They Came

They Came to a City by J B Priestley

After a hiatus for well over a year, Rene Levenspiel was back as producer and presented this play on Friday 14 April and Saturday 15 April 1961. It was the group's entry in the 1961 Country Drama Festival as run by the Arts Council, and the Saturday night's performance was the one which was adjudicated.

Nine people arrive at dawn outside the walls of a city. They have no idea how they got there and find the gate the city barred to them. Later the gate opens and they all enter the city - but what lies in there and why was a random group of people brought there?

When Joe Dinmore finds himself outside of the walls, he is puzzled. The last thing he remembers is the engine room of a ship at sea. While he is looking around he meets Ma Batley, a friendly charwoman, and Alice Foster, a barmaid. Although he and Alice exchange sarcasms, they are attracted to one another. Then he meets Cudworth, a grasping, self-made businessman. Next person he meets is Phillipa Loxfield, the charming but suppressed daughter of the snobbish Lady Loxfield who appears with her new acquaintance Sir George Gedney. They are followed soon by Malcolm Stritton, a self-effacing bank clerk and his petulant wife Dorothy. The impact that they have on each other, and the impact that the city has upon all of them is the theme of J B Priestley's warm and human play.

An interesting feature of the play is that it is not clear whether Priestley intended the city to represent a kind of Halfway House between heaven and earth, or whether the whole play revolves around a coma experienced by Joe Dinmore.

Show Programme (pdf file, 331,528 bytes)

Photo Gallery

The below pictures are thumbnails. To see the full-sized pictures, simply click on the thumbnail images.

	Bonnie Bryant, Doris Izzard, George Glading, Elsie Brown, Ted Bryant, Fred Chapman, Ellaine Mumberson, Arthur Gleed and Marjorie Gleed
	Bonnie Bryant, Ted Bryant, Arthur Gleed, Ellaine Mumberson, Fred Chapman, Marjorie Gleed, Doris Izzard, Rene Levenspiel (producer, sitting), Elsie Brown and George Glading. Possibly the eleventh figure is Irene Morris (prompt).
	George Glading and Ellaine Mumberson
	Marjorie Gleed and Elsie Brown
	Fred Chapman and Doris Izzard
	Bonnie Bryant and Arthur Gleed
	Arthur Gleed, Ellaine Mumberson and Doris Izzard
	Ted Bryant and Arthur Gleed
	George Glading, Bonnie Bryant and Doris Izzard
	Bonnie Bryant, George Glading and Doris Izzard
	Doris Izzard, Fred Chapman, Bonnie Bryant, Ted Bryant, Arthur Gleed, Marjorie Gleed, Ellaine Mumberson, Elsie Brown and George Glading
	George Glading, Arthur Gleed, Marjorie Gleed, Ted Bryant and Doris Izzard
	Bonnie Bryant, George Glading and Doris Izzard
	Fred Chapman and Doris Izzard
	George Glading and Fred Chapman
	Wyong Advocate, Wednesday 12 April 1961 (Note that these articles can be expanded in the browser window they open in by clicking on the picture and scrolling around)
	Wyong Advocate, Wednesday, 19 April 1961 (Note that these articles can be expanded in the browser window they open in by clicking on the picture and scrolling around)
	Tuggerah Lakes News, Wednesday, 19 April 1961