Romeo and Juliet

Summary

1955 BBC Television production of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Theatre play

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare [more information]

Play synopsis

'A long-standing feud between the Montagues and the Capulets flares up in a brawl on the streets of Verona, halted only by the arrival of Prince Escalus. Romeo, only son of the Montagues, is hopelessly in love with the unattainable Rosaline. Attempting to shake him out of his melancholy, his friends Mercutio and Benvolio persuade him to go to a party at the Capulets’ house. There he meets and falls instantly in love with Juliet, the Capulets’ only daughter, and she with him. With the help of Juliet’s Nurse, they are secretly married the next day by Friar Laurence. Juliet’s cousin Tybalt quarrels with Romeo and in the fight which ensues Mercutio is killed. Romeo avenges his friend’s death and kills Tybalt, for which he is banished from Verona on pain of death. After spending a single night with his bride, he escapes to Mantua. Juliet learns that her parents plan to marry her to Count Paris. Distraught, she turns to Friar Laurence, who devises a plan. He gives her a drug which will make her appear to be dead. The intention is that her parents will place her in the family tomb and when she awakes from her drugged sleep, Romeo will be waiting to escape with her to Mantua. When Romeo returns to Verona, he believes her really to be dead and kills himself. Waking to find Romeo dead beside her, Juliet kills herself. The two families, united in grief, vow to end their feud’ (source: http://www.rscshakespeare.co.uk/romeoJuliet.html).

Production history

Romeo and Juliet was written in 1595-96 .

Date of transmission

Sunday 22 May 1955

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Harold Clayton

Lighting

Peter Diamond

Playwright

William Shakespeare

Adapted for Television by

Dallas Bower (1907-1999)

Musical Arrangements by

Cecily Arnold

Musical Arrangements by

Marshall Johnson

Musical Direction

Cecily Arnold

Musical Direction

Marshall Johnson

Designer

Roy Oxley

Dances Arranged by

Belinda Quirey

Cast

Ruby Archer	unnamed part
Michael Brennan	Peter
Madge Brindley	unnamed part
Tony Britton	Romeo
James Bullock	unnamed part
Therese Burton	unnamed part
Olga Camilleri	unnamed part
Henry Davies	Balthasar
Robert Delkyrke	unnamed part
Peter Diamond	unnamed part
Anne Doran	unnamed part
Colin Douglas
Gordon Edwards	A Serving Man
Jill Esmond	Lady Capulet
Colin Freear	unnamed part
John Leslie Frith	An Apothecary
Roger Gage	Abraham
David Garth	Friar John
Alan Gore-Lewis	unnamed part
Victoria Grayson	unnamed part
George Hart	unnamed part
Gerard Hefy	unnamed part
Peter Henchie	An Officer
Owen Holder	Paris
Noël Hood	Lady Montague
David Horne	Capulet
Patricia Kerry	unnamed part
Randal Kinkhead	unnamed part
Eric Lander	Benvolio
Pamela Lyon	unnamed part
Virginia McKenna	Juliet
Alexis Milne	unnamed part
Brian Moorehead	Gregory
Laurence Payne	Mercutio
John Phillips	Chorus / Prince of Verona
James Raglan	Montague
Flora Robson (1902-1984)	Nurse
Lelia Russell	unnamed part
Robert Scroggins	Page to Paris
Keith W. Smith	unnamed part
Anthony Twite	unnamed part
Harcourt Williams (1880-1957)	Friar Laurence
Elizabeth Woollett	unnamed part
Richard Wordsworth	Tybalt
Pamela Wright	unnamed part

Additional details

Notes

The cast and credits are taken from the BBC’s archive recording.

Play tags

tragedy

Audiovisual sources

Title

Romeo and Juliet (BBC, 1955)

Archive

BBC Information and Archives [more information]

Address

White City
London
UK

Telephone

+44 (0)20 8008 2288

Website

http://www.bbc.co.uk/informationandarchives/

Access

BBC Information and Archives is not open to the public.

Notes

The viewing copy is marked ‘Parts 1 and 2: Part 2 incomplete’.

Print sources

Title

Romeo and Juliet (Magazine review)

Author/creator

Philip Hope-Wallace (Reviewer)

Reference

The Listener, 26 May 1955, p. 952

Title

Shakespeare on Television: Romeo and Juliet (Newspaper review)

Reference

The Times, 23 May 1955, p. 3