The Divine Creatures

Summary

1952 BBC live studio production of The Divine Creatures, a translation of Jean Cocteau’s melodrama Les Monstres sacrés.

Theatre play

Les Monstres sacrés by Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) [more information]

Play synopsis

Melodrama. ‘The action takes place in Esther’s dressing-room at her theatre, and in the house of Esther and Florent at Chatou, on the outskirts of Paris’ (Radio Times listing, 12 December 1952, p. 47).

Production history

First performed at the Theatre Michel in Paris on 17 February 1940.

Date of transmission

Tuesday 16 December 1952

Time

9.00-10.30pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Stephen Harrison

Playwright

Jean Cocteau (1889-1963)

Translator

Peter Watts

Sets / Settings

Michael Yates

Cast

Diana Calderwood	Liane
Ann Codrington	Charlotte de Cauville
Sonia Dresdel	Esther
May Hallatt	Loulou
Ian Hunter	Florent
Edie Martin	Old Lady
David Peel	Announcer

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

French drama; theatre or acting, as theme

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 12 December 1952 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing, p. 47; article by Eric Keown, ‘In Praise of the Dukeries’, p. 45