Thornton Wilder: Our Town, The Bridge of San Luis Rey & More

Four of Thornton Wilder's most acclaimed works, adapted for BBC Radio - plus bonus material exploring his life and career Thornton Wilder is one of America's most important literary figures. He won the Pulitzer Prize three times - for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and the plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth - and is the only person to be awarded the Pulitzer for both fiction and drama. Included here are four of his key works, set in different times and places, but sharing the same fundamental motifs - the universality of human experience and our search for life's meaning. Our Town, his timeless tale of love, marriage, birth and death in a small American community, stars Ed Bishop, William Roberts and Liza Ross. It is preceded by a 10-minute introductory extract from Free Thinking, in which presenter Anne McElvoy and actor/director David Cromer discuss the play's themes and techniques. Wilder's masterpiece, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, tells the story of the five victims of a bridge collapse, and the eyewitness who sets out to understand why they were fated to die. A poignant philosophical fable, it features a stellar cast including Annette Badland, Robert Glenister, Tom Goodman-Hill and Helen McCrory. Adapted from the play by Jerome Kilty, The Ides of March is based on Wilder's epistolary novel centred around the last days of the Roman republic, and stars Robert Hardy as Julius Caesar. Next, Ed Bishop reads from Heaven's My Destination, the comic tale of an amateur philosopher who leaves a trail of chaos wherever he goes. Finally, in a fascinating episode of Front Row, Mark Lawson, theatre director David Lan and New York Times theatre critic Mel Gussow discuss how Wilder became a literary icon, and launched a quiet revolution in American theatre. Cast and credits Written by Thornton Wilder Copyright © by The Wilder Family LLC 1927 (The Bridge of San Luis Rey), 1935 (Heaven's My Destination), 1938 (Our Town), 1948 (The Ides of March) Free Thinking Presented by Anne McElvoy With David Cromer Produced by Zahid Warley First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 16 October 2014 Our Town Stage Manager - Ed Bishop Dr Gibbs - William Roberts Mrs Gibbs - Liza Ross George Gibbs - Ben Fairman Rebecca Gibbs - Teresa Gallagher Mr Webb - Garrick Hagon Mrs Webb/Dead Woman - Shelley Thompson Emily Webb - Barbara Barnes Joe Crowell/Si Crowell - Tom Bevan With Vincent Marzello, Peter Whitman, John Evitts and Frances Jeater Directed by David Hitchinson First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 1 July 1995 The Bridge of San Luis Rey Madre Maria del Pilar - Annette Badland Uncle Pio - Michael Feast Jaime/Boy - Frederick Forge Brother Juniper/Captain Alvarado - Robert Glenister Esteban/Manuel - Tom Goodman-Hill Pepita/Dona Clara - Jasmine Hyde Camila, la Perichole - Helen McCrory Marquesa de Montemayor - Sian Phillips Dramatised by Judith Adams Directed by Gaynor MacFarlane First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 12 May 2002 The Ides of March Narrator - Patrick Tull Caesar - Robert Hardy Brutus - Sean Barrett Clodia - Margaret Robertson Cleopatra - Elizabeth Proud Pompeia, Caesar's wife - Patricia Gallimore Julia, Caesar's aunt - Betty Hardy Clodius - Nigel Lambert Catullus - David Spenser Adapted for radio by Nesta Pain from the play by Jerome Kilty Produced by Nesta Pain First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 17 August 1970 Heaven's My Destination Read by Ed Bishop First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 17 April 1997 Front Row Presented by Mark Lawson With David Lan and Mel Gussow Produced by Nicki Paxman First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 4 March 2004 Copyright © 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.