''Cockpit'' is a 1947 play by Bridget Boland. It first opened in 1948. Since then, it has been staged at various times over the years.

Background

It is about the displacement of people in a time after the second world war. The setting is in a German town under British control in May 1945. The production opened at the Playhouse in London in February 1948. The idea for the play came about as a result of Bridget Boland going to Germany in May 1945. She was there to research subjects to be used as material for plays. Her reflections were written in a pressbook for the film, ''The Lost People''. What she described about the displaced people was "a weird surrealistic, dream-like quality about their movements". Coming back home and haunted by the memories of what she saw, she felt the need to write her play about this. In a review of a 2017 production of the play, the reviewer for ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

'' wrote, "the story and the scenario have the urgency of vital documentary drama: a raw living-newspaper piece, 70 years old, that has suddenly become contemporary again".

Versions over the years

In 1952, an Australian production of the play ran from 18 June to 21 June 1952 at the Albert Hall in Brisbane. Produced by Babette Stephens, it featured Tatjana Hitrina in the lead role of Claudia. It also featured

Ray Barrett Raymond Charles Barrett (2 May 19278 September 2009) was an Australian actor. During the 1960s, he was a leading actor on British television, where he was best known for his appearances in '' The Troubleshooters'' (1965–1971). From the 1970s, ...

, Rosemary Stevenson, Gloria Birdwood-Smith and Betty Ross. According to the 15 June issue of '' Sunday Mail'', Hitrina was in a role that she didn't have to act. She had lived the life of a displaced person. Speaking on her behalf, her husband, Mr. G. F. Goutman explained that she had to flee to

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

with her parents at the age of five during the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

and suffer the horrors of war. The play received a positive review in the 19 June issue of the '' Courier Mail''. The reviewer called the play thought provoking. A production by Wils Wilson ran at the

Royal Lyceum Theatre The Royal Lyceum Theatre is a 658-seat theatre in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, named after the Theatre Royal Lyceum and English Opera House, the residence at the time of legendary Shakespearean actor Henry Irving. It was built in 1883 by a ...

in Edinburgh in October 2017. The play's multinational cast included Nebli Basani, Peter Hannah, Dylan Read, Sandra Kassman, Kaisa Hammarlund and Adam Tompa. In 2021, Philip Wilson directed a

LAMDA The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. In ...

production which starred Eduardo Ackerman as Captain Ridley and Lottie Amor as Claudia. It ran at the Sainsbury Theatre from May to June.

Adaptation

The 1949 film, '' The Lost People'' was based on the play. It starred

Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, film director, and Film producer, producer. Attenborough was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Acade ...

Mai Zetterling Mai Elisabeth Zetterling (; 24 May 1925 – 17 March 1994) was a Swedish film director, novelist and actress. Early life Zetterling was born in Västerås, Sweden to a working class family. She started her career as an actor at the age of 17 at ...

, Dennis Price and Siobhan McKenna.''The Herald'', 5th October, 2017
Cockpit, Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, October 6-28
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References

{{reflist 1948 plays Plays by Bridget Boland Plays about World War II