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"Daphne Laureola" is a 1965 Australian television play based on Daphne Laureola by James Bridie. It screened as part of Wednesday Theatre.

Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time.

It was dedicated to Dame Edith Evans, who had played the part on stage.

Plot

A young Pole, Ernest, falls in love with the older, alcoholic Lady Pitts, when they meet in a London restaurant.

Cast

• Raymond Westwell as Sir Joseph Pitts
• Terry Aldred as Lady Pitts
• Edward Howell
• Mark Albiston as Ernest
• Simon Chilvers
• Sydney Conabere
• William King
• Elspeth Ballantyne
• Jeffrey Hodgson
• Georgie Alcock
• Wayne Maddern

Reception

The TV critic for the Sydney Morning Herald thought it was "the kind of play which, if anyone cares then, will be a period piece in 30 years' time... It is not a particularly good or compelling play and while it was given an excellent performance from the ABC Melbourne studios... it emerged as pretty dated... rather unconvincingly contemporary."

The play itself was described by critic Alan Riach as having "Egalitarianism.. at the heart of this vision, but idealism may be just a liability."

References

1. ^ "The Nymph and the Student". The Age. 29 April 1965. p. 13.
2. "WEDNESDAY". The Canberra Times. Vol. 39, no. 11, 145. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 3 May 1965. p. 16. Retrieved 20 March 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
3. "TODAY'S TV". The Canberra Times. Vol. 39, no. 11, 147. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 5 May 1965. p. 27. Retrieved 19 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
4. Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
5. "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 3 May 1965. p. 17.
6. "TV Guide". The Age. 29 April 1965. p. 26.
7. "Bridie Play on Channel 2". Sydney Morning Herald. 6 May 1965. p. 12.
8. Riach, Alan (27 September 2021). "Perennially provocative". The National. p. 27. Retrieved 27 September 2021.

External links

• Daphne Laureola 1965 television play at Austlit

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• 1965 television plays
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• 1960s Australian television plays
• Wednesday Theatre season 1 episodes
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