Topics George Bernard Shaw, plays, comedy, satire, marriage, monarchy, Peter Barksworth, Nigel Stock, Prunella Scales, Item Size 168.5MUsage Public Domain Mark 1.0 Topics George Bernard Shaw, plays, comedy, satire, marriage, monarchy, Peter Barksworth, Nigel Stock, Prunella Scales, Item Size 168.5M
This 1929 play (premiered in Poland, in Polish and produced by the Theatre Guild on Broadway in 1930), Shaw's first after his Nobel Prize SAINT JOAN, looked to England's future in a world where a monarch (with political leanings very much like Shaw's) might challenge his intransigent cabinet with the radical idea of stepping down to actually contest a seat in Parliament! The issues raised range from the idea of somewhat "open" marriage (in the "Interlude" with Orinthia, the King's mistress - said to be patterned after Mrs. Partick Campbell, Shaw's first Eliza Doolittle!) to possible re-union with England's long lost American colonies!
This BBC broadcast (of indeterminate date - several of the cast members were also involved in the later 1975 BBC TV broadcast) features Peter Barksworth as King Magnus, Nigel Stock as the Prime Minister, Colin Douglas as Boanerges, Elizabeth Spriggs as Lysistrata, Dilys Laye as Amanda, Prunella Scales as Orinthia, Brian Sanders as Pamphilius, Christopher Scott as Sempronius, Amanda Murray as The Princess Royal (Alice), Brian Haines as Nicobar, Patrick Barr as Pliny, Michael McStay as Balbus, Godfrey Kenton as Crassus, Sonia Fraser as Queen Jemima, John Church as American Ambassador Vanhattan and Denys Hawthorne as the Narrator. It was directed by Ian Cotterell. The play was famously revived for "Coronation Season" in 1953 with Noel Coward and Margaret Leighton who recorded the "Interlude" for LP records. Please note that "The Interlude" should play BETWEEN Acts I and II; I can't seem to get it to POST that way.
Addeddate 2013-03-11 22:52:47 Identifier BernardShawsTheAppleCartAPoliticalExtravaganza Run time 110:16
