Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Playwright whose epic, controversial works include 'The Romans in Britain' and 'A Short, Sharp Shock'; known for political theatre.
On the island
Eight records
The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1: Fugue No. 2 in C minor, BWV 847
I've always loved Bach. Very first record I had was of a Brandenburg concerto. And this is Fire and Ice.
L'incoronazione di Poppea: "Signor, deh non partire"
Sylvia McNair, Donna Brown & English Baroque Soloists, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner
Monteverdi's songs are very passionate and theatrical, and this is a wonderful example of Poppea trying to seduce Nero of all people.
Das Lied von der Erde: "Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde"
Fritz Wunderlich & Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Otto Klemperer
In the early days of VHS, of FM radio, I remember taking the family radio into the living room and hearing this for the first time. It blew my mind away.
Le nozze di Figaro: "E Susanna non vien! ... Dove sono i bei momenti"
Kiri Te Kanawa & London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Georg Solti
Peter Hall told me to listen to Mozart's operas. He said next to Shakespeare, Mozart was the great dramatist of of the European stage.
One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)
I'm a child of the sixties, and uh this is Bob Dylan. It's not a protest song by him, but it's him at his story telling best.
Symphony No. 14, Op. 135: V. "On the Watch" (O Delvig, Delvig!)
Evgeny Nesterenko & Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Kirill Kondrashin
For me, the composer of the century... This is him at his deepest. This is from under the permafrost in Russia, and it's a song for all the lost voices from his fourteenth symphony.
Spring Symphony, Op. 44: Part I: "The Morning Star"
Monteverdi Choir & Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner
And it sets Milton to to to music in the most beautiful way. I I I love Milton, but I'm not taking him on the island. And this will remind me of Miltonic glories.
Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten, BWV 202 (Wedding Cantata)Favourite
Lisa Larsson & Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Ton Koopman
simply because it's sexy and beautiful, and I return to Bach because he's my favourite composer.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:08So theatre is primarily an entertainment, is it, Howard, not a soap box?
Oh, yes, it's an entertainment. I think it's a kind of exorcism. We're trying to get rid of demons. And the Greeks believed it was part of public health.
Presenter asks
1:34How disappointed are you that you haven't [changed the world with your plays]?
Hugely disappointed. I think you should have to do it. … I think you should have massive ambitions as as as a playwright or in any walk of life. Um I don't see the point of doing it if if you don't. … Oh yes, quite obviously, yes. I think the world's gone backwards since I wrote uh began writing. In fact, I think my generation has not succeeded in a number of its projects.
Presenter asks
3:11Is there something of the preacher in you, do you think [because your father was a Methodist minister]?
Oh, you can't get rid of it. You can't get rid of Methodism like you can't get rid of Catholicism. Nor really do I want to, because there's something kindly and clear and good hearted about Methodism. You're taught to speak from the heart.
The keepsakes
The book
Geoffrey Chaucer
Because you wouldn't be able to people your head at least, if not the island, with wonderful characters.
The luxury
I'll take a bottle of wine. which I will drink. A year after being marooned, if I survive, so I take a bottle of Chateau Latrous, the most expensive wine in the world.
Presenter asks
6:03What was the scene [in The Romans in Britain] that upset Mary Whitehouse so much?
The scene was was uh a male rape scene between Roman soldiers. And young native British Celts. And what was really shocking about the scene was that the soldiers, the Roman soldiers tell jokes, and the audience enjoy the squatty jokes at first. And then you realise what you've been sucked into.
Presenter asks
24:49How do you collaborate [on plays]?
Comedies are are are are very good to write with someone else, because you have to try the jokes out on each other. And you get excited or something dies. You look into someone's eyes while you're telling this line, and if you see coldness, you know it's not working.
Presenter asks
33:20Do you think you'll give the whole business up [on the island]?
Um I don't know. I'll have to write in my head, or perform to myself. Maybe my the work would become dangerously psychological if I was alone. I don't think I'll deal with being alone very well, to be honest. … I think it dangerously could go to pieces, yes. … I work in the theatre. I'm a social animal. I like people around me. Theatre's a collaborative art. And uh suddenly to be alone on this beautiful but probably bug-infested island. Would give me a lot of personal problems, I think.
“I think the world's gone backwards since I wrote uh began writing. In fact, I think my generation has not succeeded in a number of its projects. I expected Britain to be a better country now.”
“You can't get rid of Methodism like you can't get rid of Catholicism. Nor really do I want to, because there's something kindly and clear and good hearted about Methodism. You're taught to speak from the heart.”
“I always think it's rather like living in a tenement, and there's this room called the theatre, it's a rather small room, and you can all go in there and bang on the on the pipes, and maybe you'll be heard in rooms elsewhere in the tenement.”
“I think you need a sense of irony when you work in the arts, or else you begin to take yourself too seriously and you turn into the latter day Tolstoy, or go balmy like Shaw did, and believe your press releases more than the stories that you're trying to tell.”