London: National Theatre, 1964

102 mimeographed pp. bound in red stiff paper wrappers secured by two split pins, window to front wrapper displaying title page beneath.

GRAHAM CROWDEN'S WORKING COPY OF THE PREMIERE PRODUCTION OF THE ROYAL HUNT OF THE SUN, WITH HIS UNDERLININGS AND ANNOTATIONS THROUGHOUT.

Peter Shaffer's The Royal Hunt of the Sun had its first performance on 7 July 1964 at the Chichester Festival Theatre; a National Theatre production, it transferred to the Old Vic in December that year. Directed by John Dexter, it drew its cast from the stellar National Theatre company of that era. Robert Stephens starred as Atahuallpa; among the supporting cast were Anthony Hopkins, Derek Jacobi, Michael (listed as 'Mike') Gambon, Colin Blakely -- and in the role of Miguel Estete, conquistador and chronicler of the Spanish conquest of Peru, Graham Crowden. Part of the Royal Court's repertory company under George Devine in the 1950s, and later a leading member of the Old Vic/National Theatre company, Crowden was also a scene-stealing presence on screen, with nearly two hundred credits to his name.

Neither Crowden nor Anthony Hopkins were in the play's try-out at Chichester; both were drafted in for the Old Vic transfer. The cast list bound in to this copy is that of the Chichester company, where Tom Kempinski played Estete, and with Edward Hardwicke as Challcuchima, which became Hopkins' role in London. Crowden has marked up the script in his usual idiosyncratic style, underlining not his lines but his cues. There are additional pencilled notes, amendments and blocking directions throughout.

The Royal Hunt of the Sun -- only Shaffer's second full-length play -- was a huge critical and commercial success, touring the UK after its Old Vic run and transferring to Broadway with a new cast in 1965. A spectacular epic (the spirit of which is beautifully captured by Angus McBean's photographs of this first production) the play boasts one of theatre's most famous, and least helpful, stage directions: 'The men climb the Andes.'

A rare survivor from the heart of a legendary production.