by BEAUMARCHAIS
Translated and adapted by Thomas Walton with Jack MacGowran as Figaro
Mary O'Furrell
Andre van Gyseghem
Zoe Caldwell
Surprisingly few people are aware that Mozart's opera is based on this hard-hitting play by Beaumarchais, first performed in 1784. Napoleon saw in it ' the Revolution already in action.' Its compound of hearty sensuality and left-wing politics, delightfully but firmly asserting the rights of man-and woman-make it one of the classics of French drama, a milestone in both theatrical and social history. Cast in order of speaking
Figaro, Jack MacGowran ; Susanna, Zoe Caldwell ; Bartholo, Peter Duguid ; Marcelina, Eithne Dunne ; Cherubmo, Nicholas Edmett; Count Almavwa, Andre van Gyseghem; Basilio, Tom Watson ; Countess Rosina, Mary O'Farrell ; Panchetta, June Tobin ; Antonio, Norman Wynne ; Pedritto, Jon Rollason ; Don Gusman Brmdoisin , Eric Anderson ; with members of the BBC Drama Repertory Company
Music composed by Freddie Phillips Produced by R. D. SMITH