A Pearl

One of 9 plays written by Austin for BBC Radio’s “Thursday Night Mystery”, originally broadcast live on 22 April,1954.

The story is based around the great “Hatton Garden Pearl Robbery” of 1913. This was one of the most daring and sensational jewel robberies of all time, certainly the most valuable ‘haul’ of pearls in the history of Hatton Garden. The necklace involved was a string of 61 ‘flawless’ pink pearls, insured by Lloyds of London for $150,000 pounds ($300,000 CDN)! Scotland Yard, a division of the London Metropolitan Police, in conjunction with Lloyds, put up a $20,000 reward for the return of the necklace.

Our CPG performance of the play’s main interest, lies in the movements and ultimate fate of the pearls – most incredible of all – with the final ‘twist’ in the play!