Original version

BBC Radio 4 LW

Drama on 4

Drama

Drama from BBC Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra.

BBC Radio 4 FM

Afternoon Drama

Christopher William Hill

Phyllida Law

Jeremy Clyde

William Beck

Benjamin Whitrow

Gunnar Cauthery

Marlene Sidaway

Kim Wall

Madeline Clements

Catherine Herriott

John Taylor

Drama on 4: Rhapsody

Rhapsody

29/07/2013

BBC Radio 4 - Drama on 4, Rhapsody

Sir Frederick Ashton, tormented by love, is asked to create a ballet for the Queen Mother.

While choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton is struggling with a teetering love affair, Princess Margaret asks him to create a new ballet for the 80th birthday of the Queen Mother.

In his early seventies, Sir Frederick Ashton, the celebrated dancer and choreographer, had for some time been living with the mercurial Martyn Thomas. It was a volatile relationship in which Ashton, by many years the older partner, had become increasingly insecure, adding to his fairly constant anxieties about maintaining the success of his glittering career, and making enough money to live on.

Over the years, Ashton had become fairly well connected to royalty and was an accustomed visitor to courtly bashes, where his fearless ability to entertain made him welcome. But it was the Queen Mother with whom he established a particular friendship, inspiring Princess Margaret to ask Ashton to commission a new ballet for her mother's 80th birthday. Ashton decided to use the music from Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini, with Leslie Collier and Mikhail Baryshnikov in the principal roles.

Christopher William Hill's poignant comedy, based on these events, imagines Ashton's struggles with a challenging commission and, simultaneously, his increasing difficulties in managing a fragmenting love affair. 


Cast: 
The Queen Mother.......................Phyllida Law
Sir Frederick Ashton.....................Jeremy Clyde
Martyn Thomas............................William Beck
William Chappell............................Benjamin Whitrow
Baryshnikov/Roberts....................Gunnar Cauthery
Ruth Fermoy/Interviewer..............Marlene Sidaway
Nicholls/Reporter .........................Kim Wall
Leslie Collier..................................Madeline Clements
Pianist...........................................Catherine Herriott


Written by Christopher William Hill

Produced and Directed by John Taylor
A Fiction Factory production for BBC Radio 4.

BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Drama on 4

Rhapsody

Contributors

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 4 LW

About BBC Radio 4