Still Life
There are three plays with this title:
Contents
Still Life by Noël Coward
The original play
A one-act play, written and produced in 1936, it was one of ten short plays known collectively as Tonight at 8:30, and intended to be performed across three evenings. Originally written as a vehicle for himself and Gertrude Lawrence.
It tells of the chance meeting, subsequent love affair and eventual parting of a married woman and a doctor, in contrast to with the normal relationship of another. It was first produced in London in May 1936 and in New York in October of the same year.
Translations and adaptations
Frequently performed, the play has been adapted for television and radio and, perhaps most memorably, filmed as Brief Encounter by David Lean in 1945, with Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard in the leads (The film was remade in 1974 starring Richard Burton and Sophia Loren.)
South African productions
1947: Presented by the Johannesburg Repertory Players, produced by Edith Carter-Johnson and Elsie Levitas in January.
1966: A radio version - apparently called Brief Encounter after the 1945 film based on the play - was broadcast by the SABC in Castle Playhouse on 27 April 1966, starring Marlene Dietrich as "Laura".
1982: Directed by Barney Simon Cast : Aletta Bezuidenhout, Fiona Ramsay, Wilson Dunster at the Market Theatre.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Still_Life_(play)
South African Opinion, 3(11):20-21, 1947.
Still Life by Emily Mann (1952-)[1]
The original text
South African productions
1983: Directed by Barney Simon at Upstairs at the Market opening 3 January 1983. (NELM: Photographs taken during the production of "Still Life" : Identified in the photographs are : Wilson Dunster, Aletta Bezuidenhout, Fiona Ramsay).
Sources
Market Theatre Annual report 1983.
Rand Daily Mail, 21 December 1982, page 8.
Ruphin Coudyzer. 2023. Annotated list of his photographs of Market Theatre productions. (Provided by Coudyzer)
Still Life by John Byrne
The original text
One of a set of three plays collectively entitled The Slab Boys Trilogy. The other titles of the trilogy are The Slab Boys and Cuttin' a Rug.
South African productions
Sources
Wikipedia [2].
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