Crime Passionnel

Summary: 1959 BBC Television production of Les Mains sales by Jean-Paul Sartre, in English translation and under the title Crime Passionnel.
Theatre play: Les Mains sales by Jean-Paul Sartre [more information]
Play synopsis: 'A political drama set in the fictional country of Illyria between 1943 and 1945, the story is about the assassination of a leading politician. The story is told mainly in the form of a flashback, with the killer describing how he carried out his mission. The killer’s identity is established from the beginning, but the question is whether his motivations were political or personal. Thus, the play’s main theme is not on who did it but on why it was done.' Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_Hands.
Production history: First performed 2 April 1948 at the Theatre Antoine, Paris; performed later in the year at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith.
Date of transmission: Sunday 20 September 1959
Time: 8.45-10.30pm
Series: Sunday-Night Theatre
Channel: BBC Television
Production company: BBC

Producer

Stuart Burge

Playwright

Jean-Paul Sartre

Translator

Kitty Black (from the French)

Designer

Stephen Taylor

Cast

Extant status: No archival copy is known to exist.
Play tags: crime; murder; politics; Second World War, as theme or setting; wartime, as theme or setting

Title: Fine Casting of Sartre Play: Crime Passionnel on Television (Newspaper review)
Reference: The Times, 21 September 1959, p. 5
Notes: With image from the production.

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