The Cocktail Party

Summary: BBC production of T. S. Eliot’s The Cocktail Party.
Theatre play: The Cocktail Party by T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) [more information]
Play synopsis: The play ‘focuses on a troubled married couple who, through the intervention of a mysterious stranger, settle their problems and move on with their lives. The play starts out seeming to be a light satire of the traditional British drawing room comedy. As it progresses, however, the work becomes a darker philosophical treatment of human relations. As in many of Eliot’s works, the play uses absurdist elements to expose the isolation of the human condition. In another recurring theme of Eliot’s plays, the Christian martyrdom of the mistress character is seen as a sacrifice that permits the predominantly secular life of the community to continue.' Elements of the play draw on Euripides’ Alcestis. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cocktail_Party.)
Production history: 'The Cocktail Party was first performed at the Edinburgh Festival in 1949. In 1950 the play had successful runs in London and New York theaters’ (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cocktail_Party.)
Date of transmission: Thursday 4 April 1957
Time: 8.30pm (90 mins)
Series: Henry Sherek Presents
Channel: BBC Television
Production company: BBC

Producer

Michael Barry

Playwright

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965)

Designer

Stephen Taylor

Cast

Maxine Audley	Celia Coplestone
Gladys Boot	Julia Shuttlethwaite
Eric Lander	Peter Quilpe
Henry Livings (1929-1998)	A Caterer’s Man
Ralph Michael	Unidentified guest, later identified as Sir Henry Harcourt-Reilly
Eileen Peel	Lavinia Chamberlayne
Ronald Price	Alexander MacColgie Gibbs
Moira Redmond	Nurse-Secretary
John Robinson	Edward Chamberlayne

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