Man in a Blue Vase

"Man in a Blue Vase"
Shell Presents episode
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 13
Directed by Rod Kinnear
Teleplay by Richard Benyon
Original air date 5 March 1960

Man in a Blue Vase is an Australian television one-off comedy presentation which aired in 1960. It was part of Shell Presents, which consisted of monthly presentations of standalone television dramas and comedies. It aired on GTV-9 in Melbourne and ATN-7 in Sydney, as this was prior to the creation of the Seven Network and Nine Network.

A set of pictures from the show appear in a 1960 edition of The Age[1]

Unlike most of the Shell Presents presentations, it wasn't aired live. Although produced in Melbourne, it aired in Sydney first.

Plot

Set in a Polish-Jewish household in Melbourne. Aaron tries to prove his individuality by taking money from his wife Shirley's blue vase. Sister in law Esther tells Shirley that marriage is a state of war and she needs to take a stand. Aaron goes drinking and asks his brother in law Herman why he lets Esther bully him. Shirley gets advice from her mother in law, Reba.[2]

Cast

  • Alan Hopgood as Aaron
  • Coralie Neville as Shirley
  • Sue Saffir as Esther
  • John Bluthal as Herman
  • Rachel Holzer as Reba
  • Edward Howell as Uncle Ben
  • Don Crosby as a barman
  • Joe Hudson as Taxi Driver

Production

The script was written by Richard Benyon (1925–99), author of the play The Shifting Heart.[3]

The play was later adapted for radio.[4]

Reception

The TV critic form the Sydney Morning Herald said the play was "refreshing for its observation that there don't have to be lurid triangles or melodramatic boozing or homesacrificing career obsessions to put marriages on the rocks" but still lacks something of the warmth by which a Chayefsky allows his commonplace characters to arouse deeply compassionate interest in their everyday conflict, collaboration and compromise. Beynon's people... are carefully observed and their talk runs pretty naturally, but some want of rich detail in the writing and among... [the]players prevented them from making a compelling appeal."[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Domestic Tiff". The Age. 17 March 1960. p. 14.
  2. ↑ "Benyon's New Play". Sydney Morning Herald. 29 February 1960. p. 19.
  3. ↑ Richard Benyon at Austlit
  4. ↑ "2CA On The Air! 2CA". The Canberra Times. 38, (10, 635). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 7 September 1963. p. 20. Retrieved 3 March 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ "Man In A Blue Vase On ATN". Sydney Morning Herald. 7 March 1960. p. 8.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.