SHAKESPEARE

Synopsis

Full-length radio adaptation of the play starring Gerald Lawrence as Shylock and Cathleen Nesbitt as Portia. Music (three Entractes from the Purcell Suite in C) is provided by the Wireless Quartet under the direction of Stanton Jefferies. Norman Notley sings Eric Coates’s ‘Tell me where is Fancy Bred’. Cecil A. Lewis speaks the prologue.

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Medium

Radio

Transmission details

15 Jun 1923 at 20:00 (Channel: BBC)

Duration

105 mins

Availability

No copy extant

Credits

Writer

William Shakespeare

Music

Eric Coates; Henry Purcell

Adaptor for Radio

Cathleen Nesbitt

Cast

Gerald Lawrence	Shylock
Ben Webster	Antonio
George Relph	Bassanio
Cathleen Nesbitt	Portia
George Hayes	Gratiano
Arthur R. Burrows	Duke of Venice
Cecil A. Lewis	Narrator
George Howe	Old Gobbo
George Howe	Salarino (Salerio)
Lawrence Hanray	Launcelot Gobbo
Lesley Winter	Nerissa
Norman Notley	Singer
Phyllis Thomas	Jessica
Rex F. Palmer	Salanio (Solanio)
Robert Harris	Lorenzo
Stafford Hilliard	Balthazar
Stafford Hilliard	Tubal

Additional Details

Production type

Television and Radio Drama

Plays

Merchant of Venice, The

Subjects

Drama

Keywords

Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

Notes

Transmitted from London Station ‘2LO’

General

In his book on ‘Broadcasting from Within’, Lewis describes how they created the sound of Shylock’s dropping scales in the trial scene by "letting a heavy iron-chain with one-inch links fall into a paint-pot" (London: George Newness, 1924, p.63).

Reviews

Source: BBC Programme as Broadcast; BBC Programme Records

Production Company

Name

BBC

Notes

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)