Olympia

Summary: 1954 live BBC studio production of Ferenc Molnar’s drama Olympia, as translated by Sidney Howard.
Theatre play: Olympia by Ferenc Molnár (1878-1952) [more information]
Play synopsis: 'The scene is a fashionable spa of pre-1914 Austria, at an hotel peopled largely from the higher Court circles, but not quite exclusive enough for the Princess Eugenie... Olympia, Eugenie’s daughter and a Princess herself, has been having fun, and has been indiscreet enough to encourage - perhaps even to fall in love with - a dashing Hungarian Hussar Captain. The man has charm, he rides well, and Eugenie welcomes his skill at the bridge table, but he is, relatively speaking, a peasant. He must be put in his place; and Olympia, a diamond chip off the old tiara in her belief in the innate superiority of the nobility, will scorn her own love as well as his to preserve her dignity.' (Source: Kenneth A. Hurren, writing in the Radio Times, 22 October 1954, p. 26.)
Production history: Presented on Broadway in October 1928.
Date of transmission: Tuesday 26 October 1954
Time: 8.45-10.00pm
Channel: BBC Television
Production company: BBC

Producer

Stephen Harrison

Playwright

Ferenc Molnár (1878-1952)

Translator

Sidney Howard (1891-1939)

Designer

Richard Wilmot

Cast

Michael Denison	Captain Kovacs
Willoughby Goddard	Colonel Krehl
Dulcie Gray	Princess Olympia
Walter Hudd	Albert
Martita Hunt	Princess Eugenie
Malcolm Keen	General Prince Plata-Ettinggen
Agnes Lauchlan	Lina

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