The Plays: Year-by-Year (1974)

This page contains productions details for all plays produced by Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre, Scarborough, during 1974. All information on this page has been researched and compiled by Simon Murgatroyd M.A. from programmes, brochures and newspaper articles.

Summer 1974

All plays were performed in-the-round in the Concert Room at Scarborough Library. The season ran from 17 June to 11 September 1974.

Absent Friends

Author:
New Play:

First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:

Director:
Costumes:
Alan Ayckbourn
Yes

17 June 1974
17 June 1974
28 September 1974

Alan Ayckbourn
Christine Welch
Character
Paul
Diana
John
Evelyn
Colin
Marge
Actor
Ronald Herdman
Heather Stoney
Stephen Mallatratt
Eileen O'Brien
Christopher Godwin
Janet Dale

Black Comedy

Author:
New Play:

First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:

Director:
Design:
Costumes:
Peter Shaffer
No

24 June 1974
24 June 1974
10 August 1974

Alan Ayckbourn
Helga Wood
Christine Welch
Character
Brindsley Miller
Carol Melkett
Miss Furnival
Colonel Melkett
Harold Gorringe
Clea
Schuppanzigh
Georg Bamberger
Actor
Stephen Mallatratt
Heather Stoney
Eileen O'Brien
Christopher Godwin
Ronald Herdman
Janet Dale
Stanley Page
Kevin Wood
Note: Black Comedy was performed in a double-bill with Albert.

Albert

Author:
New Play:

First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:
Richard Harris
No

24 June 1974
24 June 1974
10 August 1974
Director:
Costumes:

Character
Karin
Nico
Albert
Alan Ayckbourn
Christine Welch

Actor
Christine Welch
Ronald Herdman
Christopher Godwin
Note: Black Comedy was performed in a double-bill with Albert.

Away From It All

Author:
New Play:

First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:

Director:
Costumes:
Peter King
Yes

15 July 1974
15 July 1974
4 September 1974

Alan Ayckbourn
Christine Welch
Character
Mike
Susan
Bernard
Ken
Anna
Actor
Christopher Godwin
Janet Dale
Ronald Herdman
Stephen Mallatratt
Eileen O'Brien

The Breadwinner

Author:
New Play:

First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:

Director:
Costumes:
Somerset Maugham
No

12 August 1974
12 August 1974
11 September 1974

Alan Ayckbourn
Christine Welch
Character
Charles Battle
Margery, his wife
Patrick
Judy
Alfred Granger
Dorothy, his wife
Diana
Timothy
Actor
Stanley Page
Heather Stoney
Stephen Mallatratt
Christine Welch
Ronald Herdman
Janet Dale
Eileen O'Brien
Christopher Godwin

Autumn / Winter 1974

1974 saw the return of both winter seasons to Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre and touring. The autumn / winter season ran from 30 September 1974 to 11 January 1975. Performances took place in the lecture room at the library rather than the concert room and, as a result, were not performed in-the-round.

Confusions

Author:
New Play:

First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:

Director:
Design:
Costumes:
Alan Ayckbourn
Yes

30 September 1974
30 September 1974
30 November 1974

Alan Ayckbourn
Helga Wood
Christine Welch
Character
Terry / Waiter / Stewart / Arthur
Harry / Martin / Vicar / Ernest
Lucy / Bernice / Mrs Pearce / Beryl
Rosemary / Paula / Polly/ Milly / Doreen
Mr Pearce / Gosforth / Charles
Actor
Stephen Mallatratt
Christopher Godwin
Janet Dale
Eileen O’Brien
Stanley Page

On Approval

Author:
New Play:

First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:

Director:
Design:
Costumes:
Frederick Lonsdale
No

19 November 1974
19 November 1974
14 December 1974

Stanley Page
Helga Wood
Christine Welch
Character
The Duke Of Bristol
Richard Halton
Mrs Wislack
Helen Hayle
Actor
Christopher Godwin
Stephen Mallatratt
Eileen O'Brien
Janet Dale

But Fred Freud Is Dead

Author:
New Play:

First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:

Director:
Design:
Costumes:
Peter Terson
No

3 December 1974
3 December 1974
21 December 1974

Alan Ayckbourn
Helga Wood
Christine Welch
Character
Fred Evans
Mike, his son
Dora, his wife
John Ansell, a friend
Sue, Mike's girlfriend
Actor
Stanley Page
Stephen Mallatratt
Janet Dale
Christopher Godwin
Eileen O'Brien

The Christmas That Nearly Wasn't

Author:
New Play:

First performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:

Director:
Design:
Costumes:
Music:
Janet Dale
Yes

23 December 1974
23 December 1974
11 January 1975

Janet Dale
Helga Wood
Christine Welch
Paul Todd
Character
Roles are not known
Actor
Stephen Mallatratt
Eileen O’Brien
Christopher Godwin
Carl Forgione
Stuart Doughty
Ray Jewers
Kevin Wood
Paul Webster
Bob Eaton
Janet Dale

Frost At Midnight

Author:
New Play:

performance:
Opening night:
Final performance:

Director:
Design:
Costumes:
Music:
André Obey
No

27 December 1974
27 December 1974
11 January 1975

Alan Ayckbourn
Helga Wood
Christine Welch
Paul Todd
Character
Blackwill, a night-watchman
Bradshaw, the blacksmith
John Green, an apprentice clerk
Scott, the tailor
Dodger, the butcher
Lowell, the carpenter
Hodge, the cobble
Alice, a serving maid
Goodlack, the inn-keeper
Actor
Carl Forgione
Christopher Godwin
Stuart Doughty
Stephen Mallatratt
Ray Jewers
Kevin Wood
Paul Webster
Eileen O'Brien
Bob Eaton

1974 Production Notes

○ Absent Friends is a play staged in real time; one moment of real time equates to one moment of time of stage. The play's action takes place over an hour and a half in a single location.
○ Absent Friends was initially scheduled to close on 14 September 1974, but its popularity led to it being extended into the autumn season from 23 to 28 September.
○ The Library Theatre's production of The Breadwinner was recorded for the BBC Radio Repertory In Britain (Afternoon Theatre) series. The production was produced by Alfred Bradley, directed by Alan Ayckbourn and adapted for the radio by Kay Jamieson. The production was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 16 December 1974.
○ Confusions marked the reintroduction of a winter season at the Library Theatre, Scarborough, for the first time since 1961. It was also the first winter season to be programmed by Alan Ayckbourn. The play actually opened shortly after the end of the summer season before embarking on a short regional tour alongside On Approval and But Fred, Freud Is Dead to Filey Sun Lounge, Whitby's Spa Theatre and the Library Theatre, Scarborough.
○ During the 1974 and 1975 winter seasons at the Library Theatre, Scarborough, the Library Committee did not make the venue's Concert Room available; this room being where Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre had been based since 1955. In its place, a smaller room on the same floor - the Lecture Room - was offered but which could not incorporate theatre-in-the-round with productions performed three-sided (thrust).
○ But Fred, Freud is Dead was advertised and promoted with the incorrect title as all promotional and archive materials for the Scarborough production omit the comma in the title. For this reason, the website carries the title used in Scarborough to reflect the actual production.
○ But Fred Freud Is Dead was also presented as part of the winter tour, however the final two performances at Whitby Spa had to be cancelled due to low ticket sales.
○ During rehearsals for But Fred Freud Is Dead, Alan Ayckbourn injured his back whilst directing and was confined to bed for several days. In a newspaper report, Alan Ayckbourn said: "As part of the play there was a cricket scene and I had just executed a late cut with a small bat in the rehearsal hall when I pulled my back. I know it sounds comic and everybody laughs, but it is pretty painful unless I am either lying down or standing up."
○ The Christmas That Nearly Wasn't was the first children's Christmas play to be presented at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre, Scarborough, since Alan Ayckbourn's Dad's Tale in 1960. It ran in tandem during the day with evening performances of Frost At Midnight.
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).