Usa By John Dos Passos [Electric Decade]

Episodes

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01Episode One2020101820240106 (R4)USA is an epic saga following a group of characters through the opening decades of the 20th century, in a grand sweep that takes us from post-war boom to Great Depression bust.

It has modernist flair, a sharp social eye, and a profound humanity. We follow key individuals, drawn from all walks of life, as their paths cross to creating a complex and moving tapestry of American society.

One by one, we are introduced to the players, and we learn about each in depth from infancy to maturity. We see them growing up, negotiating adolescence, looking for love and finding their place in the world, meeting each other as fortune dictates, and following their destiny to success or failure.

Dramatised by Robin Brooks from John Dos Passos's USA trilogy: The 42nd Parallel, 1919 and The Big Money

Episode One : John Ward Moorehouse, Eleanor Stoddard, and Janey Williams.

In the opening episode, we meet the first players in our saga, as fate draws the threads of their lives together - John Moorehouse, a young man on the make, Eleanor Stoddard, a young woman with artistic ambitions, and Janey Williams, a girl growing up on the wrong side of the tracks.

John Ward Moorehouse - Tom Bateman

Eleanor Stoddard - Tanya Reynolds

Eveline Hutchins - Hannah Genesius

Janey Williams - Sheila Atim

Annabelle Strang - Jessica Phillippi

Rochevillain /Oliver Taylor - Jacob Fortune-Lloyd

Freddy Sergeant / Alec - Calam Lynch

Joe Williams - Adam Courting

Gertrude Staple - Laurel Lefkow

McGill - Eric Meyers

Jerry Burnham/ Oppenheimer - Will Howard

Producer / Director - Fiona McAlpine

Sound Design - Lucinda Mason Brown

Production Manager - Lucy Barter

Broadcast Assistant - Georgia Brown

An Allegra production for BBC Radio 4

USA is John Dos Passos's masterpiece, an epic saga of American life from boom to bust.

Classic titles that influenced and characterised the Jazz Age of the 1920s.

USA is an epic saga by John Dos Passos, following the interwoven storylines of a fascinating group of disparate characters at the beginning of the 20th century.

02Episode Two2020102520240113 (R4)USA is an epic saga following a group of characters through the opening decades of the 20th century, in a grand sweep that takes us from post-war boom to Great Depression bust.

It has modernist flair, a sharp social eye, and a profound humanity. We follow key individuals, drawn from all walks of life, as their paths cross to creating a complex and moving tapestry of American society.

One by one, we are introduced to the players, and we learn about each in depth from infancy to maturity. We see them growing up, negotiating adolescence, looking for love and finding their place in the world, meeting each other as fortune dictates, and following their destiny to success or failure.

Dramatised by Robin Brooks from John Dos Passos's USA trilogy: The 42nd Parallel, 1919 and The Big Money

Episode Two: Janey Williams, Eveline Hutchins, Richard Savage, Daughter.

Janey Williams's fate becomes tangled with that of Moorehouse. Eveline Hutchins shows us her side of the story. Daughter is a spoilt Texan belle with a wild tomboy streak. Richard Savage is a young man in a hurry. With the end of the war, as the Paris peace conference exerts its pull, we see how their lives collide.

John Ward Moorehouse - Tom Bateman

Eleanor Stoddard - Tanya Reynolds

Eveline Hutchins - Hannah Genesius

Janey Williams - Sheila Atim

Richard Savage - Luke Thallon

Daughter (Anne Elizabeth) - Kelly Burke

Jack Washburn - Christopher Ragland

Bud - Gabriel Freilich

Gertrude Staple - Laurel Lefkow

Jerry Burnham - Will Howard

Freddy Sergeant - Calam Lynch

Producer / Director - Fiona McAlpine

Sound Design & Music Arrangement - Lucinda Mason Brown

Production Manager - Lucy Barter

Broadcast Assistant - Georgia Brown

An Allegra production for BBC Radio 4

USA is John Dos Passos's masterpiece, an epic saga of American life from boom to bust.

Classic titles that influenced and characterised the Jazz Age of the 1920s.

USA is an epic saga by John Dos Passos, following the interwoven storylines of a fascinating group of disparate characters at the beginning of the 20th century.

03Episode Three2020110120240120 (R4)USA is an epic saga following a group of characters through the opening decades of the 20th century, in a grand sweep that takes us from post-war boom to Great Depression bust.

It has modernist flair, a sharp social eye, and a profound humanity. We follow key individuals, drawn from all walks of life, as their paths cross to creating a complex and moving tapestry of American society.

One by one, we are introduced to the players, and we learn about each in depth from infancy to maturity. We see them growing up, negotiating adolescence, looking for love and finding their place in the world, meeting each other as fortune dictates, and following their destiny to success or failure.

Dramatised by Robin Brooks from John Dos Passos's USA trilogy: The 42nd Parallel, 1919 and The Big Money.

Episode Three: Margo Dowling, Charley Anderson, Richard Savage.

Margo Dowling is a would-be actress, Charley Anderson is a working-man turned war hero, and Richard Savage is now Moorehouse's right-hand man on Madison Avenue. The Twenties are beginning to roar, as the fates of all the characters we have met are resolved for good or ill.

John Ward Moorehouse - Tom Bateman

Eveline Hutchins - Hannah Genesius

Janey Williams - Sheila Atim

Richard Savage - Luke Thallon

Margo Dowling - Genevieve Gaunt

Charley Anderson - Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong

Agnes - Laurel Lefkow

Frank / Doctor - Eric Meyers

Tony Garrido - Jacob Fortune-Lloyd

Sam Margolies/ Jerry - Will Howard

Mo Askew..... Christopher Ragland

Tad Whittlesea..... Gabriel Freilich

Nat Benton - Calam Lynch

Doc Bingham - Robert G.Slade

Myra Bingham - Lily Lefkow-Green

Althea Bingham - Georgia Brown

Producer / Director - Fiona McAlpine

Sound Design & Music Arrangement - Lucinda Mason Brown

Production Manager - Lucy Barter

An Allegra production for BBC Radio 4

USA is John Dos Passos's masterpiece, an epic saga of American life from boom to bust.

Classic titles that influenced and characterised the Jazz Age of the 1920s.

USA is an epic saga by John Dos Passos, following the interwoven storylines of a fascinating group of disparate characters at the beginning of the 20th century.