In the March of 1952, Mr. McGoohan had secured a part in a play called 'Cupid and Psyche'. This play was intended to make a regional tour prior to entering the West End. The leading players were Alexander Knox and Peggy Cummins. The play never made it to London.

In 1965 Mr. McGoohan ruefully recalled the period: "The time had come for me to earn more than rep. could pay, and that meant London. Joan went to stay with her parents in Hampstead. I auditioned successfully for a part in my first West End production, scheduled for a month's tour and a London opening. The 'Closing Notices' went up on the second week out and left me unemployed. Eventually I got another part, at the Arts Theatre, which paid £10 per week, but nothing during rehearsals, so I went along to see what suggestions the Labour Exchange could offer. Next night, after rehearsals, I was standing at a factory conveyor belt wrapping choc-ices by the thousand - and the next night. The third night I quit. An ad. for a temporary waiter in a Fleet Street all-night cafe, 7pm to 6a.m., £13 a week, looked more promising. Though hard on the feet it was easier on the eyes and I had enough black coffee to keep me awake for rehearsals."

The collapse of the Cupid & Psyche play is somewhat surprising. The play was written by Benn Wolfe Levy, husband of Constance Cummings, and a very popular playwright of the day. Mr. Levy was also personally producing and touring with the play so his commitment is undoubted. The play started its regional tour on March 31, 1952, in Edinburgh, either at the Lyceum or the Kings Theatre in the Scots capital. I have not yet traced the full course of the production but it was evidently using the Howard & Wyndham circuit of theatres. After Edinburgh it most likely took a week at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle before arriving in Liverpool for its week commencing, April 21. There were to be performances at 7.30pm each evening with two matinees at 2.30pm, one on Wednesday and one on Saturday. Mentions of the production in Theatre World magazine mention "Benn W. Levy's new comedy 'Cupid & Psyche'" The article later refers to, "Mr. Levy's last play, 'Return to Tyassi' was in a serious vein but this new play is a gay, witty and irresponsible modern comedy. The author directs in three different settings by Reece Pemberton. The play is presented by Alfred de Liagre Jr., an American impressario who has presented many successful New York plays.

Regardless of the closure of the play, the Liverpool Royal Court location may be taken as indicative of the potential career stride Patrick McGoohan had taken by leaving regional Repertory. A fortnight after he had criss-crossed those Liverpudlian boards, no less a figure than Katherine Hepburn would be touring with her soon-to-be 'West End' production of 'The Millionairess'. The week after that, Richard Attenborough was due in town!

It is curious to think that within five years Patrick McGoohan would be appearing alongside both Alex Knox and Peggy Cummins in movies released by the Rank Organisation. Alexander Knox was intimately connected with the strange netherworld of blacklisted Americans in the Fifties, caught up in the machinations of the House of Un-American Activities investigations. Mr. Knox was actually Canadian but had made a theatrical career for himself in Boston. The Stock Market Crash of 1929 left him out of work and he moved to Britain, working with most of the pre-WWII British theatre luminaries, such as Olivier, Richardson, Thesiger and Alastair Sim. During the war he returned to his home country, worked in movies, and by 1944 found himself an Oscar nominee. In the late Forties though he was brought before the HUAC hearings and was 'blacklisted' so far as Hollywood was concerned. He returned to Britain once again. Many others found themselves in the UK too. One of them was Hannah Weinstein who worked with Ralph Smart and with Lew Grade virtually created the commercial television network programming during the 1950's. These displaced North Americans brought a freshness to Britain that began to supplant the staid BBC establishment that had been the only Broadcaster in the country until 1955. Mr. Knox may have been the first such victim of Cold War paranoia that patrick McGoohan would work with, but he would certainly not be the last. In the close world of theatre the chance to meet and tour with other personnel, some of international repute, must have been exciting and beneficial in the long term.

Thus it was that in June, 1952, Patrick McGoohan did make a London appearance at the prestigious "Arts Theatre Club". This establishment has been called a 'National Theatre in miniature'. John Fernald and Alec Clunes developed a hallowed status for these tiny premises at Great Newport Sreet, between 1949 and 1955. Its status was crucial to its success. As a club the Arts was not open to the public; membership was required. The premise had ancillary facilities and events designed to appeal to the interests of its members. 'The Oak Room' in the club had recently been enlarged and redocorated, in 1952 and was available for private hire and the Catering Manager was noted as being ready to answer queries about the menus for Buffet Teas, Dinners or Cocktail parties. Coffee was advertised as being available from 11am and the restaurant open for dinner until Midnight (except on Sunday when it was not open at all). Other events than plays might take place in the auditoria. For the price of 12 shillings and 6 pence, members could attend Club Suppers. One such was to include a debate entitled 'This Ballet Business'. Chairman of the debate would be Gilbert Harding, an outspoken radio personality of the day, who would later become on of the earliest television 'personality' stars.

As a private members club the Arts Theatre productions were not subject to quite the same strict censorship of the Lord Chamberlain as 'open' theatres were. This latitude was more to do with beaurocracy than decency, but essentially gave the producers a little more freedom to showcase 'cutting edge' material. The theatre would later be the first to produce seminal work such as 'Look Back in Anger'. However, 'Hobson's Choice' was a venerable play, dating back to 1915. It's presentation in 1952 was termed a 'revival'. This demonstrates that theatres like the Arts did not simply set out to shock or challenge their audience but put on interesting productions that current commercial theatre was unlikely to find a ready market for. Patrick McGoohan supported Donald Pleasence in this revival of 'Hobson's Choice'. The production at the Arts Theatre had, as its Lead an internationally accomplished actor. Donald Pleasence had, by then, recently returned from working on New York City's Broadway. Less than a decade later Mr. Pleasance was a guest star in an episode of Danger Man!
Also in the cast was Beryl Bainbridge. Her acting career ended when she had children but as an author she has written more than one story based in the world of repertory and theatre, and of course became a noted theatre critic and novelist. In a memoir she recalled working with Donald Pleasance but had no memory of Patrick McGoohan! A film version of the play was made in 1953 by David Lean, starring Charles Laughton.

Patrick McGoohan has stated in more than one interview that he never had a 'career plan'; after his marraige he merely took steps to provide for his family - and those steps led him to where they did. One of those steps to provide for his family led him to write to Campbell Logan and Fred O'Donovan, producers at the BBC Drama Department. His letter pointed out that he had four years experience with the Sheffield Repertory Company and was now appearing at the Arts. He went on to say that his small history may "in no way warrant an audition or interview" but that he "would welcome either". Any hopes Mr. McGoohan may have had were to be dashed however. Mr. Logan's secretary wrote back to Mr. McGoohan regretting that her boss was "too busy to see him at the moment. Mr. O'Donovan's secretary was a little less direct. She advised Patrick McGoohan that Mr. O'Donovan was "on sick leave at the moment".

Whilst Patrick McGoohan was failing to get anywhere with his chosen avenues, it seems probable that in 1952 he was unaware of the impression he making on some other crucial playgoers. In a 1952 profile of him published by the Midland Theatre Company, they mentioned, "A spotter for the Midland Theatre saw him playing and kept an eye on him when he went to London to play a small part at the Arts there." The 'spotter' from the Midland Company was evidently not the only talent scout to notice him because he was also asked to fulfill a 'special engagement' at the Theatre Royal in Windsor. The rep there was producing a new play entitled 'A Priest in the Family'. Geared around an Irish family, Patrick McGoohans' ability to affect a comfortable brogue no doubt made him an ideal casting. Just as Patrick Macnee had fulfilled a one-off engagement at Sheffield whilst Mr. McGoohan was learning his trades, so now Patrick McGoohan was the exciting 'guest star' at a local repertory theatre.

A talent scout from the 'Midland Theatre Company' had been watching the new actor and Patrick McGoohan was invited to join the Coventry-based Repertory. The Midland Theatre Company was one of the last Arts Council funded touring projects; intended to take live theatre to towns without a permanent theatre of their own.

A contemporary description of how this group worked can be found at http://www.bl.uk/projects/theatrearchive/george.html
"We used to play Coventry, Netherton, Nuneaton and Loughborough. So you opened in Coventry, then you started rehearsing the next play of course, then you went on a bus to Netherton for three days, then back, then another three days, rehearsing in the mornings, off at two o'clock on the bus and you never thought anything of it, you just did it"

At the time of Patrick McGoohan's employment, the Midland Theatre Company performed, in a touring rotation, around those same four locations and those venues are pictured. The College Theatre at Coventry was the group's base. Tony Burrows recalled the College Theatre, which was the base for the Midland Theatre Company: "It was a bit of a barn. The floor was raked and you got a good view, but the stage was tiny compared with the auditorium.They did good middle-brow stuff. They did a Xmas show, not a Panto, but they did Shaw and sometimes Shakespeare." The notion of intellectualism is of course subjective. Another memoir about the Loughborough venue noted: "Before Stanford they used the Theatre Royal in Loughborough. They tried virtually every form of entertainment to keep the theatre alive and profitable - even the rather high-brow Midland Theatre Company for one week in three. Finally it had to close though, in 1952, and that was when the Midland started taking their monthly production to Stanford Hall instead."

A slightly more personal memoir on the web remarked, "As a boy and youth I attended the Midland Theatre Company. Among those appearing with distinction was Patrick McGoohan. He was the best Macbeth I ever saw! Later I saw others who went on to become respected members of the thespian profession. Amongst them were Stephen Boyd, Dilys Hamlett and Alan Bates."

Repertory theatre, as it existed in Britain in the immediate post-war period was very much a local entertainment resource. During the war ENSA famously entertained troops but there was a comparable civilian organisation called CEMA (Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts). Between 1941 and 1945 both organisations operated in tandem. With the end of the war ENSA was disbanded but CEMA became the Arts Council of Great Britain. One of the earliest products of the demobbed CEMA was The Midland Theatre Company. Few people had televisions but many paid at least one visit per week to the cinema, and many would make a visit to their local theatre or music hall. Most of these local theatres essentially employed local people, although key actors might be recruited from London Agencies. At Sheffield the producers would hold auditions in June, at hotels or Agency offices with a view to finding particular actors for the following season, starting in September. These regional companies could often lay claim to involvement with the early careers of eventually famous actors. Alec Guinness spent two weeks at Sheffield in 1939 and Patrick Macnee performed there in 1949.

A huge artistic and commercial debate existed in British repertory about the number of performances any single play should run for. In the immediate post-war period the repertory norm was for presentations to run for just one week. The logic was that the theatre was serving a small local population. Theatregoers would only go to see a play once, so after a week audiences would plummet as the available population had all seen the production. Sheffield was one of the few that ran fortnightly productions. Their logic was that longer Runs gave the actors time to polish their performance, creating better quality and thus increasing the audience. As with any long-running debate it sometimes is helpful to take the view of an outsider.

In June, 1959 Theatre World printed the opinion of Charles Marowitz, an American:
“Repertory in England, with the exception of less than a half-dozen companies, represents the triumph of commerce over art. It is pledged to changing the programme as often as possible so as to maintain the interest of the playgoer. The rep manager who is fanatic in his efforts to safeguard his public from the infections of ‘serious drama’ will tell you, “I know what my public wants”. The rep actor is necessarily sucked into a rehearsal period of seven (if he’s lucky fourteen) days during which he is expected to do little more than absorb lines and memorise movement. Here he is, acting, being paid for doing it, his childhood dreams fulfilled, and yet he is discontent. The statistics tell us the repertory public is dying out. Television is put forward as the assassin. Repertory will not have been murdered from without, but strangled from within; cut off by those managers who are its stalwarts, and by those indiscriminate actors, who, for a few weeks work, close their ears to the terrible criticism of their own hearts and minds.”

Commercial Repertory did indeed die but its theatre was reborn in the State sponsored building of new Theatres that began in Coventry, in 1958, and supported by the Arts Council of Great Britain which had already been organising the finances of such organisations as The Midland Repertory Company and the Bristol Old Vic Company.

However that was all some way in the future. In 1952 the Midland Theatre Company was one of the key elements in the efforts being made by the British Arts Council to help sustain a regional theatre tradition. many towns, large and small, from Sheffield to Warminster, housed their own local Repertory company but many other towns had no easy access to live theatre. Television was yet to become the ubiquitous force we know today and cinemas were perenially dominated by American-made product. The maintenance of a home-grown theatre was seen as culturally essential. The Midland Company had grown from touring companies that had been created during the war years: to deliver moments of entertainment to an embattled populace.

In 1945 the Chairman of the Arts Council was Lord Keynes. He spoke on the radio about the Arts Council: "No-one can yet say where the tides of the times will carry our new-found ship. The purpose of the Arts Council is to create an environment, to breed spirit, to cultivate an opinion, to offer a stimulus to such purpose that the artist and the public can each sustain and live on the other in that union which has occasionally existed in the past at the great ages of a communal civilised life."

The Midland Company was by no means the only such initiative and government funding proved no guarantee of success. In 1946 the West Riding Theatre Company reported a £26,000 loss - enough money to have paid the salary of 15 actors for 20 years in those days! The Midland Company also struggle din its early days and referred in its own programmes to their 'ill-fated' beginning. However, by 1952 the Company was full of confidence. Their programme at the start of that season said, "As we enter upon our seventh season , we may now claim (in the fullest sense of the term) to be part of the life of the city and towns in which we serve, for they, together with the Arts Council, have voted to share in the cost of running the Company. The future of the Midland Theatre is therefore assured and the standards already set will be maintained."

Windsor was in fact remarked (by Plays & Players magazine) to have a somewhat unique repertory system. Developing comparatively close to London, the Windsor Company could easily persuade 'West End' managements to see any new plays it tried out, and also call on a large pool of Players who lived in London. "As more and more Players experienced Windsor there developed an almost unique regime. It became a Repertory with no actual Company of Players. Windsor has remained a staunch supporter of weekly rep and its short runs enable established actors to commit, without impairing their longer-term ambitions. The audiences appreciate the high standard of performers that are attracted, who in turn attract those audiences." A retrospective view in the 1984 book, 'The Repertory Movement' said: "Windsor proudly claims to be the only out-of -London-theatre to survive with no local government or Arts Council subsidy whatsoever, as it has done sinces its formation in 1938. A carefully planned, broadly popular programme of plays running through the year can aim to recoup costs wholly from the Box Office, but the location and environment of Windsor is quite special. It is highly unlikely that there are more than a handful of such locations outside of the West End.

The Theatre Royal in Bristol is the home of the Bristol Old Vic Company. 1952 had been an enormously successful year for the Bristol Old Vic. Their presentations were being regularly reviewed in the national theatre periodical, Theatre World, which usually concerned itself only with Metropolitan productions. Bristol's 1952 production of "The Duenna" had been so rapturously recieved that the company was due to present it on television in the July of 1953. Whilst Patrick McGoohan seems to have had no musical pretensions, his acceptance into the dramatic echelon of this Company is a testament to how highly he must have been rated.

Patrick McGoohan joined them around June, 1953, seemingly leaving shortly before Christmas. In the course of that one crucial season however, Patrick McGoohan appeared in Henry V, The Castiglioni Brothers, The Cherry Orchard and Old Bailey as well as Antony and Cleopatra. The Bristol Old Vic normally ran productions for three week runs. In late November of 1953 the play 'Old Bailey' seems to have been the conclusion of Patrick McGoohan's period there. The Company was working on a Christmas season musical presentation and he seems not have been part of it.

The Henry V production gave Patrick McGoohan an opportunity to perform on a London stage again. The parent, London-based, Old Vic, had invited its West Country cousin to perform in a festival at their home in Waterloo Road. Illustrating a frequent tradition of repertory, Mr. McGoohan played three roles in the production. He was the opening speaker, as 'Chorus', introducing Shakespeare's tale. Later he played one of the Officers, specifically MacMorris and finally he changed sides, portraying Montjoy, the French Herald.

The national theatrical magazine Theatre World mentions him by name: "Patrick McGoohan, shedding the robe of a somewhat forensic Chorus, gave vitality to the brief sketch of MacMorris."

Mr. McGoohan's brief time in Bristol may in part be explained by the fact that by 1953 he was living in 'digs', away from his family. His wife had landed a great part in the West End as one of the 'wives' to the King of Siam at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane. It is to be assumed that she was again living with her parents in London, who no doubt acted as doting grand parents as well. Mr. McGoohan remarked that at this time he saw his wife and child only on Sundays.

The Bristol Theatre Royal is the oldest theatre building in Britain. Set adjacent to the Britol docks it was at the centre of the city's life and commerce when it was built in 1766. Depsite surviving the WWII blitz, the theatre may easily have been demolished because by the post-war period it stood in a slum area of Bristol, with no audience in reach. It was truly out of its time. The bricks and mortar were secured largely by the actions of one authoritarian beaurocrat; Lord keynes famously was unable to persuade the USA to refinace the UK after the war, but he did succeed in finagling £5,000 out of Arts Council money as security for a bank loan to the theatre trustees, which enabled the building to be handed over for use by a Bristol branch of London's 'Old Vic' acting company. Lord Keynes' action was unorthodox because the Arts Council remit specifically excluded it from involvement with buildings, it was only to finance plays and players. Lord Keynes used his personal authority and promised the return of the £5,000 to the Arts Council, from the future profits of the newly saved theatre.

These financial shenanigans actually took place in 1942 and the Old Vic didn't actually move in until 1945. By 1952, the Bristol offshoot reportedly saved its parent in London from finacial disaster. The book 'Bristol Old Vic-First ten years' http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bristol-Old-Vic-first-years/dp/B0000CJXMA/ref=sr_1_2/202-2518308-4971802?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186782249&sr=8-2 explains that the London Old Vic had been hit hard by a series of resignations and poorly performing productions at Waterloo Road. In an organisational fiasco the theatre then found it had neglected to schedule any p[erformance at all in January 1952. In desperation they called upon their Bristol cousin to guest and fill the gap. Denis Carey transplanted his 'Two Gentlemen of Verona'. After an electrifying first night the London box-office was overwhelmed and the next fortnight was sold out. Bristols' reputation was secure, as was Denis Carey's.

Mr. Carey was thus at the height of his powers when Patrick McGoohan joined the Company in time to play in their 1953 Coronation celebration: 'Henry V'. The play's celebration of English victory was a prestigious production intended for two weeks at Bristol, two weeks in London and then to represent British Theatre in Switzerland at that years' Zurich festival. In Zurich the play was 'repturously received' and the 'Swiss welcome warm', whilst their press was recorded as being 'cordial and receptive'.

HENRY V PROLOGUE

CHORUS ENTERS

One result of everybody's success was that the Playhouse building needed to be updated. This was driven in part by the changing restrictions of a beurocracy spawned by the demand of the British electorate that after the second mass conflagration in a generation that their country should this time truly become a land fit for heroes. As the need to make changes to the Playhouse became more and more pressing, due to concerns over fire exits and capacities - particularly concerning the upper balcony, which had only one emergency exit, there was concern that if something wasn't done the building would be closed down by the authorities. This problem had been bubbling under for some time. The management of the Sheffield Company were to decide on a root and branch rebuild. Whilst the brick shell of the building remained, very litle else would. Pictures from the time show a completely denuded interior. Every vestige of the stuccoed familiarity of the old theatre was removed. The project was not complete until 1954. Once finished the new auditorium was entirely unrecognisable. Plain wood veneers and smooth surfaces replaced the plaster and crenellatd detailing once typical of any theatre. It was to be another five years or so before the new wave of State-sponsored regional theatre got off the ground in Coventry, however the shape of things to come was clearly evidenced at Sheffield in 1954. All of this was ironically to be missed by two of the people who had made the whole thing possible. Patrick McGoohan had left the city in 1952 and by the autumn of 1953 Joan Drummond was certainly no longer there either. Both the ex-players must have paid family visits to the city over the next few years and must have marvelled at the changes they began to witness.

Mrs. McGoohan secured a West End part in October, 1953. She was one of 'The Wives' of Herbert Lom's King of Siam at the Theatre Royal in the Drury Lane musical hit 'The King and I'. This production, launched in October 1953 had been brought to England after an enormous success on Broadway. It was expected to run for at least a year. 'The Stage' almanac noted that amongst the British Royal Family's visits (a whole section is devoted to their movements) to the theatre that year, one was by Princess Margaret to see 'The King & I' on October 27, 1953. In those days, such a visit was regarded as a privilege and no doubt the theatre management and cast were fired up for the occasion!

In June 1952 Patrick McGoohan had written personally to the BBC drama department, making it known that he was available for interview or audition. By June 1953 he had an Agent to put out feelers on his behalf. Eric Glass let the BBC know that his client would be performing at the Old Vic theatre in London, suggesting this would be an ideal opportunity for the metropolitan BBC producers to take a look at this new talent. With the end of the repertory seaon for the summer, Mr.Glass reminded them that his client would be free from July 12 for a coupleof months. Possibly unbeknownst to both Patrick McGoohan and his Agent was the fact that the most important individual pair of eyes at the BBC had already seen the eager actor. Michael Barry had been appointed Head of BBC Drama in 1952 and he himself had a repertory background. Accordingly he had already seen Patrick McGoohan in performance, at Windsor earlier that year, in April, 1953. He exchanged pleasantries with Eric Glass and broadly indicated his positive thoughts about their mutual interests. Michael Barry made clear that he had been impressed by what he had witnessed at Windsor. The play called 'Spring Model' had been what was termed 'light comedy' and he thought McGoohan had done well. The senior BBC man advised Eric Glass that he would pass the word to his colleagues at the Corporation about the actor. Whatever the pleasantries however, no actual result seems to have been forthcoming and in September Patrick McGoohan returned to his lodgings in Bristol.

The Shakespearean play, Henry V, actually formed the final presentation of the 1952/53 season at the Bristol Old Vic. This was the eighth season since the launching of the Company. The ninth season was due to start on September 7th, 1953 and subscriptions were already being invited in the Henry V programmes. The prices of the season tickets for the anticipated six plays that would comprise the next season varied from just over £2 to just under 60p (40shillings&sixpence to 10shillings&9pence). In the programme for the London presentation of Henry V I have noted another future ITC television star, making his way as an Assistant Stage Manager. Kenneth Cope would become fictionally 'immortal' in the series, 'Randall & Hopkirk (deceased).

The first presentaion of the ninth Bristol season was an Italian comedy/farce, 'The Castiglioni Brothers'. Patrick McGoohan played a leading role as one of the Brothers. This amusing production was followed by two more established plays. 'the Cherry Orchard' by Anton Chekhov was a modern classic. First produced by Stanislavsky, the Bristol producer, John Moody, had noted that Stanislavsky had in fact altered the tone of the play in 1904, from that intended by the author. The programmes notes point out that Chekhov had complained at the time, "You tell me that people cry at my plays, but that's not the way I wrote them!" The Bristol production sought to rekindle the mix of drama, drudgery and comedy that seemed buried within the play. The next play was Shakespeare's 'Antony & Cleopatra'. The Bristol Old Vic had a new, fresh talent whose name was Julian Slade and his musical ambitions were to find a launch-pad at Bristol. In this version of 'Antony & Cleopatra' there were to be songs set by Julian Slade and dance arranged by Elizabeth West. This musicality was to make the reputation of Bristol Old Vic in the coming months but ironically this success may have contributed to the departure of Patrick McGoohan, who, in interviews has explained he never had any musical ambitions.

Before he left however, he took part in the fourth play of the season. It was customary for the Bristol Old Vic to include a new play in their repertory every season. The idea was to encourage new Playwrights but also to offer the Bristol audience the unique experience of seeing a play performed for the first time anywhere. Several of their past brand-new productions had gone on to 'West End' success. This season's new play had the added frisson of being written by the 'New Statesman' and BBC theatre critic, TC Worsley. It was titled 'Old Bailey' and was a study of generations of a family 'in tade'. Such was the prestige of the Bristol Old Vic that reviewers from the national press were in attendance, to both comment on the new play and it's performance. It might be inferred that London agents and theatre impressario's were also in the audience, eager to see both show and players.