“The Killing of Sister George” is a groundbreaking comedy by Frank Marcus which was named “Best Play of the 1965-66 Season” by The Theatre Critics Variety Poll and voted “Best Play” by the London Theatre Critics and the London Evening Standard. Its 1966 Broadway Production,which featured the original London cast, earned its star Beryl Reid, a Tony Award for Best Actress in a play.
The title may be familiar as the play was made into a movie in 1968 that caused quite a stir. It originally received a rare X rating and has become something of a cult classic for its steamy lesbian love scene featuring a young Susannah York.
Sister George is a fan favorite on BBC radio’s folksy soap opera,”Applehurst”. The warm-hearted, caring nurse keeps everyone in the fictional rural town on the straight and narrow with her home remedies and common sense advice.
Gin-swilling, slightly sadistic, cigar-chomping June Buckridge, the actress who plays Sister George, could not be more different, or for that matter, straight.
When it looks like BBC executives might kill off the beloved Sister George to boost ratings and neutralize their difficult star’s public relations problems, June’s precarious personal world threatens to crumble.
With a shockingly contemporary point of view,the nature of sexual identity, power, and politics in a changing world order are up for grabs in this ground-breaking 1965 black comedy.
“A Fine, Fine Play-Audacious and Exhilarating, Straightforward and Strong, Comic and Cutting” – The World Journal Tribune