The Potting Shed
Encyclopedia
The Potting Shed is a play by Graham Greene
. The psychological
drama
centers on a secret held by the Callifer family for nearly thirty years.
The patriarch
of the family is dying and James, his estranged son, appears unexpectedly. He can remember nothing about a mysterious moment that occurred in the family's potting shed when he was 14-years-old. Family members who recall the event are unwilling to describe it to him. With the help of a psychoanalyst, James tries to recall just what happened that day that left him rejected by his father, alienated from his family, and alone in the world.
The Broadway
production was directed by Carmen Capalbo
. It opened on January 29, 1957 at the Bijou Theatre
and later moved to the John Golden Theatre
to complete its run of 143 performances. Robert Flemyng
starred as James Callifer and Sybil Thorndike
, Frank Conroy
, Leueen MacGrath
, Joan Croydon, Lewis Casson
, and Carol Lynley
were cast in supporting roles.
Time
said, "The play's emotional power derives from its harassed outcries and silences, from very human bafflements and needs, from a truly serious man's intensities and jocosities alike . . . for two acts, culminating in a superbly dramatic revelation scene, The Potting Shed, by its writing and storytelling alike, more and more grips and stirs its audience."
directed the play for the American
television series Play of the Week
. Frank Conroy reprised his Broadway role. The cast also included John Baragrey
as James Callifer and Ludwig Donath
, Ann Harding
, Fritz Weaver
, and Nancy Wickwire
in supporting roles.
A 1981 television
production of the play was written by Pat Sandys and produced by Yorkshire Television
for the London Weekend Television
series Celebrity Playhouse. The cast, directed by David Cunliffe
, included Paul Scofield
as James Callifer and Anna Massey
, Maurice Denham
, Celia Johnson
, David Swift, Allan Cuthbertson
, and Cyril Luckham
in supporting roles.
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
. The psychological
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
centers on a secret held by the Callifer family for nearly thirty years.
The patriarch
Patriarch
Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy. This is a Greek word, a compound of πατριά , "lineage, descent", esp...
of the family is dying and James, his estranged son, appears unexpectedly. He can remember nothing about a mysterious moment that occurred in the family's potting shed when he was 14-years-old. Family members who recall the event are unwilling to describe it to him. With the help of a psychoanalyst, James tries to recall just what happened that day that left him rejected by his father, alienated from his family, and alone in the world.
The Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production was directed by Carmen Capalbo
Carmen Capalbo
Carmen Capalbo was a theater director on and off Broadway.Among Capalbo's notable productions were a revival of The Threepenny Opera, which was a major Off-Broadway success, and the 1957 premiere of A Moon for the Misbegotten...
. It opened on January 29, 1957 at the Bijou Theatre
Bijou Theatre
Two Broadway theatres have been named the Bijou Theatre.The first was converted into a theatre in 1878 and rebuilt in 1883. It was often called the Bijou Opera House and was located at 1239 Broadway. It was also sometimes called The Brighton Theatre. It became a popular venue for operettas in...
and later moved to the John Golden Theatre
John Golden Theatre
The John Golden Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 252 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan. Designed in a Moorish style along with the adjacent Royale Theatre by architect Herbert J. Krapp for Irwin Chanin, it opened as the Theatre Masque on February 24 1927 with the play Puppets of Passion...
to complete its run of 143 performances. Robert Flemyng
Robert Flemyng
Robert Flemyng OBE, MC was a British film and stage actor.Flemyng was born in Liverpool, the son of a doctor, and was educated at Haileybury. He began his career as a medical student before abandoning medicine to become an actor. Flemyng made his stage debut in the early 1930s, and worked steadily...
starred as James Callifer and Sybil Thorndike
Sybil Thorndike
Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike CH DBE was a British actress.-Early life:She was born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire to Arthur Thorndike and Agnes Macdonald. Her father was a Canon of Rochester Cathedral...
, Frank Conroy
Frank Conroy (actor)
Frank Parish Conroy was a British film and stage actor who appeared in many movies, notably The Little Minister, The Ox-Bow Incident, All My Sons, The Threat, The Royal Family of Broadway, The Young Philadelphians and The Day the Earth Stood Still...
, Leueen MacGrath
Leueen MacGrath
Leueen MacGrath was a British actress and playwright and the second wife of George S. Kaufman, from 1949 until their divorce in 1957....
, Joan Croydon, Lewis Casson
Lewis Casson
Sir Lewis Thomas Casson MC was a British actor and theatre director and the husband of Dame Sybil Thorndike.-Early life:...
, and Carol Lynley
Carol Lynley
Carol Lynley is an American actress and former child model.-Life and career:Lynley was born Carole Ann Jones in New York City, the daughter of Frances , a waitress, and Cyril Jones. Her father was Irish and her mother, a native of New England, was of English, Scottish, Welsh, German, and Native...
were cast in supporting roles.
Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
said, "The play's emotional power derives from its harassed outcries and silences, from very human bafflements and needs, from a truly serious man's intensities and jocosities alike . . . for two acts, culminating in a superbly dramatic revelation scene, The Potting Shed, by its writing and storytelling alike, more and more grips and stirs its audience."
Awards and nominations
- Tony Award for Best PlayTony Award for Best PlayThe Tony Award for Best Play is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theatre, including musical theatre, honoring productions on Broadway in New York. It currently takes place in mid-June each year.There was no award in the Tony's first year...
(nominee) - Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play (Sybil Thorndike, nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play (Frank Conroy, winner)
- Theatre World AwardTheatre World AwardThe Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
(Carol Lynley, winner)
Screen adaptations
In 1961, Paul BogartPaul Bogart
Paul Bogart is an American television and film director. He directed episodes of the television series "Coronet Blue" in 1967 Get Smart and All In The Family from 1976 to 1979...
directed the play for the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television series Play of the Week
Play of the Week
Play of the Week is an American anthology series of televised stage plays which aired in NTA Film Network syndication from October 12, 1959 to May 1, 1961...
. Frank Conroy reprised his Broadway role. The cast also included John Baragrey
John Baragrey
John Baragrey was an American film, television, and stage actor who appeared in virtually every dramatic television series of the 1950s and early 60s...
as James Callifer and Ludwig Donath
Ludwig Donath
Ludwig Donath , was an Austrian actor who appeared in many American films.-Life:Donath graduated from Vienna's Academy of Dramatic Art and became a prominent actor on the stage in Berlin. When Hitler came to power in 1933, he returned to Vienna and was active there in theater and film and until the...
, Ann Harding
Ann Harding
Ann Harding was an American theatre, motion picture, radio, and television actress.-Early years:Born Dorothy Walton Gatley at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, to George G. Gatley and Elizabeth "Bessie" Crabb. The daughter of a career army officer, she traveled often during her early life...
, Fritz Weaver
Fritz Weaver
Fritz William Weaver is an American actor and voice actor.-Life and career:Weaver was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Elsa W. and John Carson Weaver. His mother was of Italian descent and his father was a social worker from Pittsburgh. Weaver attended Peabody High School...
, and Nancy Wickwire
Nancy Wickwire
Nancy Wickwire was an American actress known for roles on several daytime soap operas.She appeared on Guiding Light , As the World Turns , Another World , and Days of our Lives .In addition, she made guest appearances on a...
in supporting roles.
A 1981 television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
production of the play was written by Pat Sandys and produced by Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
for the London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
series Celebrity Playhouse. The cast, directed by David Cunliffe
David Cunliffe
David Richard Cunliffe is a New Zealand politician. He is a member of the Labour Party, and the sitting member of parliament for New Lynn, West Auckland. He served as the Minister of Health and Minister for Communications and Information Technology for the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand...
, included Paul Scofield
Paul Scofield
David Paul Scofield, CH, CBE , better known as Paul Scofield, was an English actor of stage and screen...
as James Callifer and Anna Massey
Anna Massey
Anna Raymond Massey, CBE was an English actress. She won a BAFTA Award for the role of Edith Hope in the 1986 TV adaptation of Anita Brookner’s novel Hotel du Lac.-Early life:...
, Maurice Denham
Maurice Denham
Maurice Denham OBE was an English character actor who appeared in over 100 television programmes and films throughout his long career.-Life and career:...
, Celia Johnson
Celia Johnson
Dame Celia Elizabeth Johnson DBE was an English actress.She began her stage acting career in 1928, and subsequently achieved success in West End and Broadway productions. She also appeared in several films, including the romantic drama Brief Encounter , for which she received a nomination for the...
, David Swift, Allan Cuthbertson
Allan Cuthbertson
Allan Cuthbertson was a naturalised Anglo-Australian actor.-Early life:Born Allan Darling Cuthbertson in Perth, Western Australia, son of Ernest and Isobel Ferguson Cuthbertson, he performed on stage and radio from an early age.During World War II, he served as a Flight Lieutenant with the RAAF...
, and Cyril Luckham
Cyril Luckham
Cyril Luckham was a British film, television and theatre actor.Luckham played the White Guardian in the long running science fiction television series Doctor Who. He appeared in The Ribos Operation, the first serial in The Key to Time season, and Enlightenment...
in supporting roles.