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Dateline: 16th May, 2011
Pam Gems (1925 - 2011) Playwright Pam Gems has died peacefully in her sleep on 13th May at the age of 85. She is best known for her musical play Piaf (1978) which was first produced by the RSC at The Other Place and transferred to the est End and Broadway and last revived in 2008 at the Donmar, tranferring to the Vaudeville, with Elena Roger playing the title role. This was not, however, the first RSC production of one of her plays: that was Queen Christina, also produced at The Other Place. She wrote almost fifty plays and adaptations in a career which started in 1972 with Betty's Wonderful Christmas at the Cockpit Theatre, London, and ended with Despatches (2009) at the Drill Hall. However she had begun having work produced on radio and TV long before 1972. Her first play for radio, The Leg-Up for the BBC Home Service, starred Patricia Hayes and was broadcast on 2nd January 1958, and her first TV production, A Question of Temper, aired in 1960. Her first major success - and her first West End appearance - was Dusa, Fish, Stas and Vi which premiered in Edinburgh in !976. Her last major play to be produced (at York Theatre Royal) was Mrs Pat (2002), the story of the relationship between Mrs Patrick Campbell and George Bernard Shaw. Her adaptations included Uncle Vanya, The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull, Ghosts, The Lady from the Sea, Yerma and The Little Mermaid.
Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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