Difference between revisions of "Tramway Road"

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''Tramway Road'', by British playwright Ronald Harwood (1934-).  
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''[[Tramway Road]]'' is a play by Cape Town-born British playwright [[Ronald Harwood]] (1934-).  
  
The play is set in 1951, one year after the Population Registration Act was passed in South Africa. Tramway Road had a special notoriety for all those who lived in Sea Point, a white residential suburb of Cape Town. It also exerts its influence over all the characters in this play: an expatriate English couple, Arthur and Dora Langley; Emil, a young man with dreams of becoming an actor in London; and Jacob, a Cape Coloured house servant who is king of his local Coon Carnival troupe
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== Original text ==
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First performed at the Lyric Theatre, London, 23 October 1984 with Freddie Jones, [[Richard Grant|Richard E. Grant]], William Vanderpuye, and Annette Crosbie. The play is set in 1951, one year after the Population Registration Act was passed in South Africa. Tramway Road had a special notoriety for all those who lived in Sea Point, a white residential suburb of Cape Town. It also exerts its influence over all the characters in this play: an expatriate English couple, Arthur and Dora Langley; Emil, a young man with dreams of becoming an actor in London; and Jacob, a Cape Coloured house servant who is king of his local Coon Carnival troupe. Tramway Road, and all that it represents, inevitably shatters their hopes, their peace and their ideals.   Published by Amber Lane Press, 1984.
Tramway Road, and all that it represents, inevitably shatters their hopes, their peace and their ideals. Tramway Road was first performed at the Lyric Theatre in 1984 with Freddie Jones, Richard E. Grant, William Vanderpuye, and Annette Crosbie
 
 
“In his touching new play [Ronald Harwood] catches a rare and powerful mood of British expatriates and South African meritocrats locked in a landscape neither party reveres” ~ Michael Coveney, Financial Times
 
 
“Tramway Road ... demonstrates how fragile are the fortifications of liberal and bookish conscience when they are assaulted by the forces of racist intolerance” ~ Milton Shulman, Standard
 
 
“Mr Harwood is very good at the pathos of exile ... The play offers a totally plausible, splendidly comic picture of the two shambling rootless English ex-pats” ~ Michael Billington, The Guardian
 
 
“...[in] this thoughtful, humane play ... Mr Harwood has something telling to say about a tragic situation” ~ Francis King, Sunday Telegraph
 
  
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==Translations and adaptations==
  
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== Performance history in South Africa ==
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1985: A Baxter Company '85 production directed by [[Leonard Schach]], presented at the [[Baxter Theatre]] was first performed on 20 March. Cast: [[Keith Grenville]], [[David Dennis]], [[Soli Philander]], [[Brenda Wood]]. Design by [[Peter Krummeck]]. Lighting and assistant to the director [[Per-Olof Fernlund]]. This production was also presented by [[NAPAC]] at the [[Alhambra Theatre]], Durban.
  
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== Sources ==
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http://www.stageplays.com/products/tramway_road/Ronald%20Harwood
  
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''Tramway Road'' theatre programme, 1985.
  
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[[ESAT Bibliography Bar-Bas|Barrow, Brian & Williams-Short, Yvonne]] 1988.
  
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Theatre programme for the [[NAPAC]] production held by [[NELM]]: [Collection: KORT, Maurice]: 2012. 379. 38. 16.
  
A Baxter Company '85 production directed by [[Leonard Schach]], presented at the [[Baxter Theatre]] in 1985. Cast: [[Keith Grenville]], [[David Dennis]], [[Soli Philander]], [[Brenda Wood]].
 
  
Source: Barrow, Brian & Williams-Short, Yvonne (eds.). 1988. ''Theatre Alive! The Baxter Story 1977-1987'').
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Go to [[South African Theatre/Bibliography|ESAT Bibliography]]
  
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Revision as of 09:58, 17 April 2018

Tramway Road is a play by Cape Town-born British playwright Ronald Harwood (1934-).

Original text

First performed at the Lyric Theatre, London, 23 October 1984 with Freddie Jones, Richard E. Grant, William Vanderpuye, and Annette Crosbie. The play is set in 1951, one year after the Population Registration Act was passed in South Africa. Tramway Road had a special notoriety for all those who lived in Sea Point, a white residential suburb of Cape Town. It also exerts its influence over all the characters in this play: an expatriate English couple, Arthur and Dora Langley; Emil, a young man with dreams of becoming an actor in London; and Jacob, a Cape Coloured house servant who is king of his local Coon Carnival troupe. Tramway Road, and all that it represents, inevitably shatters their hopes, their peace and their ideals. Published by Amber Lane Press, 1984.

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

1985: A Baxter Company '85 production directed by Leonard Schach, presented at the Baxter Theatre was first performed on 20 March. Cast: Keith Grenville, David Dennis, Soli Philander, Brenda Wood. Design by Peter Krummeck. Lighting and assistant to the director Per-Olof Fernlund. This production was also presented by NAPAC at the Alhambra Theatre, Durban.

Sources

http://www.stageplays.com/products/tramway_road/Ronald%20Harwood

Tramway Road theatre programme, 1985.

Barrow, Brian & Williams-Short, Yvonne 1988.

Theatre programme for the NAPAC production held by NELM: [Collection: KORT, Maurice]: 2012. 379. 38. 16.


Go to ESAT Bibliography

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Return to T in Plays II Foreign Plays

Return to South_African_Theatre/Plays

Return to The ESAT Entries

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