Flowering Cherry


The Flowering Cherry is a 1958 play written by Robert Bolt.
The play was performed on Broadway in 1959.

Plot

In an English household, the father dreams of giving up his job selling insurance to run an apple orchard, the mother dreams of him giving up his dreams, and the two children have problems of their own.

Adaptations

The play was adapted for British television in 1963.

1963 Australian TV adaptation

It was filmed for Australian TV in 1963, directed by Colin Dean and starring Grant Taylor, Peter Adams, Don Pascoe, Elizabeth Ferris, Margo Lee, Frank Taylor and Rosalind Seagrave.
It was the first drama to be simultaneously presented in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne via coaxial cable.

Plot

A man abandons his life as a clerk to start an orchard. His dreams of fulfilment are linked to his memories of growing up in Somerset.
His wife decides to leave him.

Cast

The production was filmed in Sydney.
At the time Grant Taylor was appearing on stage with Googie Withers in Woman in a Dressing Gown.
Elizabeth Ferris who made her acting debut was a diving champion.

Reception

The TV critic for the Sydney Morning Herald thought "Grant Taylor was well in command" of his role but that Colin Dean's production "was rather too crowded."
Val Marshall of the Sunday edition of the same paper called it "a first rate production" in which Taylor and Lee were "brilliant".
The Bulletin wrote that "Given a stronger plot, livelier dialogue, less stagey sets, more imaginative cameras, some television actors, and better make-up, it could have been a good play. Lacking them, it was still tolerable, because the viewer could feel that at least everyone was trying, and that is not a bad beginning for ABC drama production in 1963."