The Dragon and the Dove: How the Hermit Abraham Fought the Devil for his Niece

Summary

BBC production of James Bridie’s The Dragon and the Dove from the West of England television studio.

Theatre play

The Dragon and the Dove by James Bridie (1888-1951) [more information]

Play synopsis

A ‘warmly humorous and quizzically didactic tale’, according to the Radio Times of 12 April 1957 (p. 7), in which the hermit Abraham, a divine of the early Christian era, goes out in search of his niece Maria who has been carried off by a friar to Babylon. The action takes place in the antechamber of the Bishop of Edessa in 400 AD, the cell of Abraham the Hermit and a Babylonian inn in 300 AD.

Production history

Premiered in Glasgow in 1942.

Date of transmission

Tuesday 16 April 1957

Time

9.10pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Barbara Burnham

Playwright

James Bridie (1888-1951)

Designer

Desmond Chinn

Cast

Michael Bates	Abbot
Frank Dunlop	Knave
Roddy Hughes	Ephraem
Malcolm Keen	Abraham the Hermit
Barbara Lott	Deaconess
James Maxwell	Absolom
Mary Merrall	Landlady
Zena Walker	Maria

Additional details

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

ancient Mesopotamia; Christianity; morality play

Print sources

Title

BBC Television: The Dragon and the Dove (Newspaper review)

Reference

The Times, 17 April 1957, p. 3

Title

Gandhi: Second Portrait of Power (Newspaper article)

Reference

The Manchester Guardian, 17 April 1957, p. 3

Linking notes

brief mention with regard to timing

Title

Radio Times, 12 April 1957 (Magazine)

Linking notes

pp. 7 (article) and 19 (listing)