Interval (play)

Play by Sumner Locke Elliott

Interval

Written by| Sumner Locke Elliott
Characters| Laura Mannington, actress
Terry Cotswald, playwright
Marthy, the dresser
Joyce Clements
Date premiered| 1 April 1939[1]
Place premiered| Independent Theatre, Sydney
Original language| English
Setting| Behind the scenes at the Queen Anne Theatre, London

Interval is a 1939 play by Sumner Locke Elliott. It was popular and was performed throughout Australia at a time when this was not common for local plays.[2] [3]

The Sydney Morning Herald called it "interesting drama."[1]

The play was published in book form in 1942 by Melbourne University Press It was one of four plays published with the aid of the Commonwealth Literary Fund, the others being Daybreak, Red Sky at Morning and A Touch of Silk. The Sydney Morning Herald said Interval "has some smart repartee and succeeds in showing the deterioration of an actress's character under the influence of success."[4]

Elliott later recalled the play as "an unqualified success, even being revived the following year at North Sydney and I still remember it most fondly partly because of the companionable cast it had and because it contained a showy part for the author. At its second performance all the scenery fell down during the author’s first scene on him."[5]

## Premise

[edit]

The play is set behind the scenes of a long-running stage show in London over a two year period for a play called "Neither Shall They Mourn".[6] Laura Mannington becomes offensive as she reaches fame.

## Radio versions

[edit]

The play was adapted for radio in 1945,[7] 1948 and 1949.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b ""INTERVAL."". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 3 April 1939. p. 6. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
2. ^ ""STARS OF THE AIR" SUMNER LOCKE-ELLIOTT—PLAYWRIGHT, ACTOR AND SOLDIER". Kilmore Free Press. Kilmore, Vic.: National Library of Australia. 14 December 1944. p. 6. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
3. ^ Clarke, Sharon (1995). Sumner Locke Elliott: writing life. University of Woollongong. p. 228.
4. ^ "AUSTRALIAN PLAYS". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 3 October 1942. p. 6. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
5. ^ Rees, Leslie (1987). Australian drama, 1970-1985 : a historical and critical survey. p. 183.
6. ^ "YOUNG ACTOR'S PLAY". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 8 January 1940. p. 4. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
7. ^ "THURSDAY", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC, 8 September 1945, nla.obj-1401663971, retrieved 20 February 2024 - via Trove

## External links

[edit]

* Interval at AusStage

* v
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Works of Sumner Locke Elliott

Novels|

* Careful, He Might Hear You (1963)
* Some Doves and Pythons (1966)
* Edens Lost (1969)
* The Man Who Got Away (1972)
* Going (1975)
* Water Under the Bridge (1977)
* Signs of Life (1981)
* About Tilly Beamis (1984)
* Waiting for Childhood (1987)
* Fairyland (1990)
* Radio Days (1993)

Plays|

* The Cow Jumped Over the Moon (1937)
* The Folly of It (1938)
* Interval (1939)
* The Little Sheep Run Fast (1940)
* Goodbye to the Music (1942)
* Your Obedient Servant (1943)
* The Invisible Circus (1946)
* Wicked Is the Vine (1948)
* Rusty Bugles (1948)
* Buy Me Blue Ribbons (1951)
* John Murray Anderson's Almanac (1953)

TV scripts|

* Wicked Is the Vine (1949)
* The Crater (1949)
* Pengallen's Bell (1949)
* Of Human Bondage (1949)
* Jane Eyre (1949)
* The Willow Cabin (1950)
* The Passionate Pilgrim (1950)
* The Shadow of a Man (1950)
* Little Women (1950)
* The Rose Garden (1951)
* The Devil in Velvet (1952)
* The Thin Air (1952)
* Dusty Portrait (1952)
* Miss Hargreaves (1952)
* We Were Children (1952)
* Elegy (1953)
* Wish on the Moon (1953)
* Before I Wake (1953)
* The Shadow of a Man (1953)
* The Girl with the Stop Watch (1953)
* Moment of Panic (1954)
* Friday the 13th (1954)
* Buy Me Blue Ribbons (1954)
* The King and Mrs. Candle (1954)
* Time Bomb (1954)
* Run Girl Run (1954)
* The Women (1955)
* Beloved Stranger (1955)
* The King and Mrs. Candle (1955)
* Peter Pan (1955)
* Daisy, Daisy (1955)
* You and Me and the Gatepost (1956)
* Keyhole (1956)
* Company Manners (1956)
* Peter Pan (1956)
* Love at Fourth Sight (1957)
* Whereabouts Unknown (1957)
* Mrs. Gilling and the Skyscraper (1957)
* Babe in the Woods (1957)
* The Count of Monte Cristo (1958)
* The Winslow Boy (1958)
* We Haven't Seen Her Lately (1958)
* The Laughing Willow (1958)
* The Grey Nurse Said Nothing (1959) (US)
* Peter Pan (1960)
* The Grey Nurse Said Nothing (1960) (Aust)
* The Prisoner of Zenda (1961)
* Notorious (1961)
* Spellbound (1962)

Adaptations|

* Rusty Bugles (1965)
* Water Under the Bridge (1980)
* Rusty Bugles (1981)
* Careful, He Might Hear You (1983)
* Edens Lost (1989 TV mini series)

Radio|

* Crazy Family (1939)
* Tradesman's Entrance (1941)
* Jezebel's Daughter (1941)
* Grand City (1942)
* Girl of the Ballet (1942)
* The Man in the Dark (1944)
* The Army Hour (1944)
* Lily Parker (1947)
* Scarlet Rhapsody (1947)
* Wicked Is the Vine (1947)
* Ride a Cock Horse (1948)
* The Crater (1948)
* The Rose Garden (1950)
* Dusty Portrait (1953)
* The Thin Air (1954)
* We Were Children (1954)
* Friday the 13th (1955)

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