Programme Index

Discover 11,128,835 listings and 279,799 playable programmes from the BBC

Modern Morality Tales

Envy by Duncan MacMillan & Effie Woods

Duration: 15 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC Radio 3Latest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 Extra

Available for years

Invidia has gone for a job interview at her old school, but her nemesis, Helen Polidora, is interviewing for the same role.

Helen always beats her at everything.

Will this time be different?

Inspired by medieval morality plays these stories take a look at sin in the modern world.

Writers Duncan MacMillan and Effie Woods explore a character consumed by envy.

In medieval times allegorical plays such as 'Mankind' and 'Everyman' were used to warn audiences that how they lived in the present would affect their afterlife - whether they would end up in Hell, Purgatory or Heaven.

But in a secular age how do we deal with the nature of sins and virtues? Our attitude to good and evil is certainly less black and white. Is it bad to be proud, don't we deserve respect? Can't anger be used to promote change for the better and isn't envy what drives our materialistic lifestyle?

These five tales explore our attitudes to these questions through the character of 'Eve', a 21st-century Everywoman, played by Rebecca Front.

Eve/Invidia ...... Rebecca Front
Jonathan ...... Alex Lowe
Headteacher ...... Susan Jameson
Helen ...... Adie Allen

Director: Sally Avens

First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in February 2016. Show less

Contributors

Genres

About this data

This data is drawn from the data stream that informs BBC's iPlayer and Sounds. The information shows what was scheduled to be broadcast, meaning it was/is subject to change and may not be accurate. More