A BBC Radio full-cast production

Under Milk Wood

A classic BBC Radio full-cast production of Dylan Thomas' poetic play for voices, starring Richard Burton as the narrator.

'To begin at the beginning: it is spring, moonless night in the small town, starless and bible-black...' When Richard Burton breathed the opening words of Under Milk Wood into a microphone, broadcasting history was made. For this 'play for voices' conjures up the intimate dreams and waking lives of the inhabitants of a Welsh seaside village in a remarkable way. It is bawdy and beautiful; its colourful characters lust and love, gossip and fantasise. Through the magic of language, Under Milk Wood creates a rich modern pastoral which, once heard, touches the listener with its poetry and haunts the imagination for ever. This radio drama is the completed version broadcast in 1963 which includes several passages that were omitted from the first recording in 1954.

'To begin at the beginning: it is spring, moonless night in the small town, starless and bible-black...' When Richard Burton breathed the opening words of Under Milk Wood into a microphone, broadcasting history was made. For this 'play for voices' conjures up the intimate dreams and waking lives of the inhabitants of a Welsh seaside village in a remarkable way. It is bawdy and beautiful; its colourful characters lust and love, gossip and fantasise. Through the magic of language, Under Milk Wood creates a rich modern pastoral which, once heard, touches the listener with its poetry and haunts the imagination for ever. This radio drama is the completed version broadcast in 1963 which includes several passages that were omitted from the first recording in 1954.

Chelsea Dreaming

A quizzical look at the life and legend of celebrated poet Dylan Thomas, through the critical eyes of the infamous Chelsea Hotel. In Room 206 of the Chelsea Hotel in New York, Dylan Thomas went into the coma that led to his death. On this particular night, listening to its own ghosts and memories, the Chelsea hotel encounters Dylan Thomas. Together they chart the path of the poet's life, from the inspired work of his early years to a gradual decline into alcohol which culminated in the pathetic boast 'I have just had 18 whiskies. I think that is the record', before his final collapse. For the Chelsea, the wild behaviour, the addictions and the indulgences are irrelevant if they accompany artistic exploration. What is harder to forgive is excess to the point of destroying a unique talent. Written by D.J. Britton.

Dylan Thomas

A Play for Voices

'It is spring, moonless night in the small town, starless and bible-black...' 
 
Under Milk Wood tells the story of a Welsh village during one spring day. It is populated by some of the best-loved characters in British literature. Lyrical, funny, moving, it is rooted in place but with a universality that has spoken to generations of readers. A Welsh epic, a work of poetic genius, a modern classic. 
 
'A tour de force of oral poetry which oozes word pictures and onomatopoeic musicality' Guardian

Dylan Thomas

Under Milk Wood

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