''Venus Observed'' is a play in

blank verse Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th century", and Pa ...

by the English dramatist and poet

Christopher Fry Christopher Fry (18 December 1907 – 30 June 2005) was an English poet and playwright. He is best known for his verse dramas, especially '' The Lady's Not for Burning'', which made him a major force in theatre in the 1940s and 1950s. Biograp ...

. The play concerns a Duke who decides to remarry for a third time. He gets his son Edgar to pick the bride. The Duke likes Perpetua but Edgar wants her for himself.

Productions

It was first performed on 18 January 1950 at the

St James's Theatre The St James's Theatre was in King Street, St James's, London. It opened in 1835 and was demolished in 1957. The theatre was conceived by and built for a popular singer, John Braham; it lost money and after three seasons he retired. A succ ...

, London, and ran for 229 performances with the following cast: *The Duke of Altair –

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage ...

*Edgar, his son –

Denholm Elliott Denholm Mitchell Elliott, (31 May 1922 – 6 October 1992) was an English actor, with more than 125 film and television credits. His well-known roles include the abortionist in '' Alfie'' (1966), Marcus Brody in ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (19 ...

*Herbert Reedbeck, his agent –

George Relph George Relph, CBE (27 January 1888 – 24 April 1960) was an English actor. He acted in more than a dozen films, and also many plays. He served in the British Army in the First World War, and was shot in the leg, hindering his return to acting. ...

*Dominic, Reedbeck's son – Robert Beaumont *Rosabel Fleming – Valerie Taylor *Jessie Dill – Brenda de Banzie *Captain Fox Reddleman, the Duke's butler – Fred Johnson *Bates, the Duke's footman –

Thomas Heathcote Thomas Heathcote (9 September 1917 – 5 January 1986) was a British character actor, a former protégé of Laurence Olivier. He was educated at Bradfield College in Bradfield, near Reading in Berkshire, England. His films included '' A Night ...

*Hilda Taylor-Snell –

Rachel Kempson Rachel, Lady Redgrave (28 May 1910 – 24 May 2003), known primarily by her birth name Rachel Kempson, was an English actress. She married Sir Michael Redgrave, and was the matriarch of the famous acting dynasty. Career Kempson trained at RADA ...

*Perpetua, Reedbeck's daughter – Heather Stannard *Director – Laurence Olivier *Set designer –

Roger Furse Roger Kemble Furse (11 September 1903 – 19 August 1972) was an English painter who worked as a costume designer and production designer for both stage and film. Career Roger Furse was the son of Lieutenant General Sir William Furse and J ...

*Composer –

Herbert Menges Herbert Menges OBE (27 August 190220 February 1972) was an English conductor and composer, who wrote incidental music to all of Shakespeare's plays. Life and career Siegfried Frederick Herbert Menges was born in Hove on 27 August 1902. His fat ...

*Costume designer –

Margaret Furse Margaret Furse (born Alice Margaret Watts, 18 February 1911 – 8 July 1974) was an English costume designer. Personal life She was born to ''Punch'' magazine illustrator Arthur G. Watts and his wife, Phyllis Gordon Watts. She married art ...

Scenes: *The Observatory Room at Stellmere Park, the Duke's mansion *The Temple of the Ancient Virtues, Stellmere Park Olivier's production opened on 13 February 1952 at the

New Century Theatre The New Century Theatre was a Broadway theater in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, at 205–207 West 58th Street and 926–932 Seventh Avenue. Opened on October 6, 1921, as Jolson's 59th Street Theatre, the theater was desig ...

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, where it ran for 86 performances. A new cast was headed by

Rex Harrison Sir Reginald Carey "Rex" Harrison (5 March 1908 – 2 June 1990) was an English actor. Harrison began his career on the stage in 1924. He made his West End debut in 1936 appearing in the Terence Rattigan play '' French Without Tears'', in wh ...

as the Duke and his then wife

Lilli Palmer Lilli Palmer (; born Lilli Marie Peiser; 24 May 1914 – 27 January 1986) was a German actress and writer. After beginning her career in British films in the 1930s, she would later transition to major Hollywood productions, earning a Golden Glob ...

as Perpetua.

Adaptations

1957 British TV adaptation

The play was broadcast on British TV as an ''

ITV Play of the Week ''Play of the Week'' is a 90-minute British television anthology series produced by a variety of companies including Granada Television, Associated-Rediffusion, ATV and Anglia Television. Synopsis From 1955 to 1967 approximately 500 episodes ...

'' in 1957, with

John Robinson John Robinson may refer to: Academics *John Thomas Romney Robinson (1792–1882), Irish astronomer and physicist * John J. Robinson (1918–1996), historian and author of ''Born in Blood'' * John Talbot Robinson (1923–2001), paleontologist *Joh ...

as the Duke and Frances Rowe as Rosabel.

1960 Australian TV adaptation

The play was adapted for Australian TV in 1960. It was directed by Alan Burke who had directed a stage production at the Arrow Theatre in Melbourne in 1952. The cast included Walter Sullivan as Duke of Altair, Rachel Lloyd as Perpetua, David Bluford as Edgar, Jacqueline Kott as Rosabel,

Gwen Plumb Gwendoline Jean Plumb AM BEM (2 August 1912 – 5 June 2002), was an Australian performer of international appeal, actress and comedian active in literally every form of the art genre, (except circus) including revue, pantomime, vaudeville, in ...

as Jessie, Ria Sohier as Hilda, Hugh Stewart, John Dennis, John Gray and James Elliott. It was the Australian television debut of English actor Rachel Lloyd, although she had been in two episodes of ''Whiplash''. The sets were by Geoffrey Wedlock. The critic for ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' called ''Venus Observed'' a "a pleasantly competent piece of work... a production rich in setting, with exactly the right kind of faded spaciousness you would expect in such a household.... It will be good to see more productions of this calibre.

References

External links

*
''Venus Observed'' 1960 Australian TV production
at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venus Observed 1950 plays Plays by Christopher Fry