The Country Wife

Maggie Smith and Jonathan Pryce star in William Wycherley's raunchy Restoration comedy.

Considered too obscene to be staged in its original form for nearly 200 years, William Wycherley’s bawdy comedy tells the tale of Mr Horner - a notorious rake who spreads the false rumour that he is impotent in order to gain free access to other men’s wives.   When he meets the young, innocent Margery Pinchwife, the ‘country wife’ of the title, the scene is set for scandal...   This sparkling 1985 BBC Radio production stars Maggie Smith as Margery Pinchwife, with an all-star cast including Jonathan Pryce, John Duttine, John Moffatt, Harriet Walter and Michael Aldridge.   '... a delight for its sparking wit and the window it offers into Restoration manners and morals' - Times.

William Wycherley

Aphra Behn

John Dryden

George Etherege

Thomas Otway

Edward Ravenscroft

Derek Jacobi

Prunella Scales

Maggie Smith

Jonathan Pryce

Harriet Walter

Frances Jeater

Denys Hawthorne

Carleton Hobbs

Anna Massey

Full Cast

Nine BBC Radio Full Cast Productions including The Rover, The Country Wife and more

A sparkling collection of nine witty full-cast comedies from the early Restoration era 
 
Raunchy, risqué and rebellious, early Restoration comedies were a breath of fresh air for 17th century theatregoers. With Charles II restored to the throne in 1660, Oliver Cromwell's ban on stage performances was rescinded, and for the first time, women were invited to tread the boards as actresses. Playwrights developed a new style of social comedy, packed with amorous escapades, bawdy humour, wicked wit and sexual innuendo. 
 
This scintillating anthology showcases six leading lights of early Restoration drama, beginning with George Etherege, the creator of the 'comedy of manners': The Man of Mode, an irreverent portrait of the fops and libertines that populated London's beau monde; and She Wou'd If She Cou'd, a racy, fast-paced romp mocking society's double standards for men and women. Among the casts are Derek Jacobi, Anna Massey, Ian Richardson, Prunella Scales and Hattie Jacques. 
 
Also poking fun at hypocrisy and immorality was William Wycherley. However, his comedies were considered far more daring - especially The Country Wife, which was judged too obscene to be staged in its original form for over 200 years. Centred around a notorious rake who resorts to deception to pursue a naïve married woman, this effervescent BBC radio dramatisation stars Jonathan Pryce and Maggie Smith. 
 
Male playwrights were not the only ones penning scandalous dramas during this period. Aphra Behn, Britain's first professional female writer, was a poet, spy and the most prolific playwright of the 1670s and '80s. Her sex comedy The Rover, featured here, revolves around love, lust, intrigue and mistaken identity, and stars Julia Ford, Suzan Sylvester and Juliet Aubrey. 
 
England's first Poet Laureate, John Dryden, dominated Restoration literature to such an extent that it came to be known as the Age of Dryden. His 1677 play All For Love, a powerful reworking of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, is regarded as his finest work. John Turner and Barbara Jefford star in this heroic tragedy. 
 
A rival of Dryden, Edward Ravenscroft was the first British playwright to introduce characters from the 'commedia dell' arte' into his farces. His seminal comedy The London Cuckolds, featuring three ridiculous husbands, three beautiful wives, and one dissolute young cad, was hugely popular, and this BBC adaptation retains all the original's ribald wit. It stars Carleton Hobbs, Norman Shelley and Madi Hedd. 
 
Thomas Otway achieved his greatest success in the last five years of his life. Three of his acclaimed works appear here: his 1683 comedy The Soldier's Fortune and its sequel The Atheist, focussing on disbanded army officers looking for sex and money, and his masterpiece Venice Preserved, a dark political thriller about power, revolution, love and betrayal. The ensemble casts feature Dennis Quilley, John Rowe, Michael Turner and Donald Wolfit. 
 
Content list 
 
The Man of Mode 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 27 Jun 1986 
 
She Wou'd If She Cou'd 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 6 Sep 1968 
 
The Country Wife 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 22 Dec 1985 
 
The Rover 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 22 Jan 1995 
 
All For Love 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 7 Jul 1983 
 
The London Cuckolds 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 30 Dec 1974 
 
The Soldier's Fortune 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 24 May 1981 
 
The Atheist 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 31 May 1981 
 
Venice Preserved 
First broadcast BBC Third Programme, 10 Aug 1960 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Humour and Madness: Early Restoration Comedies

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