Episodes
| Series | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| DO3 | 20081130 | Shakespeare's romantic adventure full of tyrants, incest, murder, knights, teenagers, pirates, brothels, sublime poetry, young love, a great hero and the goddess Diana. A multicultural cast, world music and the poet Benjamin Zephaniah give this timeless tale a contemporary twist. Pericles - Tom Mannion Gower - Benjamin Zephaniah Antiochus/Cerimon - Raad Rawi Marina/Antiochus' daughter - Helen Longworth Helicanus - Sean Scanlan Master - Dermot Crowley Fisherman - Paul Dinnen Simonides - Lorcan Cranitch Thaisa - Katherine Igoe Dionyza - Adjoa Andoh Cleon - Peter Gevisser Diana - Sian Phillips Bawd/Lychorida - Ayesha Antoine Philemon/Bolt - Nick Sayce Lysimachus - Ifan Meredith Leonine - Delroy Brown Directed by Gaynor Macfarlane. An adventure full of tyrants, incest, murder, knights, a great hero and the goddess Diana. | |
| DO3 | 20170402 | 20190609 (R3) | A gripping new production of one of Shakespeare's later and least performed plays, Pericles, in which murder, incest, intrigue, shipwrecks and prostitution tear King Pericles' family apart. Adapted for radio and directed by acclaimed British theatre writer/director Neil Bartlett with a multicultural cast including opera legend Sir Willard White as Gower, the RSC's rising star Paapa Essiedu as Pericles and renowned British film actress Adjoa Andoh as Dionyza. A Greek chorus trio provides an innovative way to deliver pirates, fishermen, knights and villains galore. Pericles is a problem play on stage given the long script, wordy passages, multiple shipwrecks and sea storms, and large number of locations. With a pacey, music-rich new adaptation for radio by Neil Bartlett and the rich, beguiling tones of Willard White as Gower, Pericles becomes a lively, shocking and moving roller-coaster journey, perfect for radio drama, and reclaims Pericles as one of Shakespeare's plays definitely worthy of more frequent productions. Gower - Willard White Pericles .....Paapa Essiedu Thaisa - Sarah Malin Helicanus/Pandar - Colin Hurley Cleon/Boult - Barrie Rutter Cerimon/Bawd - Tamzin Griffin Dionyza/Lychorida - Adjoa Andoh Marina - Laura Rees Leonine/Simonides - Martin Turner Antiochus/Lysimachus - Mark Straker Trio 1 - Tim Chipping Trio 2 - Martin Bassindale Trio 3 - Oscar Batterha Marina's song composed by Simon Deacon Pianist, Josef Janik A Bona Broadcasting production for BBC Radio 3. Shakespeare's rarely produced Pericles, in a disturbing new version starring Willard White |