The First 400 Years
1964 Australian TV series or program
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The First 400 Years is a 1964 Australian television play. It was filmed in Adelaide. The stars were performing in the play around Australia for J. C. Williamson's.[3][4]
Googie Withers
| The First 400 Years | |
|---|---|
Ad in The Age 3 Oct 1964 | |
| Written by | William Sterling |
| Directed by | William Sterling |
| Starring | Keith Michell Googie Withers |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Running time | Part 1 - 35 mins Part 2 - 35 mins |
| Production company | ABC |
| Original release | |
| Release | 8 July 1964 (Part 1 - Melbourne)[1] |
| Release | 7 July 1964 (Part 2 - Sydney),[2] |
| Release | 7 October 1964 (Part 2 - Melbourne) |
It screened in two parts.[5]
Premise
A collection of scenes from the plays of William Shakespeare.
Part One was more comic consisting of:[6]
- the wooing scene from Taming of the Shrew
- Katherin's plea to the Royal Court in Henry VIII
- the scene with Lance and his dog from Two Gentlemen of Verona
- the church scene between Beatrice and Benedict in Much Ado About Nothing.
Part two was more serious consisting of:
- two scenes from The Merchant of Venice
- the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet
- the closing scene from Hamlet.
Cast
- Googie Withers
- Keith Michell
- Jeannette Serke
- Joan MacArthur
- Raymond Westwell
- Bruce Barry
- Alston Harvey
- Malcolm Phillips
- John Derum
Original play
The show was based on a play directed by Raymond Westwell for J.C. Williamsons. It premiered in Melbourne on 23 April 1964, the 400th anniversal of Shakespeare's birth.[7]
"What a profligate waste of costumes," wrote Column 8 in Sydney Morning Herald.[8]
Production
It was rehearsed and filmed in one day and the ABC's studios in Adelaide. Sterling said "Fortunately the stage production was almost ideal for TV. I tried to place the cameras in such a way that there was very little adjustment of movement and although the studio was smaller than the stage acting area, the production transposed well."[9]
