A one act, two-hander play dealing with the mysteries of mundane life, Ladder Game is played out on a set comprising three ladders. The unnamed man and woman philosophise about such things as men and woman, umbrellas and ladders, while clambering about the set.
Kester Berwick records that the original stage production (as yet unconfirmed) involved two step ladders, with another, longer, ladder laid across them (thus making an archway). The man sat on top of this, lit by a bright gold-coloured spotlight. Not much else was visible. When the woman joined him on the ladders, with a red umbrella, she was pin-pointed by a red spotlight.
Characters
THE MAN
THE WOMAN
[Author's note.]
About this Play:
Ladder Game was first performed at the Ab-intra Studio, Adelaide, South Australia, about 1934. The setting was merely two step-ladders, with another short, ordinary ladder across them, thus making an archway. The Man sat on top of this, lit by a bright, gold-colored spot-light. Not much else was visible, for the background was entirely of black-hessian curtains. When the Woman joined him on the ladders, and put up her red umbrella, it was pin-pointed by a red spot-light. This gave it a hotly, luminous appearance. The red spot followed them in their "flight" down from the ladders.
Later, on July 31, 1940, the play was broadcasted by the A.B.C. Station 5 C.L., Adelaide. The title had been changed to "Philosophies." In place of a stage-setting, there had to be sound effects, so these were then written into the script. Also a short introduction with music was given by an Announcer. In this instance, the Announcer was myself. Iris Thomas and I then played the two characters. We had also played the two characters in the original Ab-intra performances.
K.B. [Kester Berwick]
Corfu.
14 April 1981
Philosophies
Adelaide
:
ABC Radio
,
1940
10094761
1940
single work
radio play
In his introduction to the manuscript version held in the Fryer Library, Kester Berwick implies that the play was staged by Ab-Intra Studio Theatre. The Fryer Library gives a first known date of ca. 1934. However, no details of such a production have yet been located using Trove. Further to this, Thelma Afford does not mention the play in Dreamers and Visionaries or record it in the list of Ab-Intra productions (pp.193-195).
If the first known date claimed indicated by the Fryer Library is correct, and it was indeed staged around that time, the authorship should more correctly be credited to Kester Baruch and not Kester Berwick. This is because the author did not begin using his second writing name until 1939.
The Fryer Library identifies this play as In My Father's House Are Many Ladders : Ladder Game. The reason for this that the manuscript held within the Hanger Collection of Australian Playscripts has the phrase handwritten in pencil immediately above the typed title Ladder Game.
The Library's original decision to index this title appears to either follow the rigid rules of indexing (which stipulate that the title page is sacrosanct) and/or was made on the basis of two unsupported assumptions 1) that the handwritten addition is Kester Berwick's and 2) and that it automatically supplants the typed text.
There is no evidence supporting either of the above assumptions, however. Indeed no weight has been given to the fact that each page in the manuscript carries the title Ladder Game, and that the author's introduction also refers to the work by that same title on several occasions. Given that Berwick could have easily re-typed the cover page if he had decided on a new title, and that Ladder Game is not crossed out, it is feasible that the handwritten addition may be a preliminary quotation. The author also implies that the play was originally staged as Ladder Game.
