Festival

Festival

An anthology of single plays offering up adaptations of either of prominent stage plays or novels.

Drama

Seasons

1. Fallen Angels

Air Date: 1963-10-09

Two wives admit to premarital sex and contemplating adultery.

2. The Duel

Air Date: 1963-10-16

3. I Want to Go Home

Air Date: 1963-10-23

4. Stephen D

Air Date: 1963-10-30

Dublin in the early twentieth century. Young Stephen Dedalus considers his future.

5. The Human Voice

Air Date: 1963-11-06

During a long telephone call to her (much younger) lover, a woman tries to conceal her desperation.

6. Krapp's Last Tape

Air Date: 1963-11-13

On Krapp's 69th birthday he reviews a tape recording he made the year he was 39 and makes a new recording commenting on the last 12 months.

7. The Bald Prima Donna

Air Date: 1963-11-27

There is no prima donna in this play, and if there was one, she wouldn't be bald. Apart from that, what could be more normal?

8. Stalingrad

Air Date: 1963-12-04

9. The Fire Raisers

Air Date: 1963-12-11

In an area plagued by mysterious outbursts of arson, two strangers arrive and inveigle their way into the home of a wealthy bourgeois businessman. Are they the fire raisers? Surely they can't be - can they?

10. Little Eyolf

Air Date: 1963-12-18

A writer is trapped in a loveless, unfulfilled marriage to a wealthy woman. The death of their disabled son wreaks havoc on their relationship as they struggle to find redemption for their personal failures.

11. The Comedy of Errors

Air Date: 1964-01-01

Two unrelated men, strangers to each other, are identical twins - and so, even more confusingly, are their servants.

12. The Respectful Prostitute

Air Date: 1964-01-08

A prostitute in the Deep South is persuaded not to tell the truth about an injustice involving racial prejudice.

13. Lysistrata

Air Date: 1964-01-15

A version of Aristophane's play: Sparta and Athens are in a endless war, but Lisistrata, a beautiful woman has an idea to stop the fight, and convinces all the women to do it: no sex until there is peace.

14. August for the People

Air Date: 1964-01-22

Sir Augustus Thwaites isn't too keen on all this democracy he keeps hearing about - or is he?

15. Trevor

Air Date: 1964-02-05

16. The Lady of the Camellias

Air Date: 1964-02-12

An innocent young man falls in love with a notorious courtesan.

17. Say Nothing

Air Date: 1964-02-19

18. The Master of Santiago

Air Date: 1964-02-26

19. Under Milk Wood

Air Date: 1964-03-04

One night while the townsfolk wrestle with their dreams, seedy Captain Cat and a stranger walk the streets. Captain Cat is a blind, retired sea captain, recalling memories of drowned shipmates and Rosie Probert, a whore and the one great love of his youth

20. A Florentine Tragedy

Air Date: 1964-03-11

21. The Old Lady Says No! Or Who Wounded Maud McCutcheon?

Air Date: 1964-03-18

Denis Johnston's first play took Dublin by storm and laid the foundation of the worldwide reputation of the Dublin Gate Theatre. It takes place in the mind of an actor who is playing the Irish revolutionary Robert Emmet in a traditional patriotic drama. The actor is knocked unconscious by accident and in his reverie he imagines he is Emmet walking the streets of present-day Dublin, confronting the jarring contrast between the myth of Ireland and modern day reality.

22. Murder in the Cathedral

Air Date: 1964-03-25

T. S. Eliot's portrayal of the assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170.

23. The Inner World of Miss Vaughan

Air Date: 1964-04-01

24. Ring Round the Moon

Air Date: 1964-04-08

Twin brothers with very different personalities are in conflict over the love of a less than worthy woman. One brother comes up with an ingenious solution to the problem.

25. Justin Thyme

Air Date: 1964-04-15

Super-cool, super-resourceful, absolutely unbeatable, British secret agent Justin Thyme springs into action.

26. John Bull's Other Island

Air Date: 1964-04-22

27. The Life of Galileo

Air Date: 1964-04-29

The researches of Galileo Galilei bring him into conflict with the Papacy - and the Inquisition.

28. The Keep

Air Date: 1964-05-06

The memory of a revered and long-dead mother binds together a Welsh family, and also prevents any of its members from having a full life. But is she really dead?

29. Everyman

Air Date: 1964-05-20

30. Police

Air Date: 1964-05-27

In an Eastern European dictatorship, the life of a policeman is not always easy.

31. Six Characters in Search of an Author

Air Date: 1964-06-03

An absurdist play about the relationship between authors, their characters, and theatre practitioners. In it, the actors, author, and crew interact with the "real characters" who appear on stage during the rehearsal of the play.

32. Bloomsday

Air Date: 1964-06-10

One day in the life of assorted Dubliners, in the summer of 1904.

Select an episode to start watching

Rating

8.0/10

Release Date

1963-10-09

Episodes

32 (1 seasons)

Status

Returning Series

Cast

Production Companies

BBC

BBC