The Desperate Hours

The Desperate Hours is a play by American author and playwright Joseph Hayes (1918-2006). Originally a novel (1954) about a family held hostage in their own house by three escaped convicts, turned into a stage play by the author. This was first produced in 1955 on Broadway with Karl Malden and Paul Newman. Then made into a Hollywood film by William Wyler in 1955 with Humphrey Bogart and Frederic March, remade in 1990 by Michael Cimino with Mickey Rourke and others.

Performance history in South Africa
1955: First produced in South Africa by Taubie Kushlick at His Majesty's Theatre Johannesburg, in association with ACT, starring Bill Brewer and Sadie Festenstein.

1958: A Durban production featured Malcolm Woolfson.

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