The Bridge

Summary

1953 BBC live studio production of Lionel Shapiro’s drama The Bridge.

Theatre play

The Bridge by Lionel Shapiro [more information]

Play synopsis

Set in small French hotel of the Auberge Bonnar in the north of the country, the play begins with a group of different nationalities waiting for the arrival of a mysterious guest. He is a scientist who has escaped from Cezech having refused to sell his stills to the warmongers in his country but who is uncertain about whether to throw in his lot with the Americans.

Production history

First performed at the Bristol Old Vic, November 1952.

Date of transmission

Sunday 27 September 1953

Time

8.30-10.15pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Owen Reed

Playwright

Lionel Shapiro

Sets / Settings

Barry Learoyd

Cast

Victor Baring	Bilotte
Kenneth Cope	Robert Nason
Gerald C. Lawson	Gendarme
Daphne Maddox	Giselle Notta
Arnold Marlé	Jiri Karlin
Stanley Maxted	Justin Clayfield
Wolfe Morris	Waiter
Anne Padwick	Maid
John Schlesinger	Innkeeper
Alan Tilvern	Mikulas Endor
Harry Towb	Philip Channing
Margot van der Burgh	Masa Karlin
Paul Whitsun-Jones	Simon Aleksandrow

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

Cold War, as theme; France, as theme or setting

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 25 September 1953 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing and photo, p. 14; brief article, p. 15