Radio Beckett [Drama On 3]

Matthew Sweet presents a sequence of radio plays by Samuel Beckett, with Stephen Rea and Ian McKellen. Recorded in binaural sound and first broadcast as part of Radio 3's 70th season.

Like no other dramatist, Beckett's works capture the pathos and irony of modern life.

In the decade following the success of Waiting for Godot (1952), Samuel Beckett wrote some of his most absorbing work for radio, including the BBC's Third Programme. These plays are suffused with a musicality which, though evident in his novels, poetry and plays, is particularly remarkable in this medium. They are concerned with human isolation and the frailty of memory and communication.

With the exception of the monologue FROM AN ABANDONED WORK, the plays can be heard in binaural surround sound. Just wear your headphones.

The plays give a great insight into the development of Beckett's style and into his approach to sound. Increasingly different in tone and conception from his stage work, the radio plays become more abstract as characters become less individualised and more representative.

FROM AN ABANDONED WORK performed by Stephen Rea

ROUGH FOR RADIO 1

He - Ron Cook

She - Monica Dolan

ROUGH FOR RADIO 2

Animator - Stephen Dillane

Stenographer - Louise Brealey

Fox - Brian Protheroe

Dick - Nick Underwood

WORDS AND MUSIC

Croak - Ian McKellen

Words - Carl Prekopp

CASCANDO

Voice - Stanley Townsend

Opener - David Seddon

Music composed and directed by Roger Goula

Composer's assistant: Jessica Jones

Music performed by

Piano: Kit Downes

Violin: Georgia Hannant

Viola: Oli Langford

Bass Clarinet: Nicola Baigent

Flute: Michael Liu

Cellist: Raphael Lang

Synth: Jessica Jones

Directed by Gaynor Macfarlane

Matthew Sweet with a sequence of radio plays by Samuel Beckett, with Ian McKellen.