*SEPARATE TABLES (1956) Co-Star Margaret and 16 similar items

Vintage original 8 x 10 in. US double-weight matte photograph from the 1950s Broadway theatrical production of SEPARATE TABLES, the collective name of two one-act plays by Terence Rattigan. This photograph is from the film's US production at the Music Box Theatre and depicts it's co-star, Margaret Leighton, as she smiles for the audience. It is in very fine condition as shown with some light waviness in the top and bottom borders. Separate Tables is the collective name of two one-act plays by Terence Rattigan, both taking place in the Beauregard Private Hotel, Bournemouth, on the south coast of England. The first play, titled Table by the Window, focuses on the troubled relationship between a disgraced Labour politician and his ex-wife. The second play, Table Number Seven, is set about 18 months after the events of the previous play, and deals with the touching friendship between a repressed spinster and Major Pollock, a kindly but bogus man posing as an upper-class retired army officer. The two main roles in both plays are written to be played by the same performers. The secondary characters – permanent residents, the hotel's manager, and members of the staff – appear in both plays. The plays are about people who are driven by loneliness into a state of desperation. After an out-of-town tryout in Manchester, Separate Tables had its premiere at the St James's Theatre in London on 22 September 1954, with the following cast: Mrs Shankland and Miss Railton-Bell – Margaret Leighton; Mr Martin and Major Pollock – Eric Portman; Mrs Railton-Bell – Phyllis Neilson-Terry; Miss Cooper – Beryl Measor; Mabel – Marion Fawcett; Lady Matheson – Jane Eccles; Miss Meacham – May Hallatt; Mr Fowler – Aubrey Mather; Mr Stratton – Basil Henson; Miss Tanner – Patricia Rayne/ The play was directed by Peter Glenville, with sets by Michael Weight. It opened to good reviews; Harold Hobson called the second play in the double-bill, "one of Rattigan's masterpieces, in which he shows in superlative degree his pathos, his humour and his astounding mastery over [the] English language...". The production was a commercial success, running for 726 performances. Separate Tables was presented at The Music Box in New York on October 25, 1956. It was a transfer of the London production with the same principal players and many of the supporting cast. In The New York Times, Brooks Atkinson wrote "Since Terence Rattigan has written a particularly fine play, it is only fair that it should be wonderfully well acted." The production won one Tony award (for Leighton as best dramatic actress) and was nominated for five more: for the play, the direction, and for three of the supporting cast, Neilson-Terry, Measor and William Podmore (as Fowler).