"Man in a Blue Vase" is an Australian television one-off comedy presentation which aired in 1960. It was part of '' Shell Presents'', which consisted of monthly presentations of standalone television dramas and comedies. It aired on GTV-9 in Melbourne and ATN-7 in Sydney, as this was prior to the creation of the Seven Network and

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

. A set of pictures from the show appear in a 1960 edition of ''The Age'' Unlike most of the ''Shell Presents'' presentations, it wasn't aired live. Although produced in Melbourne, it aired in Sydney first.

Plot

Set in a Polish-Jewish household in Melbourne. Aaron tries to prove his individuality by taking money from his wife Shirley's blue vase. Sister in law Esther tells Shirley that marriage is a state of war and she needs to take a stand. Aaron goes drinking and asks his brother in law Herman why he lets Esther bully him. Shirley gets advice from her mother in law, Reba.

Cast

* Alan Hopgood as Aaron *Coralie Neville as Shirley *Sue Saffir as Esther *

John Bluthal John Bluthal (born Isaac Bluthal; 12 August 1929 – 15 November 2018) was a Polish-born Australian actor and comedian, noted for his six-decade career internationally in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. He started his career ...

as Herman *

Rachel Holzer Rachel Holzer ( yi, רחל האָלצער; 1899 – November 14, 1998) was an internationally acclaimed Australian Jewish theatre actress and director. Life Holzer was born in 1899 in Kraków, Poland. Her parents were Anna Holzer (born Blatt) ...

as Reba * Edward Howell as Uncle Ben * Don Crosby as a barman *Joe Hudson as Taxi Driver

Production

The script was written by Richard Benyon (1925–99), author of the play ''

The Shifting Heart ''The Shifting Heart'' is a play written in 1957 in Australia by Richard Beynon, it is an insight to the psychology of racism and its victims. In the background of 1950s Collingwood, Melbourne. Characters * Momma Bianchi * Poppa Bianchi * ...

''.

Reception

The TV critic from the ''Sydney Morning Herald'' said the play was "refreshing for its observation that there don't have to be lurid triangles or melodramatic boozing or homesacrificing career obsessions to put marriages on the rocks" but still lacks something of the warmth by which a Chayefsky allows his commonplace characters to arouse deeply compassionate interest in their everyday conflict, collaboration and compromise. Beynon's people... are carefully observed and their talk runs pretty naturally, but some want of rich detail in the writing and among... helayers prevented them from making a compelling appeal." ''The Age'' wrote that "the story wasn't 'big' enough to carry an hour of television. Otherwise the drama is quite good. The cast performed well."

Radio Adaptation

The play was adapted for radio in 1960. There was another adaptation in 1963. The cast: Nigel Lambert (Aaron), Mark Kelly (Herman), Miriam Karlin (Reba), Patricia Gallimore (Shirley), Amber Cecil (Esther), John Cazabon (Uncle Ben), Brian Harrison (Barman), and Brian Harrison (Taxi driver).

References

External links

* * * 1960 television plays 1960 Australian television episodes 1960s Australian television plays Shell Presents {{tv-episode-stub