Monica Sefton has worked out the perfect murder, and once she finishes her crime play she is certain to be famous. But she doesn't count on her manuscript mysteriously disappearing, or on the sudden appearance of a stray black cat. These omens mark the beginning of events Monica never imagined—a real murder case where she is the key suspect.
Characters
BILL SEFTON A journalist
MONICA his wife (also a writer)
MRS. IDAMAE LAMPREY their landlady
DR. GILBERT NORTON a neighbour
SYLVIA MEADE (hat and gloves)
ANDREW MEADE (thin, untidy man in his mid-thirties, fellow journalist to BILL)
DETECTIVE DENNIS MARSH
CONSTABLE POGSON
CHIEF INSPECTOR WILLIAM BURKE (fifties, formal)
CORPSE (non-acting)
CAT (soft toy)
Lady in Danger
1945
New York (City)
:
Samuel French
,
1946
8045462
1945
single work
drama
humour
thriller
A radically altered version of Max Afford's play, designed for American audiences. In this version, 'A Japanese-born mystery novelist is suspected of the murder of a Japanese sympathizer and his chauffeur in Australia during World War II' (Playbill Vault).
According to contemporary newspapers:
Instead of the villain of the piece being a Nazi (as those who saw the play at the Independent will remember him) he is to be a Japanese spy operating in Australia, and the final rescue of the heroine in the New York version is to be carried out by American marines. Mention of General Macarthur is made in the script.
In cables to Mr. Afford, Mr. Kirkland explained that the changes were desirable because in America it is believed that the Nazis would soon be out of the war, and that, in any case, there was a great American interest in Australia and a play about this country would be a novelty in the United States.
Source:
'Australian Play for New York', Sydney Morning Herald, 11 December 1943, p.4.
Lady in Danger
Sydney
:
Australian Broadcasting Commission
,
1959
8045303
1959
single work
film/TV
humour
thriller
A woman whose husband has been made redundant 'unwittingly plays into the hands of subversive agents when she sets out to augment the depleted family finances'.
Source:
'Madi Hedd Impresses in Lady in Danger on TV', The Age, 8 October 1959, p.14.
First produced by the Independent Theatre, Sydney, 28 February 1942 and then at the Theatre Royal, Sydney, 1944.
The collaborative version, with actor Alexander Kirkland, produced at the Broadhurst Theatre on Broadway, New York, 29, Mar.1945 - 7 Apr, 1945. Producers Pat Allen and Dan Fisher.
