The Cell (play)

The Cell is an Australian play by Robert Wales. The setting is in a school for delinquent girls.^[1][2]

The Cell
Written by	Robert Wales
Date premiered	28 April 1966
Place premiered	Independent Theatre, Sydney
Original language	English

Background

The play debuted in 1966.^[3][4][5]

The play was published in 1971.

1968 Australian TV version

It was adapted for television by the ABC in 1968, directed by John Croyston, and broadcast as part of the Seek and Destroy series.^[6] That was a short lived anthology series which consisted of four BBC plays and one Australian play - The Cell was the Australian play.^[7][8]

Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time.^[9] The Cell was made when Australian TV stations were investing less in TV plays and more in serials.

Plot

Sister Catherine is in charge of a school for delinquent girls. She resents being passed over as Mother Superior of the Convent. When the new Mother Superior, Mother Denis, arrives, there is a clash of personalities between the two. This is heightened when Sister Catherine sides with a young nun, Sister Lenora, who has broken the discipline of the convent. When the Mother Superior dies, Sister Catherine, who was in charge of the convent infirmary and drugs, comes under suspicion.^[10]

Cast

• Ruth Cracknell as Sister Catherine
• June Winchester as Mother Denis
• Betty Lucas as Sister Lenora
• Don Crosby

Production

Croyston decided to film the action all in one take "to enable the cast to hold the edge of emotional distraction".^[11]

Reception

The Sydney Morning Herald called the production "a victory for the local industry".^[12]

The same reviewer later called it one of the best TV plays of the year saying "for writing and execution this play had class, high class."^[13]

1968 British version

It was also adapted for television by the BBC in England as A Swallow's Nest in 1968.^[14]