The Complete Plays: 1961 Overview
This page contains details about the 1961 season at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre, Scarborough. For details about individual plays, click on the play titles below.All information on this page has been researched and compiled by Simon Murgatroyd M.A. from programmes, brochures and newspaper articles.
Summer 1961
All plays were performed in-the-round in the Concert Room on the first floor of Scarborough Library. The season ran from 12 June to 9 September 1961. The plays were performed in rep with a change of programme on Thursdays.Advertised Programme
○ Victoria Regina
○ Five Finger Exercise
○ Four Minute Warning
○ Gaslight
○ Five Finger Exercise
○ Standing Room Only
○ Gaslight
○ Stranger in the Family
○ Standing Room Only
○ Two For The Seesaw
○ Stranger in the Family
○ Five Finger Exercise
○ Two For The Seesaw
○ Five Finger Exercise
○ Four Minute Warning
○ Gaslight
○ Five Finger Exercise
○ Standing Room Only
○ Gaslight
○ Stranger in the Family
○ Standing Room Only
○ Two For The Seesaw
○ Stranger in the Family
○ Five Finger Exercise
○ Two For The Seesaw
12 - 17 June
19 - 21 June
22 - 28 June
29 June - 5 July
6 - 12 July
13 - 19 July
20 - 26 July
27 July - 2 August
3 - 9 August
10 - 16 August
17 - 23 August
24 - 30 August
31 August - 9 September
19 - 21 June
22 - 28 June
29 June - 5 July
6 - 12 July
13 - 19 July
20 - 26 July
27 July - 2 August
3 - 9 August
10 - 16 August
17 - 23 August
24 - 30 August
31 August - 9 September
Actual Programme
○ Victoria Regina
○ Five Finger Exercise
○ Four Minute Warning
○ Gaslight
○ Five Finger Exercise
○ Standing Room Only
○ Gaslight
○ Stranger in the Family
○ Standing Room Only
○ Two For The Seesaw
○ Stranger in the Family
○ Five Finger Exercise
○ Two For The Seesaw
○ Standing Room Only
○ The Bed-Life of a Mad Boy
○ Five Finger Exercise
○ Four Minute Warning
○ Gaslight
○ Five Finger Exercise
○ Standing Room Only
○ Gaslight
○ Stranger in the Family
○ Standing Room Only
○ Two For The Seesaw
○ Stranger in the Family
○ Five Finger Exercise
○ Two For The Seesaw
○ Standing Room Only
○ The Bed-Life of a Mad Boy
12 - 17 June
19 - 21 June
22 - 28 June
29 June - 5 July
6 - 12 July
13 - 19 July
20 - 26 July
27 July - 2 August
3 - 9 August
10 - 16 August
17 - 23 August
24 - 30 August
31 August - 6 September
7 - 8 September
9 September
19 - 21 June
22 - 28 June
29 June - 5 July
6 - 12 July
13 - 19 July
20 - 26 July
27 July - 2 August
3 - 9 August
10 - 16 August
17 - 23 August
24 - 30 August
31 August - 6 September
7 - 8 September
9 September
Note: Four Minute Warning featured the plays At Sea, Mutatis Mutandis and Little Brother, Little Sister; the production of The Bed-Life of a Mad Boy was accompanied by We've Minds Of Our Own.
Creatives
Stephen Joseph (Artistic Director / Design)Terry Lane (Director)
Stockwell Allen (Writer)
Alan Ayckbourn (Writer)
David Campton (Writer)
Norman Horner (Writer)
W.F. Norfolk (Writer)
Actors
Alan AyckbournHazel Burt
David Campton
Philip Clifford
Actors
Rosamund DicksonDavid Jarrett
Terry Lane
Stanley Page
Other Staff
Joan Macalpine (Theatre Manager)Ken Boden (Local Secretary)
Veronica Pemberton-Billing (Catering)
Winter 1961
All plays were performed in-the-round in the Concert Room on the first floor of Scarborough Library. The season ran from 11 to 30 December 1961. The plays were performed consecutively - not in rep - with a change of programme on Mondays.Advertised Programme
11 - 24 December
26 - 30 December
26 - 30 December
Creatives
Stephen Joseph (Artistic Director)Alan Ayckbourn (Director)
David Campton (Writer)
Actors
Alan AyckbournRosamund Dickson
Patricia England
Richard Gill
Actors
David JarrettPeter King
Evelyn Lewis
Stanley Page
Other Staff
Peter Cheeseman (Theatre Manager)Ken Boden (Local Secretary)
Veronica Pemberton-Billing (Catering)
1961 Production Notes
○ Five Finger Exercise was a revival of the production first presented in the previous winter season.
○ Gaslight marked the directorial debut of Alan Ayckbourn; at the time predominantly an actor who had also had three of his own plays produced by the company. From this point forward, playwriting and directing would begin to dominate his career in theatre.
○ Standing Room Only was the final play by Alan Ayckbourn to be produced under his writing pseudonym of Roland Allen. When the play was revived in 1962 at the Victoria Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, it was instead credited to Alan Ayckbourn.
○ So popular was Standing Room Only that although originally advertised as ending in repertory on 9 August, it was brought back for two performances on 7 & 8 September in place of Two For The Seesaw which closed three days earlier than originally advertised.
○ The We've Minds Of Our Own and The Bed-Life Of A Mad Boy double-bill was a late addition to the schedule and replaced the final performance of the advertised Two For The Seesaw. Performed for just one night, the double-bill was the final performance of the summer season.
○ David Copperfield was Joan Macalpine’s first play to be professionally produced. She had initially been employed by Studio Theatre Ltd as a stage-manager before she turned her hand to writing and, later, directing with Stephen Joseph's encouragement.
○ The Boys And The Girls was a revue featuring of 14 sketches by David Campton charting life from the very young to the very old.
○ The 1961 winter season was the final winter season at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre until 1974. In 1962, Stephen Joseph opened the Victoria Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent - the UK's first year-round in-the-round venue - and his company, Studio Theatre Ltd, moved to the Potteries. However, the Arts Council would not split the grant and Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre lost its subsidy leading to the loss of winter seasons and tours from the town between 1962 and 1973.
○ The majority of productions in 1961 were performed without an interval.
○ Gaslight marked the directorial debut of Alan Ayckbourn; at the time predominantly an actor who had also had three of his own plays produced by the company. From this point forward, playwriting and directing would begin to dominate his career in theatre.
○ Standing Room Only was the final play by Alan Ayckbourn to be produced under his writing pseudonym of Roland Allen. When the play was revived in 1962 at the Victoria Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, it was instead credited to Alan Ayckbourn.
○ So popular was Standing Room Only that although originally advertised as ending in repertory on 9 August, it was brought back for two performances on 7 & 8 September in place of Two For The Seesaw which closed three days earlier than originally advertised.
○ The We've Minds Of Our Own and The Bed-Life Of A Mad Boy double-bill was a late addition to the schedule and replaced the final performance of the advertised Two For The Seesaw. Performed for just one night, the double-bill was the final performance of the summer season.
○ David Copperfield was Joan Macalpine’s first play to be professionally produced. She had initially been employed by Studio Theatre Ltd as a stage-manager before she turned her hand to writing and, later, directing with Stephen Joseph's encouragement.
○ The Boys And The Girls was a revue featuring of 14 sketches by David Campton charting life from the very young to the very old.
○ The 1961 winter season was the final winter season at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre until 1974. In 1962, Stephen Joseph opened the Victoria Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent - the UK's first year-round in-the-round venue - and his company, Studio Theatre Ltd, moved to the Potteries. However, the Arts Council would not split the grant and Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre lost its subsidy leading to the loss of winter seasons and tours from the town between 1962 and 1973.
○ The majority of productions in 1961 were performed without an interval.
All information for this page has been researched and compiled by Simon Murgatroyd and should not be reproduced without permission. Any approved reproduction of information from this page should always credit 'A Round Town (www.theatre-in-the-round.co.uk).