SHAKESPEARE

Synopsis

Radio comedy series following life at a small Midwestern United States college, focusing on Ivy College’s president, William Todhunter Hall (Ronald Colman) and his wife, Victoria Cromwell (Benita Hume Colman). In this episode an argument arises over a student production of Romeo and Juliet to be set in an American slum (the programme preceded West Side Story by six years).

Series

Halls of Ivy, The

Language

English

Country

United States

Medium

Radio

Transmission details

18 Apr 1951 (Channel: NBC)

Duration

23 mins

Credits

Director

Nat Wolff

Producer

Nat Wolff

Writer

Don Quinn

Cast

Benita Hume Colman	Victoria Cromwell
Herb Butterfield	Mr Wellmann
Ronald Colman	William Todhunter Hall

Additional Details

Production type

Television and Radio Drama

Plays

Romeo and Juliet

Subjects

Drama

Keywords

Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); School productions

Notes

Notes

Available from Original Old Radio in the CD compilation The HALLS OF IVY. Volume 1.

Reviews

Lanier, Douglas ‘WSHX: Shakespeare and American Radio’ in Burt, Richard (ed) Shakespeare After Mass Media. (New York: Palgrave, 2002), pp207-8. Lanier writes ‘For all its critique of Shakespeare traditionalism, the episode seems to leave open the question of whether Shakespeare can be successfully translated into another more modern idiom’.

Production Company

Name

ITC Entertainment and Television Programs of America.

Sponsor

Name

Schlitz Beer

Online Retailer

Name

originaloldradio.com

Web

http://www.originaloldradio.com External site opens in new window

Address

PO Box 522
Berea
KY 40403-0522
USA