The Room (Old Vic Theatre School - Bristol Drama Department) (1957)

The Room (1957)

Date from	30 December 1957 Performed as part of the Sunday Times student drama festival. The festival took place between 29 December 1957 and 2 January 1958. Billington gives the date of performance of The Room as 30 December 1957 (Billington, p. 126).
Date to	30 December 1957
No of Performances	Unknown
Language	English

Venues

Drama Studio (The), University of Bristol

30-Dec-1957 to 30-Dec-1957

The University of Bristol hosted the 3rd Sunday Times student drama festival in the winter of 1957/58, but exact venues for the students’ performances are uncertain.

Linked Productions

The Room (Premiere: University of Bristol) (1957)

Notes: Henry Woolf’s original production was revived for the drama festival (with two of the original actors) with the participation of students of the Old Vic Theatre School.

Linked People

Duncan Ross (1918 - 1987)

Creative | Director

Michael Ackland

Creative | Set Designer

John Lavender

Creative | Set Designer

Duncan Ross (1918 - 1987)

Production | Producer

Trevor Faulkner (1938)

Technical | Lighting

Listed as 'lighting technician'

Linked Organisations

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (Training & Education | Est. 1946)

1-2 Downside Rd, Clifton, Bristol, South West BS8 2XF, England

Presenter.

University of Bristol (Training & Education | Est. 1876)

Senate House, Tyndall Ave, Bristol, South West BS8 1TH, England

Drama Department, Presenter. Host.

Characters

Rose (The Room) (Age: 60, Female)

Performer: Susan Engel (1935)

Bert Hudd (Age: 50, Male)

Performer: Neville Gaha

Mr Kidd (Age: old, Male)

Described as 'an old man'

Performer: John Rolfe

Mr Sands (Age: young, Male)

Described as part of 'a young couple'

Performer: Brian Blessed (1936)

Mrs Sands (Age: young, Female)

Described as part of 'a young couple'

Performer: Patricia Regan (1939)

Riley (Age: Not specified, Male)

Performer: George Odlum (1934 - 2003)

Linked Awards

No award have been added to this production record yet.

Resources

Theatre Archive project interview with Susan Engel (Audio)

Type: Interview

External Link: https://sounds.bl.uk/Arts-literature-and-performance/Theatre-Archive-Project/024M-C1142X000208-0100V0

A 39 minute interview from 2007 with Susan Engel that includes recollections of the two Bristol productions of The Room in 1957. A transcript is available.

Original production flyer (Image)

Type: Flyer

From Mr Trevor Faulkner's personal collection.

Sources

Harold Hobson's 'Larger than Life at the Festival', for The Sunday Times

The British Library Modern Manuscripts, The Harold Pinter Archive, Add MS 88880/8/1, ff6

Library archive

Information about 'Linked Organizations', 'Linked Persons' and 'Characters' taken from review of production.

John Coe's 'Young playwright's great triumph at drama festival', for the Bristol Evening World

The British Library Modern Manuscripts, The Harold Pinter Archive, Add MS 88880/8/1, ff8

Library archive

Information about 'Characters' taken from review of production.

Michael Billington’s biography of Harold Pinter

Michael Billington, Harold Pinter, revised edition (London: Faber and Faber, 2007)

Biography

Original production flyer

Personal collection of Mr Trevor Faulkner

Production poster/flyer