Dark Lady of the Sonnets, The

Synopsis: Radio play about an imaginary adventure between William Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth. It was originally written in 1910 by George Bernard Shaw in aid of the scheme for a National Theatre. In the play the Man Shakespear [sic] goes to the palace to meet the Dark Lady to whom he addressed his sonnets of love, only to find instead the Queen herself taking a walk before retiring. He is so fascinated by her-- keeps writing down her bon mots-- that he does not notice the approach of the Dark Lady, who is furiously jealous and gives them both a drubbing in the dark. Both poet and Queen meet in agreement that man does not live by bread alone.
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Radio
Notes: The copy of the original broadcast held at the British Library Sound Archive is incomplete.
The broadcast was repeated on 15 July 1938 with a different cast that included Marius Goring as Shakespeare, Lena Ashwell as Elizabeth and Mary Hinton as the Dark Lady.
Subjects: Drama
Keywords: biographies; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Producer

Peter Creswell

Writer

George Bernard Shaw

Contributor

George Bernard Shaw

Cast