Second-Best Bed

Alternative title: Usyless Discussion on Hamlet or Hamnet, A
Synopsis: Radio play arranged for broadcasting by John Keir Cross. The single-act play is based on the Shakespearean dialogue in Chapter 9: ‘Scylla and Charybdis’ of James Joyce’s Ulysses.
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Radio
Availability: No archive copy known
Notes: According to Jane A. Lewty, THE SECOND-BEST BED is a pared down version of John Keir Cross’ project to adapt Ulysses for radio in the hope that "a radio version should make of [it] a friendlier work altogether - remove from its stigma of over-highbrowism". The outcome, as Lewty remarks, "consists of a dialogue not dissimilar to a radio talk on an educational topic" . Cf. Lewty’s essay on ‘Aurality and Adaptation: Radioplay in Ulysses’ in Hypermedia Joyce Studies, 6.1. (2005). Available at: http://hjs.ff.cuni.cz/archives/v3/lewty2.html (accessed 23 October 2006).
Subjects: Drama
Keywords: Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)