Description
Four of Thornton Wilders most acclaimed works adapted for BBC Radio plus bonus material exploring his life and career
Thornton Wilder is one of Americas most important literary figures He won the Pulitzer Prize three times for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and the plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth and is the only person to be awarded the Pulitzer for both fiction and drama Included here are four of his key works set in different times and places but sharing the same fundamental motifs the universality of human experience and our search for lifes meaning
Our Town his timeless tale of love marriage birth and death in a small American community stars Ed Bishop William Roberts and Liza Ross It is preceded by a 10minute introductory extract from Free Thinking in which presenter Anne McElvoy and actor/director David Cromer discuss the plays themes and techniques
Wilders masterpiece The Bridge of San Luis Rey tells the story of the five victims of a bridge collapse and the eyewitness who sets out to understand why they were fated to die A poignant philosophical fable it features a stellar cast including Annette Badland Robert Glenister Tom GoodmanHill and Helen McCrory
Adapted from the play by Jerome Kilty The Ides of March is based on Wilders epistolary novel centred around the last days of the Roman republic and stars Robert Hardy as Julius Caesar Next Ed Bishop reads from Heavens My Destination the comic tale of an amateur philosopher who leaves a trail of chaos wherever he goes
Finally in a fascinating episode of Front Row Mark Lawson theatre director David Lan and New York Times theatre critic Mel Gussow discuss how Wilder became a literary icon and launched a quiet revolution in American theatre
Cast and credits
Written by Thornton Wilder
Copyright by The Wilder Family LLC 1927 The Bridge of San Luis Rey 1935 Heavens My Destination 1938 Our Town 1948 The Ides of March
Free Thinking
Presented by Anne McElvoy
With David Cromer
Produced by Zahid Warley
First broadcast BBC Radio 3 16 October 2014
Our Town
Stage Manager Ed Bishop
Dr Gibbs William Roberts
Mrs Gibbs Liza Ross
George Gibbs Ben Fairman
Rebecca Gibbs Teresa Gallagher
Mr Webb Garrick Hagon
Mrs Webb/Dead Woman Shelley Thompson
Emily Webb Barbara Barnes
Joe Crowell/Si Crowell Tom Bevan
With Vincent Marzello Peter Whitman John Evitts and Frances Jeater
Directed by David Hitchinson
First broadcast BBC Radio 4 1 July 1995
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Madre Maria del Pilar Annette Badland
Uncle Pio Michael Feast
Jaime/Boy Frederick Forge
Brother Juniper/Captain Alvarado Robert Glenister
Esteban/Manuel Tom GoodmanHill
Pepita/Dona Clara Jasmine Hyde
Camila la Perichole Helen McCrory
Marquesa de Montemayor Sian Phillips
Dramatised by Judith Adams
Directed by Gaynor MacFarlane
First broadcast BBC Radio 4 12 May 2002
The Ides of March
Narrator Patrick Tull
Caesar Robert Hardy
Brutus Sean Barrett
Clodia Margaret Robertson
Cleopatra Elizabeth Proud
Pompeia Caesars wife Patricia Gallimore
Julia Caesars aunt Betty Hardy
Clodius Nigel Lambert
Catullus David Spenser
Adapted for radio by Nesta Pain from the play by Jerome Kilty
Produced by Nesta Pain
First broadcast BBC Radio 4 17 August 1970
Heavens My Destination
Read by Ed Bishop
First broadcast BBC Radio 3 17 April 1997
Front Row
Presented by Mark Lawson
With David Lan and Mel Gussow
Produced by Nicki Paxman
First broadcast BBC Radio 4 4 March 2004
Copyright 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd P 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
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