King Lear

Synopsis: Full-length radio adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy produced by Howard Rose. The script of the broadcast has been edited by M. R. Ridley. With Donald Wolfit, Sonia Dresdel, Robert Eddison and Harry Andrews. Duncan Carse narrates.
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Radio
Recording date: 31 Dec 1948
Transmission details: 26 Apr 1949 at 19:10 (Channel: BBC Third Programme)
Duration: 145 mins

Notes: The BBC recording was first broadcast April 26, 1949. The British Library Sound Archive holds copies of the original recording and a copy of a version as broadcast on BBC Radio 3, October 26, 1978.
General: Nine days (1/12/-9/12/1948) were spent on rehearsals and one for pre-recording (10/12/1948). Cf. Margaret Horsfield, Shakespeare on Radio (Birmingham: University of Birmingham, 1978), p.88.
History: Broadcast in two parts. Part 1: 19:10-21.10. Part 2: 21.35-23.00.
Textual information: A written transcript of the production is held at the Birmingham Central Library as part of their Shakespeare Collection.
Reviews: 'Modest Success’ by Lionel Hale, The Listener, Vol. 41, 5 May 1949, p. 775.
On Donald Wolfit as Lear: "Lacking the physical help of looks ..., he did not discover much authority in his voice alone. But, on this unsure foundation, Mr. Wolfit built excellently, with many superbities in the storm and much genuine pathos; and his speaking was a model of lucid power".

Donald Wolfit	Lear
Rosalind Iden	Cordelia
John Ruddock	Earl of Gloucester
Robert Eddison	Fool
Harry Andrews	Edgar, later disguised as Tom o’Bedlam
Adrian Thomas	Messenger
Andrew Cruickshank	Duke of Cornwall
Arnold Diamond	Oswald
Barbara Couper	Regan
Denis McCarthy	King of France
Douglas Jefferies	Duke of Albany
Duncan Carse	Narrator
Ian Cooper	Gentleman
John Boxer	Curan
Lance George	Old Man
Philip Morant	Duke of Burgundy
Ralph Truman	Earl of Kent
Richard West	Gentleman (1) (Gentleman)
Roderick Lovell	Edmund
Sonia Dresdel	Goneril

British Universities Film & Video Council