Richard II

Synopsis: Radio version of Shakespeare’s play produced by John Richmond starring John Gielgud as Richard II and Ralph Richardson as John of Gaunt. With music composed and conducted by John Hotchkis. Richard Bebb narrates.
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Radio
Recording date: 2 Dec 1960
Transmission details: 7 Jun 1961 at 20:30 (Channel: BBC Third Programme)
Duration: 145 mins

Director

John Richmond

Producer

John Richmond

Writer

William Shakespeare

Music

John Hotchkis

Cast

John Gielgud	King Richard II
Rachel Gurney	Queen Isabel
Ralph Richardson	John of Gaunt
Michael Goodliffe	Bolingbroke
Alan Edwards	Green
Alan Reid	Gardener’s man (2)
Alan Reid	Bushy
Barbara Mitchell	Lady attending the Queen
Bryan Kendrick	Groom of King Richard’s stable
Bryan Kendrick	Bagot
Denis Goacher	Lord Marshal
Gabriel Woolf	Duke of Aumerle
Gareth Morgan	Captain of the Welsh army
George Howe	Edmund of Langley, Duke of York
Hugh Dickson	Harry Percy
Hugh Manning	Sir Piers Exton
John Glen	Sir Stephen Scroope
John Witty	Lord Willoughby
Keith Buckley	Lord Berkeley
Keith Buckley	Keeper of the prison at Pomfret
Keith Williams	Earl of Salisbury
Mark Dignam	Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland
Nicholas Edmett	Gardener’s man (1)
Penelope Lee	Lady attending the Queen
Peter Coke	Thomas Mowbray
Raf de la Torre	Bishop of Carlisle
Richard Bebb	Narrator
Roderick Lovell	Lord Ross
Wilfrid Babbage	Gardener

Notes: Excerpts from the BBC recording are available for listening on site at the British Library Sound Archive.
General: Rehearsals: 24/11/1960-2/12/1960
Textual information: A written transcript of the production is being held at the Birmingham Central Library as part of their Shakespeare Collection.
Reviews: Richmond introduces his new radio production in ‘The Life and Death of King Richard II’ in Radio Times, 1 June 1961, p. 37.

SHAKESPEARE