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 careerThornton 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 creditsWritten by Thornton WilderCopyright (c) 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 ThinkingPresented by Anne McElvoyWith David CromerProduced by Zahid WarleyFirst broadcast BBC Radio 3, 16 October 2014Our TownStage Manager - Ed BishopDr Gibbs - William RobertsMrs Gibbs - Liza RossGeorge Gibbs - Ben FairmanRebecca Gibbs - Teresa GallagherMr Webb - Garrick HagonMrs Webb/Dead Woman - Shelley ThompsonEmily Webb - Barbara BarnesJoe Crowell/Si Crowell - Tom BevanWith Vincent Marzello, Peter Whitman, John Evitts and Frances JeaterDirected by David HitchinsonFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 1 July 1995The Bridge of San Luis ReyMadre Maria del Pilar - Annette BadlandUncle Pio - Michael FeastJaime/Boy - Frederick ForgeBrother Juniper/Captain Alvarado - Robert GlenisterEsteban/Manuel - Tom Goodman-HillPepita/Dona Clara - Jasmine HydeCamila, la Perichole - Helen McCroryMarquesa de Montemayor - Sian PhillipsDramatised by Judith AdamsDirected by Gaynor MacFarlaneFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 12 May 2002The Ides of MarchNarrator - Patrick TullCaesar - Robert HardyBrutus - Sean BarrettClodia - Margaret RobertsonCleopatra - Elizabeth ProudPompeia, Caesar's wife - Patricia GallimoreJulia, Caesar's aunt - Betty HardyClodius - Nigel LambertCatullus - David SpenserAdapted for radio by Nesta Pain from the play by Jerome KiltyProduced by Nesta PainFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 17 August 1970Heaven's My DestinationRead by Ed BishopFirst broadcast BBC Radio 3, 17 April 1997Front RowPresented by Mark LawsonWith David Lan and Mel GussowProduced by Nicki PaxmanFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 4 March 2004Copyright (c) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.