Lamp At Midnight is a play that was written byBarrie Stavis,[1] and first produced in 1947 at New Stages, New York.[2] The play treats the 17th CenturyGalileo affair, which was a profound conflict between the Roman Catholic Church andGalileo Galilei over the interpretation of his astronomical observations using the newly invented telescope. By coincidence,Bertolt Brecht's play on the same theme,Life of Galileo, opened in New York just a few weeks beforeLamp at Midnight. Some critics now considerGalileo to be a masterpiece,[3] but in 1947 theNew York Times reviewer,Brooks Atkinson, preferredLamp at Midnight.[2][4]
A revival ofLamp at Midnight directed by SirTyrone Guthrie and starringMorris Carnovsky toured the United States in 1969.[5]
| Lamp at Midnight | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | George Schaefer |
| Screenplay by | Robert Hartung |
| Based on | Lamp at Midnight byBarrie Stavis |
| Starring | Melvyn Douglas Kim Hunter Hurd Hatfield William Kerwin |
| Music by | Bernard Green |
Release date |
|
Running time | 76 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
A television adaptation, directed byGeorge Schaefer and starringMelvyn Douglas as Galileo, appeared in theHallmark Hall of Fame series in 1966.[6][7] A recording of the television performance was released to video in 1983.[8]
It is a deeply moving play with a passionate theme and a resolute point of view.
the real pleasure of Roxana Silbert's modern-dress RSC revival and Mark Ravenhill's slimmed-down translation lies in the absolute clarity with which they put Brecht's masterpiece before us.
In Los Angeles, Brecht worked for several years with Laughton on an English translation/adaptation,Galileo, which opened in 1947 in Los Angeles and then on Broadway with Laughton playing the title role. The American productions, directed by Joseph Losey (with a great deal of input from Brecht), received mixed reviews in Los Angeles and harsher reviews in New York, where the production met with less success than another play about Galileo,The Lamp at Midnight, by Barrie Stavis, which opened two weeks after Brecht's play.
It was an hour of interesting storytelling, but hardly stimulating theater.
Although producer-director George Schaefer was willing to defy the blacklist in casting the production, he was more careful about offending the Church.Discussion of the reception of Stavis' play in 1947 and the production of the television adaptation in 1966. BothMelvyn Douglas andKim Hunter, stars of the 1966 television production, had few opportunities for film and television work through the 1950s as a consequence of theHollywood blacklist.
