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15 Minute Drama

The True Story of Bonnie Parker

Episode 1

Duration: 15 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 Extra

by Beatrice Colin

A new look at the story of Bonnie and Clyde. The True Story of Bonnie Parker uses historical sources to illustrate how a series of often disastrous decisions led the former waitress from Cement City to end up as one of America's most wanted criminals. It reveals how the press first celebrated and then reviled Bonnie Parker as her notoriety grew. Even during their lifetimes, the depiction of the couple in the press was at considerable odds with the reality of their life on the road. But most of all, this is about a doomed love affair, a twentieth century Romeo and Juliet, with guns.

Having dropped out of high school and married at 16, the young Bonnie Parker is working as a waitress. Her life is about to change-when she meets Clyde Barrow.

Other parts played by Liam Brennan, James Anthony Pearson and Rosalind Sydney.

Produced and directed by Gaynor Macfarlane. Show less

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