Titania

Synopsis
Radio broadcast of an excerpt from A Midsummer Night’s Dream that focuses on the character of Titania. Arranged for radio by Herbert Farjeon and produced by Mary Hope Allen. With Leslie Stokes as speaker.
Series
Radio Theatre: Shakespeare’s Characters
Language
English
Country
Great Britain
Medium
Radio
Transmission details
27 Sep 1943 at 11:30 (Channel: BBC World Service)
Duration
29 mins
Availability
Unknown

Credits

Producer
Mary Hope Allen
Writer
William Shakespeare
Contributor
Leslie Stokes
Adaptor for Radio
Herbert Farjeon
Cast
Valentine DyallTheseus
David PeelOberon
Patricia HayesTitania
Cherry CottrellPuck (Robin Goodfellow)
Beryl CalderPeaseblossom
Elaine MacnamaraMustardseed
Elizabeth DowlCobweb
Frederick LloydNick Bottom
Helen BurnsFairy
Mary BartlettMoth

Additional Details

Production type
Other
Plays
Midsummer Night’s Dream, A
Subjects
Drama
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

Notes
Cast information is based on the revival of the series on the Home Service in 1945. For the original broadcast, Robert Helpmann played Oberon to Patricia Hayes’s Titania. No further cast information is available (6/2008).
General
According to the programme notes in London Calling, "Mr. Farjeon had always been interested in the big figures among the secondary characters in Shakespeare’s plays. In this series he expands upon their personalities, illustrating his theories by some of the scenes in which these characters appear" (No. 302: 1945, p. 20)
History
Third episode in the series originally transmitted every fourth week on the External Service:
27/9/1943 General Overseas Service, 11:30-11:59 (GMT)
28/9/1943 North American Service, 2:00 GMT (22:00 EWT)
28/9/1943 African Service, 20:00 GMT
29/9/1943 Pacific Service, 19:00 GMT
A repeat of this episode was broadcast on the BBC Home Service on 2/11/1945.
Textual information
A written transcript of the production is held at the Birmingham Central Library as part of their Shakespeare Collection.
Reviews
Source: London Calling, The Times, Radio Times
Annotated radio scripts of all the 18 episodes in the series are being held at the University of Bristol Theatre Collection.

Production Company

Name

BBC

Notes
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

How to cite this record

Shakespeare, "Titania". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/av70267 (Accessed 12 Nov 2024)