CAMPBELL PLAYHOUSE: BROOME STAGES (RADIO)
Summary
One in this weekly drama series featuring adaptations of
popular and literary classics. Host Orson Welles
introduces the play with a brief discussion of the
history of the dramatic Broome family. The program
opens as the renowned English actor Harry Broome plays
the role of MacBeth; a number of people listening
outside the doors of the theater gossip as HarryÕs
daughter Donna leaves in the middle of his performance.
Later, Harry and his mother discuss DonnaÕs character
and the likelihood that she and her twin brother will
join in the hundred-year-old Broome theater tradition.
Harry is determined that at least one of his children
will act in the familyÕs Gloriana Theater, but his
mother maintains that Donna dislikes theater, preferring
a country life. Harry decides to put Donna to the test,
and he coaches her through a reading of "The Merchant of
Venice." They come to a standstill, however, because
Harry wants Donna to act in a traditional Shakespearean
style while she insists on reading the play in her own
way. Later, tragedy forces Donna to take a place in the
family theater, but her reluctant participation
displeases the company, the critics, and the audience.
Her only reason for staying in the London theater is
that it allows her to work with her beloved cousin
Steven. Unfortunately, Donna soon finds out that her
affair with Steven will never amount to anything as he
is unwilling to leave his wife. Ten years later, Donna
finds herself returning to London from the United States
after her fatherÕs death. She and Steven are both heirs
to the Gloriana but hold very different opinions about
how it should be run. Unable to come to an agreement,
they begin a series of lawsuits and start their own
separate theater companies. After a few years, DonnaÕs
son Edmond tries to end the long-running feud between
his mother and Steven because the competition between
the two branches of the family is hurting all of them.
Edmond is finally able to persuade his elders to sit
down with a lawyer to make arrangements for the
Gloriana and the Broome clan, and he is overjoyed when
Donna delivers a stunning piece of news that puts a new
perspective on the family reunion. Once the Broomes are
reestablished in the Gloriana and the public eye, Donna
feels that she has finally done her duty to the family
heritage. The program concludes as Welles comments on
leading actress Helen HayesÕs career and previews the
following weekÕs episode. Includes commercials.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by Ralph
Guild, 1999.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: February 4, 1940 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:00:00
- COLOR/B&W: N/A
- CATALOG ID: R87:0553
- GENRE: Radio - Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Actors and actresses - Drama; Drama; Theater - Drama
- SERIES RUN: CBS - Radio series, 1938-1940
- COMMERCIALS:
- Radio - Commercials - Campbell's soup
CREDITS
- Orson Welles … Producer, Host
- Clemence Dane … Writer
- Ernest Chappell … Announcer
- Orson Welles … Cast, Harry and Edmond Broome
- Helen Hayes … Cast, Donna Broome