Galileo [scenes]

Summary: 1961 BBC production of scenes from Galileo by Bertolt Brecht, presented for schools as ‘A postscript to last week’s production of Doctor Faustus’.
Theatre play: Life of Galileo [Leben des Galilei] by Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) [more information]
Play synopsis: 'The plot of the play concerns the latter period of the life of Galileo Galilei, the great Italian natural philosopher, who was persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church for the promulgation of his scientific discoveries [...]. The play embraces such themes as the conflict between dogmatism and scientific evidence, as well as interrogating the values of constancy in the face of oppression.' Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_of_Galileo.
Production history: 'The first version of the play was written between 1938 and 1939; the second (or ‘American’) version was written between 1945-1947, in collaboration with Charles Laughton. The play received its first theatrical production (in German) at the Zurich Schauspielhaus, opening on 9 September 1943. [...] The second version (in English) opened at the Coronet Theatre in Los Angeles on 30 July 1947.' Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_of_Galileo.
Date of transmission: Tuesday 21 November 1961
Time: 2.05-2.35pm
Series: Schools
Channel: BBC Television
Production company: BBC

Producer

Ronald Eyre

Playwright

Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956)

Translator

Charles Laughton

Designer

Charles Lawrence

Cast

Later transmissions: Repeated on Wednesday 22 November 1961 at 11.05am.
Extant status: No archival copy is known to exist.
Play tags: 17th-century setting; Christianity; German drama; Italy, as theme or setting; Roman Catholicism; science
Programme context tags: schools television programming

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