Winner of a Gold Award for Abridged fiction at the Spoken Word Awards 2005
A BBC Radio 4 full-cast production of Homer’s epic seafaring adventure, dramatised by award-winning poet Simon Armitage and starring Tim McInnerny and Amanda Redman.
‘My fame is written in the heavens, and my fate too...’ So speaks Odysseus as he starts to recount his struggles to sail home to Ithaca, in one of the greatest pieces of storytelling in Western literature. The Odyssey is his incredible traveller’s tale – and also the story of his faithful wife Penelope who waits for him, besieged by suitors, and their son Telemachus who has a quest of his own.
In a twenty-year journey, fabulous fantasy mixes with extraordinary reality as Odysseus encounters enchantresses, nymphs, monsters, prophets and ghosts. From the temptations of the lotus flowers and the Sirens’ song to the horrors of the Cyclops’ cave and the Land of the Dead, the story of his encounters is riveting. We hear of Circe, who turned his men into swine; Calypso, who held Odysseus prisoner for seven years; and the dreadful six-headed monster Scylla who devoured some of his crew. And we hear of the Gods, who have a vital role to play...
Dramatised by major contemporary poet Simon Armitage to celebrate the return of the Olympics to Athens, this full-cast production brings Odysseus’s adventures to vivid life,conveying all the excitement, suspense and poetry of the original. A stunning aural rollercoaster ride, The Odyssey will have your heart in your mouth and stir your soul.
Salem, Massachusetts, 1692. A community stands accused of witchcraft, and in the mood of fear and recrimination that quickly develops men denounce their neighbours... See full description...
Macbeth is among the most powerful of Shakespeare's tragedies, a dark but fascinating glimpse into the soul of evil, set in medieval Scotland. See full description...