Episode 4
Eleanor Bron reads from Michael Holroyd's biography of Ellen Terry and Henry Irving. Lady Macbeth was perhaps Ellen's greatest ever role, but her relationship with Irving suffered.
Eleanor Bron reads from Michael Holroyd's biography of Ellen Terry and Henry Irving, two greats of the Victorian stage.
Despite Ellen's fears that the role of Lady Macbeth was beyond her capabilities, her performance was perhaps her greatest ever role. But after Macbeth, her relationship with Irving became more and more distant and her roles less and less demanding. The Lyceum suffered failure after failure, with Irving seemingly out of touch with contemporary trends as he ignored the work of modern playwrights such as Ibsen, Shaw and Wilde. The fortunes of the great theatre began to look very precarious.
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Broadcasts
- Thu 18 Sep 200809:45BBC Radio 4 FM
- Fri 19 Sep 200800:30BBC Radio 4
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