Witchcraft

Synopsis: Episode 17 of a 26-part serialisation of the Elizabethan history play (encompassing the reign of Edward II to Henry VI), adapted for radio by Martin Jenkins.
This episode, based on Shakespeare’s Henry VI, stars Hannah Gordon, Peggy Ashcroft and Peter Jeffrey. With Richard Burton as narrator. The music for the series is composed by Christopher Whelen and played by members of the English Chamber Orchestra.
Series: Vivat Rex
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Radio
Recording date: 3 Jun 1977
Transmission details: 5 Jun 1977 at 21:03 (Channel: BBC Radio 4)
Duration: 55 mins

History: VIVAT REX was presented by BBC Radio 4 to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.
Each episode of the broadcast was repeated on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesdays at 15:05.
Stills: A large portrait of Burton in front of the microphone can be found in Radio Times, 12-18 February 1977, pp. 61-62.
Textual information: To enable listeners to follow the episodes more easily, a booklet accompanying the series was published, written by Robert Cushman.
Reviews: On Burton’s performance see David Wade, ‘Voices’, Radio Times, 19 February 1977, p. 10.
On a review of the first 6 episodes and Martin Jenkins’s view of the production see Wilfred De’ Ath’s ‘Kings complex’ in Radio Times, 26 March-1 April 1977, p. 66.

James Laurenson	King Henry VI
Peter Jeffrey	Richard Plantagenet, later Duke of York
Bernard Hepton	Duke of Gloucester
Hannah Gordon	Joan la Pucelle
Brian Haines	Duke of Exeter
Charles Gray	Earl of Warwick
David Buck	Duke of Somerset
Irene Sutcliffe	Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester
James Thomason	Reignier, Duke of Anjou
Jeffrey Segal	Joan’s Father
John Gabriel	Hum
Jonathan Scott	Bolingbroke
Julian Glover	Duke of Suffolk (William de la Pole)
Peggy Ashcroft	Margaret, daughter of King Reignier
Peter Howell (2)	Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester
William Eedle	John Southwell

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