Jessica

Summary

1957 BBC Television production of Warren Tute’s Jessica.

Theatre play

Jessica by Warren Tute (1914-1989) [more information]

Play synopsis

The action of the play takes place in a villa in the South of France and in a factory in Lancashire. Time: the present. The play concerns a young woman who lives in a villa on the Riviera, funded by her father’s inheritance; he made his wealth in a factory in Warrington. Despite her current luxury, she is made unhappy by her complicated family history and pointlessness of her present life. The family accountant arrives and she has to face a challenge to her character and entire way of life: the factory is on the verge of bankruptcy and she returns home where she proves herself adept at turning the business around.

Production history

Staged by the Guildford Repertory Theatre in spring 1957; this was not necessarily the premiere.

Date of transmission

Thursday 19 September 1957

Time

8.00-9.30pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Alan Bromly

Playwright

Warren Tute (1914-1989)

Designer

John Cooper

Cast

Betty Bowden	Harriet Hamilton
Gerald Cross	Mr Matthews
John Evans	Porter Van Dycke
Philip Guard	Eddie Clackham
Raymond Huntley	Stanley Baines
Angela Krefeld	Jeanne
Derek Oldham	Arthur Glossop
Frank Pettitt	Ernie Owthorpe
Robert Robinson	Pierre
Virginia Thomas	Doris
Gwen[doline] Watford	Jessica Bowton

Additional details

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

comedy; France, as theme or setting; north of England, as theme or setting

Print sources

Title

BBC Television: Jessica (Newspaper review)

Reference

The Times, 20 September 1957, p. 5

Title

Radio Times, 13 September 1957 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing, article and photograph on pp. 18-19