Asmodée; or, The Intruder

Summary

1959 BBC Television production of an English translation of Asmodée by François Mauriac.

Theatre play

Asmodée by François Mauriac [more information]

Play synopsis

Asmodée was the first theatre play to be written by the celebrated French novelist François Mauriac. It is a study of emotional conflicts in a family consisting of the young French widow Marcelle de Barthas and her four children including Emmy, who believes she has a calling for the religious life and Bertrand who has been sent to England for an exchange holiday with an English boy, Harry. Also resident in the family’s large country house in south-west France is a governess and a tutor.

Production history

First performed at the Comédie-Française, Paris, in 1937.

Date of transmission

Tuesday 9 June 1959

Time

8.00-9.30pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Harold Clayton

Playwright

François Mauriac

Translator

Basil Bartlett

Sets / Settings

Richard Wilmot

Cast

John Bown	Harry Fanning
Pamela Buck	Emmanuele
Helen Cherry	Marcelle de Barthas
Ian Fleming	The Curé
Marius Goring	Blaise Lebel
Max Latimer	Chauffer
Waveney Lee	Anne
Maureen Pryor	Mademoiselle
Ronnie Raymond	Jean
Frederick Victor	Jacques

Additional details

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

French drama

Print sources

Title

A Worthwhile Revival: Mauriac’s Asmodee (Newspaper review)

Reference

The Manchester Guardian, 10 June 1959, p. 7

Title

Radio Times, 5 June 1959 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing and illustrated article on p. 13