeeper

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

adaptation of novel; theatre or acting, as theme

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 29 August 1952 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing, p. 39; article by Lionel Hale, p. 37