Saturday Sunday Monday (1982 Queensland Theatre Co)

Saturday, Sunday, Monday
The Queensland Theatre Company

SATURDAY, SUNDAY, MONDAY by Eduardo De Filippo with English adaptation by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall, from July 13 to 31, 1982 at the SGIO Theatre in Brisbane for the Queensland Theatre Company.

Directed by John Krummel; Designed by James Ridewood; Lighting Design by Jamie Henson; Stage Managed by Ellen Kennedy; Assistant Stage Managed by Toby Simkin and Cooking Coordination by Lloyd Nickson.

STARRING Reg Gillam (Antonio, the grandfather); Philippa Baker (Rosa, the mother); Ron Haddrick (Peppino, the father); Christine O’Connor (Maria, the daughter-in-law); Duncan Wass (Roberto, the oldest son); Scott McGregor (Rocco, the youngest son); Zoe Bertram (Giulianella, the daughter); Marcella Burgoyne (Aunt Meme, Peppino’s sister); Eugene Gilfedder (Attilio, Aunt Meme’s son); Peter Noble (Raffaele, Peppino’s younger brother); Dale Murison (Virginia the maid); Geoff Cartwright (Federico, Giulianella’s fiancé); David Clendinning (Luigi Ianniello, the accountant); Betty Ross (Elena, Luigi’s wife); Reginald Cameron (Catiello, the tailor) and Toby Simkin (Michele, Virginia’s brother).

Understudies included Karen Crone (female roles).

And for the Queensland Theatre Company:
(collectively over my tenure)

Executive Staff: Alan Edwards, AM MBE (Founding Artistic Director); Joe MacColum / John Krummel OAM / Gregory Gesch (Resident Director); Peter Duncan* (Assistant Director); Arthur Frame AM (Production Manager); Gillian Coar (Executive Officer); Christine Walsh / Ken Kennett OAM (Public Relations & Publicity Officer); June Craw OAM (Finance and Business Officer); Lewis Savage (Ticketing & Subscriptions Officer); Helen Mayes (Clerical Assistant); Lloyd Nickson (Director, Theatre in Education); Richard Magnus (Fundraising Chairman); Diane Leith (Administration) and Susan Bonning / Jennie Lewis (Receptionist).

Production Staff: Graham Maclean / James Ridewood (Resident Designer); Bill Shannon / Beverley Hill (Design Assistant); Caroline Gyucha (Scenic Artist); James Henson (Lighting Designer); David Lees (Electrician); Michael Wormald / Gary Cameron / Paul Parkinson / David Palm (Properties); Howard Steele (Head Carpenter); Des Dougan / Peter Vosiliunas (Carpenter); Cornelis Boogaart* (Apprentice Carpenter); Marie Perry-Watson / Lexi Wright / Jay Mansfield-Askew / Cynthia Bowen (Wardrobe Supervisor); Ken Bushby / Thelma Cope / Meredith Fogg / Margaret Reeves / Danny Healy / Arlie McGill / Anne Long / Kerry Yates (Wardrobe); Ellen Kennedy / David McCrudden / Kit Oldfield / Patrick Whelan / Kristin Reuter / Jan Levi / Victor Ashelford / Colin Wilson / Barry Melville / Toby Simkin / Brian Barnes / Vito Arena / Peter Reeve^± / Sussanne Humphries / Julianne White (Stage Management); Vicki Birch / Yvette (Capt) O’Brien (Production Secretary); Dawn Grieg (Wardrobe Hire) and Ivan/Gloria Pierce, Gregory Gesch & Derrick George (Photographers).

Representation: Yolande Bird / Diana Franklin (London Representative); Michael Menzies / Stuart Thompson (New York Representative) and John Krummel OAM (Sydney Casting & Repertoire Consultant).

S.G.I.O. Theatre Staff: Jim Wright (Manager); Alban Riley / Don Fergusson (Assistant Manager); Peter Petrovich / Ray Calcutt (Head Mechanist); Patrick (Paddy) Teuma / David Malacari (Head Electrician) and Dallas Black / Kay Fifas (Booking Office)

Albert Park Theatre Staff: Wayne McKenna (House Manager); Margo Morris (Box Office)

Associate Artists: Bille Brown AM; Carol Burns; Reginald Cameron OAM, Ivar Kants; Joe MacColum; Warren Mitchell; James Ridewood, Cliff Simcox; Babette Stephens AM MBE and Geraldine Turner OAM.

QTC Guild: Magda Wollner (Coordinator); Alice Beacroft, Joan Chamberlain, Bobbie Glyn Evans, Maureen Fallon, Sonja Farmer, Beryl Foote, Neil Fulwood, Dolores Garland, Elaine Heath, Edna Heathwood, Margaret Hill, Ena Huppert, June Jamieson, Eva Klug, Irene Lefman, Patrick Mellick, Hillary Mosten, Maureen Mortensen, Barbara Nielsen, Joyce Nixon Smith, Gloria Phillips, Vivienne Reddy, Marea Reed, Melina Reed, Margaret Robinson, Grace Reynolds, June Sheedy, Ann Shevill, Toby Simkin, Sybil Simpson, Elaine Skinner, Anne Smith and Jess Yeowart (Volunteers)

* Salaries were assisted by a special grant from the Theatre Board of the Australia Council, a statutory body of the Commonwealth Government.
^± Services were provided by the National Institute of Dramatic Art.
^ Services were provided courtesy of the Queensland Theatre Orchestra

The Queensland Theatre Company acknowledged the financial assistance of the Queensland State Government and the Commonwealth Government through the Theatre Board of the Australia Council without which the continued operation of the Company would not have been possible. The Queensland Theatre Company was a founding member of CAPPA (Confederation of Australia Professional Performing Arts)

Saturday, Sunday, Monday

SATURDAY, SUNDAY, MONDAY is a commedia dell’arte about a feuding well-off family set in the Priore Family apartment in Naples in 1959.

ACT ONE — in the kitchen… Saturday, we meet the extended family of demanding matriarch Mama Rosa and her blustering husband Peppino in Rosa’s grand Neapolitan kitchen and are introduced to the basic dramatic conflicts while the traditional Sunday meal is being prepared. Peppino suspects his wife Rosa of infidelity and she is brooding because he spurned her cooking and praised a meal prepared by his daughter in law. The characters include a crusty grandfather, a formidable widowed aunt on the make for the family doctor, her mama’s boy son and a “liberated” daughter in law.

ACT TWO — in the dining room… During the traditional Sunday dinner Peppino’s and Rosa’s tempers flare amidst a gathering of family and friends. Add a lover’s quarrel, humorous insights on momism and bourgeois Italian life and the meal is unforgettable.

ACT THREE — in the dining room… Of course, all is forgiven by Monday.

Saturday Sunday Monday 1974 Broadway Playbill

This Italian family drama was originally written in 1959 and produced that same year in Rome as Sabato, domenica e lunedi.The first English production of this highly praised version went to the National Theatre in London in 1973 with Laurence Olivier heading the cast. It won the London Drama Critic’s prize and was hailed by the Daily Telegraph as a hilarious comedy “seething with life, rich and nutty as a fruitcake.” The play received its North American premiere in 1974, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, at the Martin Beck Theatre on Broadway.

The bare facts of an actor’s art… This was the show the Director, John Krummel convinced me to shave my head for the role. Hair today, gone tomorrow.

In this Queensland Theatre Company production, our cooking coordinator, Lloyd Nickson was filling the interior of the SGIO Theatre daily with boiling ragu smells, about 2 hours before each performance, he was putting a pot of garlic infused ragu in the air-conditioning duct, to vent the smells throughout the theatre. I collected a selection of freshly baked bread for the cast from a French bakery daily. A well-fed company during this run!