Darkness

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Michael Symmons Roberts’ drama shines a light on Byron's poem ‘Darkness’

Lord Byron’s famous poem Darkness written in 1816  known as ‘the year without a summer’ is interwoven with Byron’s own inner turbulence in Michael Symmons Roberts' drama.

The summer of 1816 was known as the ‘year without a summer’. It was a summer of great, even apocalyptic, turmoil in the world and in Byron's own life. 1816 saw meteorological conditions across Europe unknown in modern times; the eruption of Mount Tambora had created so much ash that the sun was blocked out, and abnormal conditions held Europe in terror throughout that summer. 

Michael Symmons Roberts’ drama, set in that dark summer in the Villa Diodati on the shores of Lake Geneva, interweaves Lord Byron’s famous poem 'Darkness' with the story of Byron’s own turbulent summer.  Exiled from England by a scandalous incestuous relationship with his half sister and hounded by journalists, the weather seemed to reflect Byron's internal crisis and provided inspiration for his vivid narrative poem. As Byron writes his poem conjuring an apocalyptic vision of a world where, one day and without warning, the sun fails to appear, he experiences his own darkness and catharsis. 

Drama written by Michael Symmons Roberts interwoven with Lord Byron’s poem Darkness

LORD BYRON.....Alfred Enoch
AGNES MARCH.....Daisy Head
JOHN POLIDORI.....Ashley Margolis

Sound Design by Steve Brooke

Directed by Nadia Molinari

A BBC Audio Drama North Production

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