Thunder Rock (play)
| Thunder Rock | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Robert Ardrey |
| Characters | Charleston, Streeter, Nonny, Inspector Flanning, Captain Joshua, Briggs, Dr. Stephan Kurtz, Melanie, Anne Marie, Miss Kirby, Chang |
| Date premiered | November 14, 1939 |
| Place premiered | Mansfield Theatre |
| Original language | English |
| Subject | World War II, American Isolationism |
| Genre | Drama |
| Setting | Thunder Rock Lighthouse, Lake Michigan |
Thunder Rock is a 1939 play by Robert Ardrey.
The initial Broadway production, put on by the Group Theater and directed by Elia Kazan, closed after a short run, but the play was far more successful in wartime London. Thunder Rock became a symbol of British resistance and was the most notable play of World War II. It was first produced in a little-known theater in South Kensington but was transferred, with secret funding from Her Majesty's Treasury, to the Globe Theatre in London's West End.: 66
Thunder Rock has seen many adaptations, including a BBC radio version in 1940 and a 1942 film starring Michael Redgrave and Barbara Mullen with James Mason in a minor role. In 1947 CBS broadcast a radio production; it was awarded a Peabody Award. Stage productions have been mounted all over the world, including an unauthorized production in Zurich, a U.S. government-sponsored production in occupied Berlin,: 24–5 and popular post-war productions throughout Europe and Africa, including in Harare and Nairobi.: 66