Drama: "The Dark Tower" (Louis MacNiece/Benjamin Britten)

[DracoM]

'Somewhere in Ireland' - Aha yes - The Land of Myth and Magic - LMcM knew well the residual stereotypes of his own land....

BUT if the BBC then give the play an unmissable hard Belfast start with all that that will imply these days to listeners in many regions, that more or less from syllable one subverts the 'anywhere in Ireland' ' Land of Mystery etc surreal potential and mystery, and much suspension of disbelief IMO. Later the production reverts to having accents / lilts of other places, and any overtly specific 'Ireland' disappears, or almost.

Not to say that this was not a fine listen, because it was. Worth going back to.

[JimD]

Gormenghast meets Lord of the Rings (though it largely predates both). Talk about your Zeitgeist.

[kernelbogey]

I listened to the 'MacNeice' intro and then a few minutes of the play before switching off. The production seemed very actory, and the fact and sound of a public performance took away, for me, the magic that a purely radio play could have been.

[DracoM]

Interesting: I thought they kept the audience 'presence' to a minimum pretty well, but I take the point.
Radio uses significantly different skill sets from actors.
LMcN of course certainly would not have anticipated a live present at all. Requires of a writer a very different sort of creative process.

[french frank]

The production seemed very actory, and the fact and sound of a public performance took away, for me, the magic that a purely radio play could have been.

For me, at least, this wouldn't be the kind of drama that suffers from a bit of actoriness. So much TV (and radio?) drama seems to rely on actors being 'natural' because the plot is intended to be an imitation of life. This play surely is not that?

[Nick Armstrong]

Finally got round to giving this a listen.... only got half-way through I'm afraid, not my cup of tea at all. Ho hum, "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue" on Radio 4extra instead...