Othello

Alternative title: BBC Radio Collection: Othello
Synopsis: Full-length stereophonic radio adaptation of Shakespeare’s play produced by John Tydeman. With Paul Scofield in the title role and Nicol Williamson as Iago; Rosalind Shanks plays Desdemona.
Series: World Drama
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Radio
Transmission details: 12 Nov 1972 at 17:50 (Channel: BBC Radio 3)
Duration: 200 mins

Notes: This was the first time Paul Scofield played Othello. For his views on performing the title role for this production see his interview with Robert Ottoway in Radio Times, entitled ‘I have undertaken Othello now because I am ready to it justice’ (11-17 November 1972, p. 3).
Commercially released on as audiocassette by BBC Audiobooks Ltd (12 September 1988) but seems to be out of distribution.
General: 6.5 days were spent on rehearsals. Cf. Margaret Horsfield, Shakespeare on Radio (Birmingham: University of Birmingham, 1978), p. 90.
History: Inaugurates a new BBC Radio 3 series of major drama productions.
Duration given includes a 5-minute interval at 19:45.
Reviews: For Scofield, John Tydeman’s visual sense was successfully asserted itself in this production: "He can compensate for the lack of vision, giving, as it were, a mind’s eye to the listener" (Radio Times, 11-17 November 1972, p. 3).

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