IN SEARCH OF A MAN
by David Yallop
Directed by Michael Custance
Cast:
Martin Bowley, Neville Bradbury, Derek Chandler, David Cower, Nevile Cruttenden, Jillyann Healy, Ben Keen, David Lorraine, Michael Noakes, Michael Reynish, Alan Robinson, Harold Thornley, John Turner, Barry Woolgar
THE AUTHOR
David Yallop, who died in 2018, led an eventful life, a fair proportion of it in the television business. He wrote and produced numerous documentaries and dramas, achieving major success with “To Encourage the Others” (1972), based on the Timothy Evans case, which won a BAFTA and helped revive debate over capital punishment in Britain. On two occasions he rated audiences in excess of 5 millions with his Orlando series for Rediffusion.
Born under the Liberian flag somewhere between New York and Southampton David was writing things from a very early age. He trained as a journalist, served in the RAF and subsequently did some 30 different jobs in the short space of 4 years before going to ABC TV in Manchester.
Although later celebrated for his best-selling investigative books, his reputation was founded on his work for film and television, where he combined dramatic storytelling with rigorous inquiry.
THE PLAY
In Search of a Man, David Yallop's only stage play is certainly controversial. It was based on an idea for a television play originally set in modern times. Submitted for the new plays festival in 1967 it was commissioned by The Questors for the present festival in a re-written form.
Based on the recently deciphered Dead Sea Scrolls it retells the Christian story in terms of political events, describing the problems of the Roman occupation of Israel and the efforts of the divided tribes to seek a spokesman and a leader who will drive out the Romans. The Zealots take the lead. John the Baptist is the wrong man—in any case he loses his head—Jesus of Nazareth is the young man who impresses the Elders and a new story unfolds.
PRODUCTION PHOTOS
PRESS RESPONSE
David Yallop’s revisionist account of Christ and the Zealots was the most widely reviewed play of the Festival and received a generally favourable, though qualified, response. Amateur Stage considered it the outstanding Festival entry, praising its determination to communicate and the importance of the religious and political questions it raised, while also identifying weaknesses in construction and motivation. The Stage, the Middlesex County Times and the Jewish Chronicle likewise admired its imagination, sincerity and strong characterisation, although reservations were expressed about lengthy argument, limited movement and the credibility of some of its ideas. Overall, reviewers regarded it as a bold, thoughtful and absorbing play whose ambitions sometimes exceeded its dramatic control.
Amateur Stage
The Middlesex County Times
The Jewish Chronicle
The Stage and Television Today
QUESTORS ARCHIVES
IN SEARCH OF A MAN