Broadcaster Matthew Sweet presents a sequence of radio plays by Samuel Beckett, with star casts including Stephen Rea and Ian McKellen

Samuel Beckett captured the pathos and irony of modern life like no other dramatist. In the decade following the success of Waiting for Godot (1952), he wrote some of his most absorbing work for radio, among them this sequence of short pieces. Suffused with the same musicality as his stage plays, they are increasingly different in tone and conception, giving us insight into the development of Beckett’s style and his approach to sound. With the exception of From an Abandoned Work, they can be heard in binaural surround sound through headphones or earbuds, creating an intimate, immersive audio experience. Matthew Sweet introduces the plays, providing context to the productions.

From an Abandoned Work – Developed from the fragments of an unfinished novel, this radio monologue stars Stephen Rea as the unnamed elderly protagonist, who looks back on three days of his youth spent wandering the rural roads in all weather. As he recalls his mother waving him goodbye, the sight of a white horse and a murderous tribe of stoats, he ponders questions of life and death…

Rough for Radio 1 – Monica Dolan and Ron Cook star in this debut BBC production of Beckett’s two-hander centred on a taciturn man, his curious female visitor who has ‘come to listen’ and his subsequent frantic phone calls… Abstract and experimental, Rough for Radio 1 utilises music and voices, silence and pauses, to explore themes of isolation, the impossibility of communication and the disconcerting nature of audio technology.

Rough for Radio 2 – In this companion piece to Rough for Radio 1, starring Stephen Dillane, Louise Brealey, Brian Protheroe and Nick Underwood, we find ourselves in an interrogation room, where an animator is trying to force his victim, Fox to speak. With them are the stenographer, whose transcription shows that something is fundamentally amiss, and Dick, who has nothing to say…

Words and Music – Commanded by the irascible Croak, unwilling collaborators Words and Music (aka Joe and Bob).are forced to improvise on the themes of ‘Love’, ‘Age’ and ‘The Face’ in an attempt to create art. Ian McKellen and Carl Prekopp star in Beckett’s absurdist meditation on the limitations of language. featuring a specially-written score by Roger Goula.

Cascando – Story and sound work together once more in Cascando, controlled and conducted by the Opener who turns them on and off like a radio. In tandem, they try to tell the tale of Woburn, struggling to perfect it so they can finish and sleep… Starring Stanley Townsend and David Seddon, with music by Roger Goula, Beckett’s 1961 drama delineates the challenges of composition and the writer’s desperate search for inspiration.

Production credits

Written by Samuel Beckett

From an Abandoned Work

Performed by Stephen Rea

Rough for Radio 1

He – Ron Cook

She – Monica Dolan

Rough for Radio 2

Animator – Stephen Dillane

Stenographer – Louise Brealey

Fox – Brian Protheroe

Dick – Nick Underwood

Words and Music

Croak – Ian McKellen

Words – Carl Prekopp

Cascando

Voice – Stanley Townsend

Opener – David Seddon

Directed by Gaynor Macfarlane

Music composed and directed by Roger Goula

Composer's assistant: Jessica Jones

Music performed by Kit Downes (piano), Georgia Hannant (violin), Oli Langford (viola), Nicola Baigent (bass clarinet), Michael Liu (flute), Raphael Lang (cello), Jessica Jones (synth)

First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 2 October 2016

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