Interval (play)

---

title: "Interval (play)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1939-plays", "1930s-australian-plays", "stage-plays-by-sumner-locke-elliott", "1945-australian-radio-dramas", "1948-australian-radio-dramas", "1949-australian-radio-dramas"] description: "1939 play by Sumner Locke Elliott" topic_path: "geography/australia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interval_(play)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1939 play by Sumner Locke Elliott ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox play"]

Field	Value
name	Interval
writer	Sumner Locke Elliott
characters	Laura Mannington, actress
Terry Cotswald, playwright
Marthy, the dresser
Joyce Clements
setting	Behind the scenes at the Queen Anne Theatre, London
premiere	1 April 1939
place	Independent Theatre, Sydney
orig_lang	English
::

| name = Interval | image = | image_size = | caption = | writer = Sumner Locke Elliott | characters = Laura Mannington, actress Terry Cotswald, playwright Marthy, the dresser Joyce Clements | setting = Behind the scenes at the Queen Anne Theatre, London | premiere = 1 April 1939 | place = Independent Theatre, Sydney | orig_lang = English | subject = | genre = Interval is a 1939 play by Sumner Locke Elliott. It was popular and was performed throughout Australia at a time when this was not common for local plays.

The Sydney Morning Herald called it "interesting drama."

The play was published in book form in 1942 by Melbourne University Press It was one of four plays published with the aid of the Commonwealth Literary Fund, the others being Daybreak, Red Sky at Morning and A Touch of Silk. The Sydney Morning Herald said Interval "has some smart repartee and succeeds in showing the deterioration of an actress's character under the influence of success."

Elliott later recalled the play as "an unqualified success, even being revived the following year at North Sydney and I still remember it most fondly partly because of the companionable cast it had and because it contained a showy part for the author. At its second performance all the scenery fell down during the author’s first scene on him."{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/australiandrama10000rees/page/183/mode/1up?q=interval|page=183|title= Australian drama, 1970-1985 : a historical and critical survey |last=Rees|first=Leslie|year=1987 }}

Premise

The play is set behind the scenes of a long-running stage show in London over a two year period for a play called "Neither Shall They Mourn". Laura Mannington becomes offensive as she reaches fame.

Radio versions

The play was adapted for radio in 1945,{{Citation | title=THURSDAY | journal=ABC weekly | date=8 September 1945 | location=Sydney | publisher=ABC | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1401663971 | id=nla.obj-1401663971 | access-date=20 February 2024 | via=Trove

References

References

1. (3 April 1939). ""INTERVAL.".". National Library of Australia.
2. (14 December 1944). ""STARS OF THE AIR" SUMNER LOCKE-ELLIOTT—PLAYWRIGHT, ACTOR AND SOLDIER.". National Library of Australia.
3. Clarke, Sharon. (1995). "Sumner Locke Elliott: writing life". University of Woollongong.
4. (3 October 1942). "AUSTRALIAN PLAYS.". National Library of Australia.
5. (8 January 1940). "YOUNG ACTOR'S PLAY.". National Library of Australia.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::