Original version

BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

BBC Radio 3

Radio 3

Drama on 3

Drama

Series of drama performances, ranging from experimental works to the Classics

Johann von Goethe

Samuel West

Toby Jones

Anna Maxwell Martin

Derek Jacobi

Stephen Critchlow

Joannah Tincey

Peter Kenny

Sean Barrett

Roger Marsh

Norman Goodman

David Timson

Nicolas Soames

Drama on 3: 19/09/2010

Faust

19/09/2010

BBC Radio 3 - Drama on 3, 19/09/2010

Faust is tempted into a contract with the Devil and his life is changed.

Faust is tempted into a contract with the Devil. He plunges into the enjoyment of sensuality until his emotions are stirred by a meeting with Gretchen, leading to a tragic outcome.

By Johann Wolfgang Goethe, translated by John R. Williams, with Samuel West as Faust, Toby Jones as Mephistopheles, Anna Maxwell Martin as Gretchen and Derek Jacobi as The Lord. Adapted and directed by David Timson, with music composed by Roger Marsh.

Goethe's Faust, one of the pillars of Western literature, is presented in a dramatisation by David Timson. In Part 1, following an agreement between Mephistopheles and The Lord, the scholar Faust is tempted into a contract with the Devil. His life is changed and he plunges into the enjoyment of sensuality until his emotions are stirred by a meeting with Gretchen, leading to a tragic outcome. Part 2, written much later in Goethe's life, presents a series of episodic scenes in which the poet places his eponymous hero in a variety of surprising circumstances reflecting the predicament of humanity. Funny, reflective and moving, this dramatisation shows why Goethe's Faust had such a massive influence on Western culture.

Faust ..... Samuel West
Mephistopheles ..... Toby Jones
Gretchen ..... Anna Maxwell Martin
The Lord ..... Derek Jacobi
Wagner (Faust's assistant) ..... Stephen Critchlow
Martha ..... Joannah Tincey
Valentin (Gretchen's brother) ..... Peter Kenny
Helen ..... Emily Raymond
The Emperor ..... Gunnar Cauthery
The Earth Spirit and Thales ..... Sean Barrett
Lord Chancellor and Anaxagoras ..... Hugh Dickson
Homunculus ..... Anne-Marie Piazza
Nereus ..... Gerard Horan
Chiron and Proteus ..... Gunnar Cauthery
Manto and Panthalis ..... Auriol Smith
Lynceus ..... Peter Kenny
Care ..... Emily Raymond 
Euphorion ..... Daniel Mair


Music by Roger Marsh
Musicians: The 24, directed by the composer with Peyee Chen (soprano) Georgina Wells (harp) and Mark Hutchinson (oboe) 
Sound Design and Additional Music by Norman Goodman.
Adapted and Directed by David Timson.
Producer: Nicolas Soames.
An Ukemi Production for Radio 3.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Drama on 3

19/09/2010

Contributors

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 3

About BBC Radio 3