View source for Point of Departure (Wednesday Theatre)

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}}
{{Infobox television episode
| series       = [[Wednesday Theatre]]
| image        =
| caption      =
| season       = 2
| episode      = 25
| director     = [[Henri Safran]]
| teleplay     = play by [[Jean Anouilh]]
| photographer =
| airdate      = {{Start date|1966|06|22|df=yes}}
| length       = 75 mins<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article136928624 |title=WEDNESDAY |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=40 |issue=11,499 |date=20 June 1966 |accessdate=22 March 2017 |page=23 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
| guests       =
| prev         = Vicky and the Sultan
| next         = Captain Carvallo
}}
"'''Point of Departure'''" is a 1966 Australian television film.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article136928105 |title=leisure – the arts MUSIC A satisfying experience. |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |date=17 June 1966 |accessdate=23 June 2015 |page=13 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> It screened as part of ''[[Wednesday Theatre]]''. Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/60-australian-tv-plays-1950s-60s/|magazine=Filmink|title=60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s|date=February 18, 2019}}</ref> "Point of Departure" aired on 22 June 1966 in Sydney,<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|title=TV Guide|date=20 June 1966|page=23|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/123489506/?terms=%22liza%20goddard%22&match=1}}</ref> on 29 June 1966 in Melbourne,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ja9PAAAAIBAJ&pg=1975%2C3897968|title=Untitled|newspaper=The Age|date=23 June 1966|page=15}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Age|title=TV Guide|date=23 June 1966|page=29|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/122090927/?terms=safran}}</ref> and on 27 July 1966 in Brisbane.<ref name="times">{{cite magazine|magazine=TV Times|title=Teenagers star in French love story|date=20 July 1966|page=10}}</ref>
It was one of three plays put on by the ABC to commemorate 2,500 years of Greek theatre.<ref name="man"/>
==Plot==
A boy and a girl meet in a small provincial town at the beginning of German occupation in World War II.
==Cast==
*[[Ross Thompson (actor)|Ross Thompson]] as Orpheus
*[[Liza Goddard]] as Eurydice
*[[Tom Oliver]]
*Patricia Hill
*[[Raymond Westwell]]
*Diana Davidson
*[[James Condon]]
==Production==
Ross Thompson had previously been in ''[[The Pigeon (Australian Playhouse)|The Pigeon]]'' for ''[[Australian Playhouse]]''. He and Goddard had acted in a scene together in ''[[They're a Weird Mob (film)|They're a Weird Mob]]''. ''Point of Departure'' had a cast of fifteen.<ref name="times"/>
==Reception==
The ''Sydney Morning Herald'' write that Ross Thompson's "sensitive and convincing acting made the best of the obvious weaknesses in the plot itself."<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|title=Wartime romance|last=JP|date=20 June 1966|page=16|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/123489507/?terms=%22liza%20goddard%22&match=1}}</ref>
''Filmink'' thought " maybe this is the sort of play that works best on stage, with its slightly fantastical nature and hopping around in time and place."<ref name="man">{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-australian-tv-plays-point-of-departure-and-man-of-destiny/|title=Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Point of Departure and Man of Destiny|date=October 4, 2021|access-date=August 13, 2024}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* {{IMDb episode|1792124}}
{{Henri Safran}}
[[Category:1966 television plays]]
[[Category:1966 Australian television episodes]]
[[Category:1960s Australian television plays]]
[[Category:Black-and-white television episodes]]
[[Category:Wednesday Theatre season 2 episodes]]
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