Fool’s Saga, The

Synopsis: Radio play written and produced by Rayner Heppenstall in which he tries to dramatise the story of Amleth, the figure Hamlet is based on, as he occurs in various Scandinavian legends. David King-Wood plays Hamlet, son to Gertrude (Gladys Young) and Orwendill. With music composed by William Wordsworth. The BBC Theatre Orchestra with Martin Boddey (tenor) and Jeanne Chevreau (harp) is conducted by Walter Goehr.
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Radio
Transmission details: 27 Jun 1949 at 18:35 (Channel: BBC Third Programme)
Duration: 140 mins
Availability: No archive copy known

History: Broadcast in two parts. Part 1, ‘The Story in the Shield’ : 18.35-19.50. Part 2, ‘Hamlet, King of Jutland’: 20.00-20.55.
This production was one of several Hamlet programmes that were being transmitted on BBC that week.
Textual information: For information about various legends of Hamlet cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet_(legend)
Reviews: The Radio Times issue of 24 June 1949, Rayner Heppenstall published a foreword to his play. The article is entitled ‘The Hamlet of the Saga’ and gives some information about the sources that Heppenstall consulted.

Shakespeare, "Fool’s Saga, The". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/av66739 (Accessed 19 Sep 2024)

David King-Wood	Hamlet (Hamlet)
Malcolm Hayes	Feng (Claudius)
Gladys Young	Gertrude (Gertrude)
Frederick Lloyd	Hunferth, an aged counsellor (Polonius)
Joan Hart	Thora, Hamlet’s foster sister (Ophelia)
Alastair Duncan	Wiglek, brother to Gertrude
Arthur Lowe
Basil Jones	Hugh, a British spy
Beryl Calder
Betty Baskcomb
Bryan Powley	Balant, a British king
Catherine Campbell
Charles Lefeaux
Diana Maddox	Fyris, his daughter
Dorothy Summers
Duncan McIntyre
Edward Forsyth	Carvel
Esme Percy	Tosti, a dwarf
Howard Marion-Crawford	Drafnar, an outlaw
Jean Taylor Smith
John Glyn-Jones	Minimus, a bard
Raf de la Torre	Cimbal
Richard Hurndall

SHAKESPEARE