Transit of Venus (1984)
by Ken Lucas
Directed by Ken Lucas
Performances: Sat 17th & Sun 18th November 1984, Prompt Corner
Contents
Introduction
The second half of a double bill with Ritual for Dolls.
- Action of the play flows between a Deptford slum, Greenwich Park and The Royal Observatory in 1777.
Cast
- Dealer - Paul Valleau
- Landlord - Geoff Munday
- Clarissa Price - Julia Thompson
- Mistress Calthop - Frances Walker
- Will Price - Quentin Cobby
- Neville Maskelyne, Astronomer Royal - Jonathan Lewis
- Chairman - Geoff Munday
- Mathew - Paul Valleau
Crew
- Stage Manager - SM Name
- Lighting Design - Designer Name
- Lighting Operator - Operator Name
Reviews
Ken Lucas had previously presented his "Transit of Venus" in the Prompt Corner as a rehearsed reading. Now we saw it enacted in full production under the author's direction. The mannner of the play was stylish and elegant, but I found the point of the play elusive.
It is 1977, when the Astronomer Royal, Neville Makelyne, was recording celestial observations with his assistant Will Price. The plot deals with the relationship between Will and Clarissa, widow of his brother who was drowned at sea. I was puzzled that Maskelyne should have so elequently urged his assistant to marry his deceased brother's wife, surely an illegal act in those days.
But the play was delivered with great panache, with scenes of low life convincingly played by Geoff Munday and Paul Valleau and the events at the observatory tensely performed by Julia Thompson as Clarissa, Maskelyne and his assistant by Jonathan Lewis and Quentin Cobby, utterly transformed from the first play and giving full value.
Donald Madgwick, the Croydon Advertiser - reprinted in SCENE with permission.
Gallery
Reminiscences and Anecdotes
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See Also
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References
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