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Estd. 2020
Approved by the Shaw Family
Mary Ure
West End & Broadway
1954-1975
Taking a closer look at the distinguished stage career of Mary Ure which included appearing in two plays with Robert.
Time Remembered
Mary Ure as Amanda
a young prince is madly in love with a Romanian opera singer, Léocadia Gardi. The young man only knew her for three days: like Isadora Duncan, she died strangled by her shawl. Inconsolable, he lives in his memory of the young woman.
His aunt—the Duchesse d'Andinet d'Andaine—reconstructs the setting and places of those three days like a theater director. Actors play the parts of the butler and servants during those days of happiness. Amanda, a poor milliner and look-alike of the singer, is called upon to seduce the prince, in the hope that life will prevail over memory.
At first, the young man clings desperately to his dream, but eventually comes to realize through Amanda that his memory of Léocadia corresponds to his fear of life being so ephemeral. His anguish at leaving an illusory memory yields soon to the call of real life.
The rigid, theatrical world imagined by the duchess falls apart, becoming a false comedy. The prince leaves his illusions and discovers that Léocadia was only an ideal, devoid of substance. His love of Amanda helps him return to real life.
Based on the play "Léocadia" by Jean Anouilh
Translated by Patricia Moyes
Director: William Chappell
Produced by H.M. Tennent
Incidental Music by Leslie Bridgewater
Lighting Joe Davis
Settings and costumes by Peter Rice
Chief Costume Supervisor: Lily Taylor
Company Manager: Reginald Gosse
Hats by Desmond Heeley
Manager: Betty Woolfe
Master Carpenter: George Page
Miss Mary Ure’s hair dressed by Phyllis Earle
Press Representative: Vivienne Byerley
Sound: Stagesound (London) Ltd
Stage Manager: Alfred Hyslop
Stage Manager: Alice Lidderdale
Wardrobe Mistress: Mrs Wyndham
Wigs by Wig Creations
CAST
1st footman / 2nd gipsy: Paul Anstee
1st gipsy / 2nd footman: Dennis Chinnery
3rd gipsy: Catherine Coulton
A waiter: Tristram Butt
An Ice Cream Man / The Landlord: Hugh Pryse
Ferdinand, a head waiter: Geoffrey Dunn
Lord Hector: Richard Goolden
Prince Albert Troubiscoi: Paul Scofield
The Cloakroom Attendant: Aithna Gover
The Duchess of Pont-au-Bronc: Margaret Rutherford
The Taxi Driver / A ghilly: Norman Bird
Theophilus, a butler: Stringer Davis
WEST END
Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith
December 2nd 1954 - April 2nd 1955
New Theatre, London
April 9th - May 14th 1955
NATIONAL TOUR
Theatre Royal, Brighton (25th October – 6th November 1954)
King’s Theatre, Southsea (8th – 13th November 1954)
Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth (15th – 20th November 1954)
Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon (22nd – 27th November 1954
New Theatre, Oxford (16th – 21st May 1955)
Streatham Hill Theatre, London (23rd – 28th May 1955)
Golders Green Hippodrome (30th May – 4th June 1955)
Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool (13th – 18th June 1955)
Theatre Royal, Newcastle upon Tyne (20th – 25th June 1955)
Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh (27th June – 9th July 1955)
King’s Theatre, Glasgow (11th – 16th July 1955)
Grand Theatre & Opera House, Leeds (18th – 23rd July 1955)
Opera House, Manchester (25th – 30th July 1955)
Production Gallery
Mary Ure as Ophelia
Directed by Peter Brook
Produced by Tennent Productions Ltd.
Designed by Georges Wakhevitch
Music composed by Thomas Eastwood
Fights arranged by Bernard Hepton
CAST
Bernardo / Fifth Player: Gareth Jones
Claudius: Alec Clunes
Cornelius: Anthony Service
Francisco / Norwegian Captain: Michael Allinson
Gentleman: Robert Robinson
Ghost: John Phillips
Guildenstern: David De Keyser
Hamlet: Paul Scofield
Horatio: Michael David
Lady in Waiting: Beryl Andrews
Lady in Waiting: Catherine Feller
Lady in Waiting: Greta Watson
Laertes: Richard Johnson
Lucianus / Gravedigger: Harry H Corbett
Marcellus: John Turner
Osric: Timothy Findley
Polonius: Ernest Thesiger
Priest: Norman Bird
Reynaldo: Norman Scace
Rosencrantz: Gerald Flood
Sailor: Churton Fairman
Second Player: Aubrey Woods
Voltemand: Peter Whitbread
WEST END
Phoenix Theatre, London
(8th December 1955 – 24th March 1956)
NATIONAL TOUR
Theatre Royal, Brighton (started 25th October 1955)
New Theatre, Oxford (7th – 12th November 1955)
Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham (started 14th November 1955)
Moscow Art Theatre, Russia (started 23rd November 1955)
Production Gallery
Mary Ure as Abigail Williams
Directed by George Devine & Tony Richardson
Written by Arthur Miller
Produced by The English Stage Company
Designed by Stephen Doncaster
Costumes by Motley
Cast
Betty Parris - Marcia Manolesceu
Deputy Governor Danforth - George Devine
Elizabeth Proctor - Rosalie Crutchley
Ezekiel Cheever - Christopher Fettes
Francis Nurse - Stephen Dartnell
Hopkins - Alan Bates
John Proctor - Michael Gwynn
John Willard - George Selway
Judge Hathorne - Robert Stephens
Mary Warren - Joan Plowright
Mercy Lewis - Josee Richard
Mrs Ann Putnam - Rachel Kempson
Rebecca Nurse - Agnes Lauchlan
Reverend John Hale - Kenneth Haigh
Reverend Samuel Parris - John Welsh
Sarah Good - Barbara Grimes
Susanna Walcott - Helena Hughes
Thomas Putnam: Nigel Davenport
Tituba - Connie Smith
Venue: The Royal Court Theatre, London
(April 9th - May 5th 1956)
Production Gallery
Mary Ure as Alison Porter
Directed by Tony Richardson
Written by John Osborne
Produced by The English Stage Company
Designed by Alan Tagg
Music by Thomas Eastwood
Cast
Cliff Lewis: Alan Bates
Colonel Redfern: John Welsh
Helena Charles: Helena Hughes
Jimmy Porter: Kenneth Haigh
Alison Porter (replacement) Tarn Bassett
(started September 1956)
Helena Charles (replacement) Vivienne Drummond
(started September 1956)
Alison Porter (replacement) Doreen Aris
(started 5th November 1956)
Colonel Redfern (replacement) Kenneth Edwards
(started 5th November 1956)
Jimmy Porter (replacement) Richard Pasco
(started 5th November 1956)
Venues
The Royal Court Theatre, London
(May 8th - October 27th 1956)
Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, London
(November 5th - December 7th 1956)
Richmond Theatre, London
(December 9th - 14th 1956)
