Season 31 Play 3 – Don’t Listen Ladies by Stephen Powys & Guy Bolton
Directed by
Cast
Henriette – Elizabeth Poynter
Madeleine, Daniel’s second wife – Jackie Firth
Baron De Charancay – Robert Green
Blandinet – David Scottow
Julie Bille-en-Bois (an ex actress) – Renee Spence
Valentine, Daniel’s first wife – Nadine Walker
Porter – Allan Greenwood
Michel Aubrion – Brian Dawkes
Synopsis
..
Directors Notes
A Director is not often given a second chance at the same play- and there are few plays this Director would want a second chance at-but ‘Don’t Listen Ladies’ (second time around) has taught me a great deal. The play was first produced in 1948 with a dating of “the present we did the play in 1964 and we also gave it a dating of “the present”. After much careful research and analysis of the script-the construction of the dialogue, the many allusions to personalities which refer to a much earlier period, and a study of Sacha Guitry’s mid-period work, I am convinced that we are much nearer his intentions by placing the play in the Edwardian era. I am supported in this opinion by the sketch on the cover of the script, which certainly is NOT of 1948 or 1964 or 1978 vintage.
None of this matters a hoot, of course. The play is intended to amuse and divert, and nothing else, and it certainly amuses me. One last thought–if you saw the play in 1964, don’t worry–the interpretation you are watching this week is quite different. As a new comedian says every other night on T.V. “You’ll like this”. We hope you will. As Julie says of love in the play “Love is like religion or a restaurant hash- -you take them on faith or you leave them alone”. For the word ‘love’, substitute ‘play and you have the secret.
