''Spring and Port Wine'' is a 1959

stage play A play is a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than mere reading. The creator of a play is known as a playwright. Plays are staged at various levels, ranging ...

by Bill Naughton. The drama is set in

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

and concerns the Crompton family, especially Rafe, the father, and his attempts to assert his authority in the household as his children grow up.

Background

The original version, ''My Flesh, My Blood'', was a BBC radio play broadcast on 17 August 1957 in the ''

Saturday Night Theatre __NOTOC__ ''Saturday Night Theatre'' was a long-running radio drama strand on the BBC Home Service and its successor, BBC Radio 4. Launched in April 1943 the strand showcased feature-length, middlebrow single plays on Saturday evenings for mor ...

'' series. By April 1958, a version for BBC Television had been broadcast and, in October 1959, a stage adaptation was presented at the Bolton Hippodrome. Retitled ''Spring and Port Wine'', the play was first produced in Birmingham prior to opening at London's

Mermaid Theatre The Mermaid Theatre was a theatre encompassing the site of Puddle Dock and Curriers' Alley at Blackfriars in the City of London, and the first built in the City since the time of Shakespeare. It was, importantly, also one of the first new th ...

in November 1965, with Alfred Marks (as Rafe), Ruth Dunning (as Daisy),

John Alderton John Alderton (born 27 November 1940) is an English retired actor. He is best known for his roles in '' Upstairs, Downstairs'', '' Thomas & Sarah'', '' Wodehouse Playhouse'', '' Little Miss'' (original television series), '' Please Sir!'', '' ...

(as Harold), Jennifer Wilson (as Florence), Jan Carey (as Hilda), Ray Mort (as Arthur),

Gretchen Franklin Gretchen Franklin (7 July 1911 – 11 July 2005) was an English actress and dancer with a career in show business spanning over 70 years. She played Ethel Skinner in the long-running BBC 1 soap opera ''EastEnders'' on a regular basis from 198 ...

(as Betsy Jane) and

Melvyn Hayes Melvyn Hayes ('' né'' Hyams; born 11 January 1935) is an English actor and voice-over performer. He is best known for playing the effeminate Gunner (later Bombardier) "Gloria" Beaumont in the 1970s BBC sitcom '' It Ain't Half Hot Mum'', for ...

(as Wilfred) in the cast. It was produced by Allan Davis and

Michael Medwin Michael Hugh Medwin (18 July 1923 – 26 February 2020) was an English actor and film producer. Life and career Medwin was born in London. He was educated at Canford School, Dorset, and the Institute Fischer, Montreux, Switzerland. He first ...

, in association with the Mermaid Theatre Trust; Davis was also the director. In January 1966, the production transferred to the

Apollo Theatre The Apollo Theatre is a listed building, Grade II listed West End theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.

in the West End, subsequently moving to the New Theatre in July 1967 and then St Martin's Theatre in June 1968. It achieved a West End run of 1,236 performances. Alfred Marks, meanwhile, had left the cast and from 1967–68 played the lead role of Rafe in an Australian tour. Davis was also the director. Medwin produced the play through a company he had formed with

Albert Finney Albert Finney (9 May 1936 – 7 February 2019) was an English actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked in the theatre before attaining fame for movie acting during the early 1960s, debuting with '' The Entertainer'' ( ...

, Memorial Enterprises. Finney was an early investor in the play and only commitments to the National Theatre meant he did not act in it.

Adaptations

The play was adapted (by N. Richard Nash, who was uncredited) to a setting in the United States under the title ''Keep It in the Family'', which ran on Broadway at the Plymouth Theatre for five performances in September 1967. The play was profiled in the

William Goldman William Goldman (August 12, 1931 – November 16, 2018) was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He first came to prominence in the 1950s as a novelist before turning to screenwriting. Among other accolades, Goldman won two Aca ...

book '' The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway''. The play was turned into a 1970 film. After the film version, Naughton's play returned to its radio roots no fewer than three times, featuring in the BBC's ''Afternoon Theatre'' strand in August 1975, July 1979 and July 1982.

References

{{reflist

External links

1958 TV Version
at

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

1960 TV version
at

1959 plays Plays by Bill Naughton Bolton