The Tinder Box
In the Tinder Box, by Nicholas Stuart Gray, Peter, a wounded soldier disbanded from the army, is homeless, hungry and alone. Due to the folly of a wicked old witch, a magic tinder box falls into Peter’s possession. He realises the tinder box has magical properties. He becomes a very wealthy and generous nobleman, and falls in love with a princess. The king and queen have been told by a fortune teller that their daughter will marry a soldier. They are mortified by this and lock up their daughter. Meanwhile, the witch is desperate to find Peter and retrieve the box, and takes a position as lady-in-waiting to the imprisoned princess. But with the help of his magical friends, Peter manages to combat the witch, win the hand of the princess and bring respectability to the ‘common soldier’.
Compare with our Tinder Box from 1968
| The White Dog | Elinor Lavelle |
| Peter | Andrew Mitchell |
| The Witch | Enid Newport |
| Shemozzle | Dorothy Reeves |
| Kuruffle | Diane Vickery |
| Black Dog | Sylvia Lyle |
| Black and White Dog | Jean Lord |
| The King | Jim Greenslade |
| Duke Eldred | Robert Dendle |
| Lord Bartham | Howard Probert |
| A Wierd Face | Ian Ley |
| Kurtz | Leslie Robinson |
| Princess Gisella | Hilary Dawes |
| Voice of the Spinning Wheel | Monica Wilkins |
| Countess Helga | Joy Hatherley |
| The Queen | June Harrison |
| A Servant | Philip Boobyer |
| First Soldier | Philip Boobyer |
| Second Soldier | Tom Soundy |
| Court Ladies | Kay Abbott, May Hole, Meriel James, Olive Mitchell, Vera Probert, Joyce Wannell, and Mary Webb |
| Soldiers | Ian Ley, Charles Mitchell, Jill Dwyer, Valerie Hardiman, Glenys Jones, Nora Lock, Jennifer Waldron and Sylvia Stone |
| The Dancers | Pauline Barrett, Joy Cann, Jacqueline Finch, Janis Glanville, Barbara Pegler, Lynne Rowe and Esme Wyke |
| Produced by | Frederica Romanska |
