Back to the 50s and early 60s with our archive of classics
THANKS to the dedication of our history hungry helpers, we can take you all the way back to what we were performing this week in 1950!
From November 4-12 that year you would have been treated to psychological thriller The Gioconda Smile. Whilst we don’t yet have a programme for this, we do have one for its predecessor, The Way of the World, featuring an introduction from the chairman at the time, John S. Wood.
The Gioconda Smile was a fairly modern play for the time, having been written in 1948 by Aldous Huxley; it is described as featuring three good friends: a devoted husband, an invalid wife and a woman friend of the family. Gradually we learn there is a terrifying truth beneath the surface of their friendship leading to a never before seen ending!
The play was adapted into an Australian TV play in 1964, but was not as popular as the play with critics shunning its hysterical harpsichord’ used to indicate tension.
A decade later audiences were still seeking a thrill from their theatre trips in the darkening nights. From November 4-11, 1960 we brought you a crime thriller called Subway in the Sky. The play by Ian Main had debuted in the West End in 1957 starring American actor Zachary Scott and English movie star Margaret Lockwood.
Major Baxter Grant is a military doctor posted in Berlin who is accused of dealing illegal drugs. In order to prove his innocence, Grant escapes the military police and aims to take shelter in an apartment his wife owns. Unbeknownst to him, it is currently being rented to cabaret singer Dinah Holland. After learning of his plight, she agrees to assist the handsome Major and they uncover the mystery together.
This is another tale that then translated to the screen with the film version released in 1959. Without a cast list, I cannot tell which members past took these roles – perhaps you know?
We continue to invite you to share your memories with us. If you have any programmes from SDC shows you have seen, we would be grateful for the opportunity to take a copy.
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