The Cardinals’ Collation

Summary: 1938 BBC Television studio production of The Cardinals’ Collation, H. A. Saintsbury’s free adaptation of Júlio Dantas’ Portuguese play A Ceia dos cardeis.
Theatre play: A Ceia dos cardeis by Júlio Dantas (1876-1962) [more information]
Play synopsis: Set in the Vatican at Rome, during the Pontificate of Benedict the Fourteenth, 1740-1758.
Production history: Originally written in Portuguese. First performed in Lisbon in 1902, and first performed in England in a Green Room Rag at the Globe Theatre in February 1926. H. A. Saintsbury’s ‘freely adapted’ translation was published in London by Cecil Palmer, 1926.
Date of transmission: Friday 10 June 1938
Time: 3.30-4.00pm (30 mins)
Channel: BBC Television
Production company: BBC

Producer

George More O’Ferrall (1907-1982)

Playwright

Júlio Dantas (1876-1962)

Adapted for Television by

H. A. Saintsbury (1869-1939)

Cast

Origination: Live from studio
Vision original: Monochrome
Later transmissions: Presented again at 9.45pm on Tuesday 14 June 1938.
Notes: Radio Times announced the second presentation of drama on 14 June for 8.40pm but because of the cancellation of a boxing match transmission was delayed until 9.45pm (source: ‘Foord-Phillips Fight Postponed’, The Times, 14 June 1938, p. 16).
Extant status: No archival copy is known to exist.
Play tags: 18th-century setting; historical drama; Portuguese drama; Vatican, as theme or setting

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