The Chalk Garden

The Chalk Garden is a play by Enid Bagnold (1889-1981)[1].

The original text

The play tells the story of Mrs. St. Maugham and her granddaughter Laurel, a disturbed child under the care of Miss Madrigal, a governess.

First produced on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on October 26 and in England at the Theatre Royal, Brighton on April 2, 1956, opening in London at the Theatre Royal Haymarket one week later.

Translations and adaptations

Filmed in 1964 with Edith Evans as Mrs. St. Maugham, Deborah Kerr as Miss Madrigal, Hayley Mills as Laurel, Elizabeth Sellars as Olivia and John Mills as the butler Maitland. It was directed by Ronald Neame.[2]

Performance history in South Africa

1959: Directed by Leonard Schach for the Cockpit Players at the Hofmeyr Theatre, February, with Eveline Garrett, Heather Lloyd-Jones, Eric Messiter and Daphne Riggs. Decor by Bruce Palmer.

1959: Produced by the Brian Brooke Company at the Brooke Theatre, Johannesburg.

1968: Performed by the CAPAB English company, directed by Simon Swindell for CAPAB, , with Yvonne Bryceland (Miss Madrigal), Norman Coombes (Maitland), Cheryl Heath (Laurel), Joyce Bradley (Mrs St Maugham), Shirley Rautenbach (The Applicant), Lorna Robertson (The Nurse), Val Donald (Olivia), Elliot Playfair (The Judge). Set designed by Keith Anderson, stage manager Brian Kennedy. The production toured widely in the Cape Province from 30 April, inter alia playing in the Guild Theatre, East London (21-25 May); the Rhodes University Theatre, Grahamstown (27 June); the Jubilee Hall, Uitenhage (28 May); the Civic Theatre, Oudtshoorn (30 May); the Civic Theatre, George (31 May); St George's Church Hall, Knysna (1 June); Town Hall, Paarl, (6 June) and School Hall, Hopefield (7 June). The tour ended with a run in the Hofmeyr Theatre, Cape Town, opening on 15 June.