''The Erpingham Camp'' (1966) is a 52-minute television play by

Joe Orton John Kingsley Orton (1 January 1933 – 9 August 1967), known by the pen name of Joe Orton, was an English playwright, author, and diarist. His public career, from 1964 until his death in 1967, was short but highly influential. During this brie ...

, which was later performed on stage. The play was originally produced by

Associated-Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...

for inclusion in the ''Seven Deadly Sins'' series, representing pride. Directed by James Ormerod, it was broadcast on 27 June 1966. Originally made in monochrome on

videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocassett ...

, it survives as a 16mm film

telerecording Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film, directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 1940 ...

. Orton subsequently contributed scripts for ''

The Good and Faithful Servant ''The Good and Faithful Servant'' is a darkly comic television play by the English playwright Joe Orton. It was originally written in 1964 and was filmed for British television by the company Associated-Rediffusion for ITV as part of the ''Seve ...

'' and ''

Funeral Games Funeral games are athletic competitions held in honor of a recently deceased person. The celebration of funeral games was common to a number of ancient civilizations. Athletics and games such as wrestling are depicted on Sumerian statues dating ...

'' to the sequel ''Seven Deadly Virtues'' series - as faith and pride - but only ''Servant'' was actually included. ''The Erpingham Camp'' was first performed on stage in June 1967, as part of a double bill with ''

The Ruffian on the Stair ''The Ruffian On the Stair'' is a play by British playwright Joe Orton which was first broadcast on BBC Radio in 1964, in a production by John Tydeman. It is an unsympathetic yet comedic one-act portrayal of working class England, as played out ...

'' titled ''Crimes of Passion'' at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...

, in a production by Peter Gill. It has been staged on occasion ever since.

Plot

It is a farce in which a respectable group of English campers are innocently enjoying themselves at a 1960s holiday camp before catastrophe strikes and they find themselves fighting against the camp's demonic, rigid, moral and patronising manager, "Erpingham". The play is loosely based on ''

The Bacchae ''The Bacchae'' (; grc-gre, Βάκχαι, ''Bakchai''; also known as ''The Bacchantes'' ) is an ancient Greek tragedy, written by the Athenian playwright Euripides during his final years in Macedonia, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. ...

'' by

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...

Original cast

* Reginald Marsh - Erpingham *Peter Reeves - Riley *

Angela Pleasence Daphne Anne Angela Pleasence (born 30 September 1941) is an English actress. Trained in theatre, Pleasence's first major film role came in '' Hitler: The Last Ten Days'' (1973), followed by roles in horror films such as ''From Beyond the Grave'' ...

- Eileen *Faith Kent - Lou *Charles Rea - Ted *

John Forgeham John Henry George Forgeham (14 May 1941 – 10 March 2017) was an English actor known for his television work, notably the role of businessman Frank Laslett in the ITV (TV network), ITV series ''Footballers' Wives''. Born in Kidderminster, Wo ...

- Kenny *Peter Honri - W. E. Harrison *Avril Fane - Jessie Mason *Peter Evans - Padre

Royal Court cast

Bernard Gallagher Bernard Gallagher (26 September 1929 – 27 November 2016) was an English actor known for his stage work, including with the National Theatre and the Royal Court; and his many appearances in television soap operas and dramas. He was born in Bra ...

- Erpingham * Roddy Maude Roxby - Riley *

Pauline Collins Pauline Collins (born 3 September 1940) is a British actress who first came to prominence portraying Sarah Moffat in '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1971–1973) and its spin-off, ''Thomas & Sarah'' (1979). In 1992, she published her autobiography, ...

- Lou *

Johnny Wade Johnnie Wade is a retired British film and television actor. His most memorable role was playing put upon handyman 'Roger' in the ITV Yorkshire TV comedy series ''You're Only Young Twice'' between 1977 and 1981, he is one of only two members of ...

- Ted *

Yvonne Antrobus Yvonne Daphne Antrobus (born 1 November 1940) is a British novelist, abridger, radio dramatist, and actress. Writing She has made over 100 abridgments and dramatisations for BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4 and for independent audio publishers ...

- Eileen * Michael Standing - Kenny * Roger Booth - Padre *Ken Wynne - W.E. Harrison *Josie Bradley - Jessie Mason *Andre Evans - Redcoats and Campers *Rosemary McHale - " " *Peter John - " " *Malcolm Reid - " "

References

External links

Joe Orton Online
* 1966 plays Plays by Joe Orton Works based on The Bacchae Black comedy plays British television plays Plays based on works by Euripides Modern adaptations of works by Euripides {{1960s-play-stub