by JEAN COCTEAU
with Coral Browne as Jocasta, Albert Finney as Oedipus and Miles Malleson, Catherine Dolan, Heron Carvic
English version by CARL WILDMAN edited for radio in collaboration with H. B. Fortuin
Music by TRISTRAM CARY
' Listener, wound up here to the full so that the spring will slowly unwind the whole length of a human life, is one of the most perfect machines constructed by the infernal gods for the mathematical destruction of a human being.*
How Oedipus solves the riddle of the Sphinx and, through parricide and incest, is made to face human destiny in a world which could be ancient Greece or modern Europe.
Characters in order of speaking
Music with special effects by the Radiophonic Workshop conducted by the composer
Production by H. B. FORTUIN
DURING THE INTERVAL (9.26-9.35 app.) Movements from Andre Jolivet 's Delphic Suite played by an instrumental ensemble directed by the composer on a gramophone record