The Time of Your Life (1983)

Intro

A Royal Shakespeare Company production of a play by William Saroyan, performed at The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon (opened 30 March 1983).

Performance length: 2 hours and 30 minutes (including interval)

Photos

With thanks to Nadine for some of these photos and the theatre programme cover.

Overview

The Time of Your Life is a portrait of American working-class life, with the action taking place over the course of an afternoon and night during October 1939.

The play's focus is a San Francisco dive, the grandly named Nick's Pacfic Street Saloon Restaurant and Entertainment Palace, where the locals seek refuge from the troubled outside world. Among the regulars is Kitty Duval, nostalgic for her homeland.

Cast

John Thaw ... Nick

Stanley Page ... Arab

Daniel Massey ... Joe

Paul Spence ... The Newsboy

Martin Milman ... The Drunkard

James Fleet ... Willie

Paul Greenwood ... Tom

Zoe Wanamaker ... Kitty Duval

Miles Anderson ... Dudley

Henry Goodman ... Harry

Tony Scott ... Wesley

Frankie Cosgrave ... Lorene

Martin Milman ... Blick

Jane Booker ... Mary L

Bruce Alexander ... McCarthy

Geoffrey Beavers ... Krupp

John Cater ... Kit Carson

Paul Spence ... Sailor

Sarah Berger ... Elsie

Frankie Cosgrave ... Killer

Caroline Harris ... Society Lady

Christopher Neame ... Society Gentleman

Bruce Alexander and Geoffrey Beavers ... Policemen

Crew

At The Pit
Director: Howard Davies
Designer: Bob Crowley, assisted by Rod Langsford
Costume Designer: Allan Watkins
Lighting Designer: Leo Leibovici
Assistant Director: Paul Marcus
Piano arrangements: Keith Nicholas
Choreography: Ann Emery
Sound: John A. Leonard
Dialect Coach: Joan Washington
Company Voice Work: Cicely Berry and David Carey
Stage Manager: David M Harvey
Deputy Stage Manager: Helen Lovat-Fraser
Assistant Stage Manager: Alison Owen
Costume Supervisor: Carrie Bayliss
Costume Assistant: Glenda Sharp
Production Photographer: Alastair Muir
Programme Notes: Ellen Goodman

Notes

Zoë arrived in Stratford for the first preview of The Time of Your Life the very next day after her previous stage production, The Importance of Being Earnest, had ended. This is proof, if it were needed, of how busy and in-demand she is as an actress.

In 1984, Zoë earned an Olivier Award nomination for Actress of the Year in a Supporting Role for her performance in The Time of Your Life.

The Time of Your Life is one of the many productions in which Zoë has appeared with the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company, which she joined in 1976. Her other RSC productions during the 1980s include Twelfth Night (1983), The Comedy of Errors (1983), Mother Courage and Her Children (1984), and Othello (1989).

Press coverage

'The ever delightful Zoë Wanamaker is superb as Kitty Duval, plangently dreaming of home in Poland in the débris of a collapsed family business and the shame of being a hooker,' praised Michael Coveney, after The Time of Your Life had transferred to The Pit.

Reviewing this 'beautiful production', the Guardian's Michael Billington was reminded of The Hostage, 'which has the same qualities of plotless bonhomie'. Zoe appeared in a production of The Hostage in 1971.

Merchandise

The Time of Your Life by William Saroyan