Another Language

Summary

1952 BBC live studio production of Rose Franken’s drama Another Language.

Theatre play

Another Language by Rose Franken [more information]

Play synopsis

Another Language is set in London. ‘The central conflict is between an iconoclastic wife, Stella, and her husband Victor’s satirically rendered family. Mother Hallam is the prototypical matriarch; the sisters-in-law are postmarital versions of Cinderella’s stepsisters - unattractive, catty, and stingy; and the materialistic sons enjoy a complacent rigidity. Stella herself represents modernism’ (source: http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/franken-rose).

Production history

Another Language premiered at the Booth Theatre, New York, on 25 April 1932 where it ran for 453 performances. ‘The original New York cast included Margaret Wycherly, Margaret Hamilton, and Glenn Anders. Herbert Marshall and Edna Best starred in the 1932 London premiere at the Lyric Theatre. Helen Hayes played Stella in the 1933 film version’ (source: http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/franken-rose).

Date of transmission

Tuesday 25 November 1952

Time

8.50-10.20pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Desmond Hawkins

Playwright

Rose Franken

Sets / Settings

James Bould

Cast

Dorothy Baird	Grace
Tony Britton	Peter
Richard Caldicot	Paul
Isabel Dean	Stella
Philippa Hiatt	Helen
Mary Jerrold	Mrs Hallam
Oliver Johnston	Mr Hallam
William Mervyn	Walter
John Warwick	Harry
Eve Watkinson	Etta
Raymond Young	Victor

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

America, as theme or setting

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 21 November 1952 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing and comments by Mary Maxted, p. 47; brief article by ‘The Scanner’, p. 43