George Coulouris at the Cambridge Festival Theatre

Before going to Cambridge, George was one of the original founders of Playroom Six (6 New Compton Street, London, the predecessor of The Players’ Theatre Club which survived in various forms until 2002). He also worked for J.B Fagan, the film director/actor Guy Newall, the London Old Vic (1926-7) and the Manchester Rep.

10 Oct 1928 Heartbreak House (by Shaw, produced Cyril Wood) played Mangan

20 Oct The Man who ate the Popomack (by W.J. Turner, produced Terence Gray) played Sir Solomon Raub 

27 Oct The Show (by John Galsworthy, produced C. Harold Ridge, co-founder of Festival Theatre and expert on stage lighting) played “news editor” and “a constable” (police-man). (Note: his wife-to-be, Louise Franklin, was one of three “ladies”. Louise was in Cambridge as a part of a European trip with her friend from Philidelphia Dorothy Lockhart. Louise also worked at the Festival there as a scene-painter. Dorothy Lockhart was employed to promote productions – she also had small parts in plays and is said to have enthused Gray by telling of the productions in USA by Norman Bel Geddes)

3 Nov The Subway (by Elmer Rice, produced Peter Godfrey of the London Gate Theatre) played Maxwell Hurst

10 Nov As You Like It (Shakespeare, produced by Gray) played Amiens (according to programme, not Jacques)

17 Nov Man who ate the Popomack (repeat of above with Coulouris in same part)

24 Nov The Hairy Ape (by O’Neill, produced Godfrey) played Robert Smith or “Yank” (Note: Louise Franklin was one of three “ladies”)

1 Dec Marriage a la Mode (by Dryden, produced by C.B.Purdom, choreography by Ninette de Valois) played Polydamas

12 Jan 1929 St Joan (by Shaw, produced by Godfrey) played two parts, Captain la hire and “executioner”

26 Jan Pleasure Garden (by Beatrice Mayor, produced Ridge) played “an actor”

2 Feb Prometheus (by Aeschylus, produced by Gray, with original music by Philip Cathie and choreography by de Valois) played two parts, Violence and Okeanos (performance also included a programme of ballet and Rout with a prologue by Ernst Toller)

9 Feb The Witch (by Wiers-Jenssen, produced by Frank Birch) played Absolon Pedersson Beyer

16 Feb Romeo and Juliet (by Shakespeare, produced by Gray)  again two parts, Bathasar and Mercutio

23 Feb Hoppla (by Toller, produced by W.L. Gibson-Cowan) played Wilhelm Kilman

2 March The Carpenter of Rouen (a Victorian melodrama, produced by Roland Crossley) again two parts, De Saubigne the Duke of Rouen and Maroine

(programme of 19 April announced that Coulouris “has left”, without further comment)

Coulouris did return to act in a sensationally-staged production of Oscar Wilde’s Salome on 9 June 1929 (and repeated in November 1931 as a public performance), a private performance produced by Terence Gray, with the dancer/actor Vivienne Bennett as Salome and George Coulouris as Herod (see Only by Failure by Paul Cornwell (Salt, 2004, p172-174)).

We are very grateful to Paul Cornwell for his contribution of the above list, August 2011