Not currently on display at the V&A

Macbeth, Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool

Hanging Card
1947 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This production of Macbeth starring Michael Redgrave (1908-1985) at the Royal Court Theatre Liverpool was part of a regional tour before the production company brought the play into the Aldwych Theatre, London, in December. Liverpool was well-served for London productions that year, and the following week's play, advertised on the poster for Macbeth but not the hanging card, was a post-London tour of Cocteau's intellectual Ruritanian melodrama The Eagle Has Two Heads from the Theatre Royal Haymarket starring Eileen Herlie (1918-2008): she made her career overnight as the Queen when the play was first produced at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith in 1946, performing the sensational 21 minute speech by candlelight which was thought at the time to be the longest speech in the history of the stage.

This hanging card, and a poster and programme for Macbeth, were kept by the actor Richard Bebb (1927-2006) as a souvenir of his professional debut as one of the Watchmen at Dunsinane. He is credited here with his original name Richard Bebb Williams, which he later changed, using his mother's name Bebb as his surname since there was another actor at the time called Richard Williams.



Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleMacbeth, Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Printing ink on card
Brief description
Hanging card advertising Macbeth by William Shakespeare at the Royal Court Theatre Liverpool for the week commencing 10 November 1947. Typographic hanging card printed in red and black on cream card, with red string for suspension. Printed by John Waddington Ltd., Leeds and London
Physical description
Typographic hanging card printed in red and black advertising Michael Redgrave and Ena Burrill in Macbeth by William Shakespeare directed by Norris Houghton, at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool, week commencing 10 November 1947.
Dimensions
  • Height: 63.5cm
  • Width: 33.3cm
Marks and inscriptions
Credit line
Given by Richard Bebb
Object history
The hanging card gives the cast of Macbeth as Michael Redgrave, Michael Goodliffe, Douglas Wilmer, William March, Roger Braban, Hector MacGregor, Leslie Sands, Alan Hood, Donald Bain, Richard Bebb Williams, Elizabeth Kentish, Margot van der Burgh, Keith Lloyd, Paddy Green, Janet Joye, Gillian Webb, Michael O'Halloran, Olivier Ford, Clement McCallin, Clement Ashby, Wilfred Carter, Paul Hardwick, Leonard White, Paul Hansard, Stephen Darlot, Peter Bartlett, Lesley Merritt, John Blatchley and Eda Burrill. The play was directed by Norris Houghton with 'decor' by Paul Sherriff and incidental music by Alan Bush, and was produced by Tennent Productions Ltd., in association with The Arts Council of Great Britain.
Literary referenceMacbeth
Summary
This production of Macbeth starring Michael Redgrave (1908-1985) at the Royal Court Theatre Liverpool was part of a regional tour before the production company brought the play into the Aldwych Theatre, London, in December. Liverpool was well-served for London productions that year, and the following week's play, advertised on the poster for Macbeth but not the hanging card, was a post-London tour of Cocteau's intellectual Ruritanian melodrama The Eagle Has Two Heads from the Theatre Royal Haymarket starring Eileen Herlie (1918-2008): she made her career overnight as the Queen when the play was first produced at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith in 1946, performing the sensational 21 minute speech by candlelight which was thought at the time to be the longest speech in the history of the stage.

This hanging card, and a poster and programme for Macbeth, were kept by the actor Richard Bebb (1927-2006) as a souvenir of his professional debut as one of the Watchmen at Dunsinane. He is credited here with his original name Richard Bebb Williams, which he later changed, using his mother's name Bebb as his surname since there was another actor at the time called Richard Williams.

Associated object
Collection
Accession number
S.611-2014

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Record createdMarch 13, 2014
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