A Season in Hell (Wednesday Theatre): Difference between revisions
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Running time was one hour and 20 minutes.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131762504 |title=WEDNESDAY |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=39 |issue=11,110 |date=22 March 1965 |accessdate=20 March 2017 |page=24 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> |
Running time was one hour and 20 minutes.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131762504 |title=WEDNESDAY |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=39 |issue=11,110 |date=22 March 1965 |accessdate=20 March 2017 |page=24 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> |
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It was a rare depiction of a gay relationship on Australian TV at the time.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/60-australian-tv-plays-1950s-60s/|magazine=Filmink|title=60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & ‘60s|date=February 18, 2019}}</ref> |
It was a rare depiction of a gay relationship on Australian TV at the time.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/60-australian-tv-plays-1950s-60s/|magazine=Filmink|title=60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & ‘60s|date=February 18, 2019}}</ref> |
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==Plot== |
==Plot== |
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The relationship between [[Arthur Rimbaud]] (Alan Bickford) and [[Paul Verlaine]] (Alistair Duncan). Rimbaud arrives in Paris age 16 and in three years shocks and revolts all who knows him. His only friend and confidante is Verlaine.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131762507 |title=Season of the hellbent. |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |date=22 March 1965 |accessdate=5 June 2015 |page=23 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131763501 |title=A fine Season. |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |date=26 March 1965 |accessdate=5 June 2015 |page=15 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> |
The relationship between [[Arthur Rimbaud]] (Alan Bickford) and [[Paul Verlaine]] (Alistair Duncan). Rimbaud arrives in Paris age 16 and in three years shocks and revolts all who knows him. His only friend and confidante is Verlaine.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131762507 |title=Season of the hellbent. |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |date=22 March 1965 |accessdate=5 June 2015 |page=23 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131763501 |title=A fine Season. |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |date=26 March 1965 |accessdate=5 June 2015 |page=15 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> |
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The ''Bulletin'' said "Hooker’s script was essentially a duologue with vignettes, and, although too episodic and uneven in its construction and development, incorporated the visions and images of the poet into the context of the relationship with considerable success only occasionally did Rimbaud step out of the play and declaim. Henri Safran’s production had style and atmosphere. He suggested the deliberately underwritten homosexual tensions by inference rather than by presentation, and he evoked the claustrophobic relationship by isolating the two poets in tight two-shots."<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=The Bulletin|title=TELEVISION Royal Barge|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-698175918|first=William|last=Daniels|date=3 June 1964|page=49}}</ref> |
The ''Bulletin'' said "Hooker’s script was essentially a duologue with vignettes, and, although too episodic and uneven in its construction and development, incorporated the visions and images of the poet into the context of the relationship with considerable success only occasionally did Rimbaud step out of the play and declaim. Henri Safran’s production had style and atmosphere. He suggested the deliberately underwritten homosexual tensions by inference rather than by presentation, and he evoked the claustrophobic relationship by isolating the two poets in tight two-shots."<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=The Bulletin|title=TELEVISION Royal Barge|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-698175918|first=William|last=Daniels|date=3 June 1964|page=49}}</ref> |
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==Later Productions== |
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The play was repeated on TV and later translated into Italian and French. It was turned into a stage play which was on at the Traverse Theatre. Hooker also adapted it into a radio play which was the BC's official entry into the 1964 Italia Prize Competiton.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19671203&id=t7EpAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BeYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6198,1286925&hl=en|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|via=Google News Archive Search|publisher=|title=Edinburgh orders Aust. play|author=Nigel Muir|location=London|date=3 December 1967}}</ref> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 12:51, 1 June 2020
| "A Season in Hell" | |
|---|---|
| Wednesday Theatre episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 12 |
| Directed by | Henri Safran |
| Teleplay by | Patricia Hooker |
| Original air dates | 1 April 1965 (Sydney)[1] 29 April 1965 (Melbourne)[2][3] |
| Running time | 80 mins |
A Season in Hell is a 1964 Australian TV movie broadcast on the ABC. It was directed by Henri Safran from a script by Patricia Hooker and was shot at the ABC's Gore Hill Studios.[4] It originally aired as an episode of Wednesday Theatre. A search of their website suggests the National Archives may hold a copy, with running time listed as 1:16:22.
Running time was one hour and 20 minutes.[5]
It was a rare depiction of a gay relationship on Australian TV at the time.[6]
Plot
The relationship between Arthur Rimbaud (Alan Bickford) and Paul Verlaine (Alistair Duncan). Rimbaud arrives in Paris age 16 and in three years shocks and revolts all who knows him. His only friend and confidante is Verlaine.[7][8]
Cast
- Alan Bickford as Arthur Rimbaud
- Alistair Duncan as Paul Verlaine
- Marion Johns as Madam Verlaine, Verlaine's mother
- Anne Haddy as Mathilde
- Eve Hardwicke as Rimbaud's mother
- Richard Davies as Father Martin
Production
Patricia Hooker says the friendship of the two men always fascinated her, but felt it would be necessary to study in France to make the story authentic. When working on Concord of Sweet Sounds with Henri Safran, the director became interested in her idea of a play about Rimbaud. Hooker said, "With his help it was possible to collect the information I needed, much of which had never been translated from the French."[9]
It was one of 20 TV plays produced by the ABC in 1964 (and one of only three Australian scripts).[10]
Reception
The television critic for the Sydney Morning Herald thought the play "was thoughtfully and capably built on known episodes" from the two poets' lives but "suffered by its very episodic character, as well as from the impossibility of supplying several essentials to true story' s full realisation." He added "if the play was a gallant but incomplete effort, its production by Henri Safran was beautifully assured and sensitive, its camera work expert, while an excellent cast was headed by the impressive performances of Alastair Duncan as Verlaine and Alan Bickford as Rimbaud."[11]
The Sunday Sydney Morning Herald called it "a first class production... one of the finest efforts to come from the studios at Gore Hill. It was top notch in all departments."[12]
The Bulletin said "Hooker’s script was essentially a duologue with vignettes, and, although too episodic and uneven in its construction and development, incorporated the visions and images of the poet into the context of the relationship with considerable success only occasionally did Rimbaud step out of the play and declaim. Henri Safran’s production had style and atmosphere. He suggested the deliberately underwritten homosexual tensions by inference rather than by presentation, and he evoked the claustrophobic relationship by isolating the two poets in tight two-shots."[13]
Later Productions
The play was repeated on TV and later translated into Italian and French. It was turned into a stage play which was on at the Traverse Theatre. Hooker also adapted it into a radio play which was the BC's official entry into the 1964 Italia Prize Competiton.[14]
References
- ^ "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 30 March 1965. p. 33.
- ^ "Australian TV Writers Play about Two "Renegade" French Poets". The Age. 23 April 1965. p. 29.
- ^ "TV Guide". The Age. 23 August 1965. p. 35.
- ^ "WHAT TO STAY HOME FOR..." The Canberra Times. 22 March 1965. p. 23. Retrieved 5 June 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "WEDNESDAY". The Canberra Times. Vol. 39, no. 11, 110. 22 March 1965. p. 24. Retrieved 20 March 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
- ^ "Season of the hellbent". The Canberra Times. 22 March 1965. p. 23. Retrieved 5 June 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "A fine Season". The Canberra Times. 26 March 1965. p. 15. Retrieved 5 June 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Sydney Woman's drama of Paris". Sydney Morning Herald. 15 March 1965. p. 13.
- ^ "ABC Plans to Show Significant Works". The Age. 20 February 1964. p. 13.
- ^ "Sydney Author's TV Play". Sydney Morning Herald. 2 April 1964. p. 5.
- ^ Marshall, Valda (5 April 1964). "TV Merry Go Round". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 85.
- ^ Daniels, William (3 June 1964). "TELEVISION Royal Barge". The Bulletin. p. 49.
- ^ Nigel Muir (3 December 1967). "Edinburgh orders Aust. play". The Sydney Morning Herald. London – via Google News Archive Search.
External links
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