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The Sweetest Young Man in Perugia

Episode 6 of 10

A young bride’s marriage seems flat. Until she and her husband both meet the sweetest man in Perugia. Stars Tim McInnerny.

Terry Jones introduces another tasty Renaissance tale, starring Tim McInnerny as a husband with a dissatisfied young wife.

The one hundred stories which make up Giovanni Boccaccio’s humane and comic masterpiece, come from all over the world.

They are vividly reset by Boccaccio among the flourishing merchant classes in the cities of Renaissance Italy. But their witty, satirical, bawdy voice sounds utterly modern, and their subjects - love, fate, sex, religion, morality - are universal.

“Tricks that women play on men.”

A young bride can’t work out why her marriage seems flat. Until she and her husband both meet the sweetest young man in Perugia.

Pietro ..... Tim McInnerny
Madam ..... Hannah Genesius
Pandara ..... Jane Slavin
Masetto ..... Monty d’Inverno
Ercolano ..... David Acton

Adapted by Robin Brooks
Music arranged and performed by Robert Hollingworth and Paula Chateauneuf
Lyric translations by Silvia Reseghetti
Script consultant: Guyda Armstrong
Produced and directed by Jonquil Panting

First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in December 2014.

15 minutes

On radio

Mon 19 Jan 202606:45
BBC Radio 4 Extra

More episodes

Previous

Kind Hearts and Bayonets

Next

The Wager

See all episodes from Decameron Nights: Ten Italian Indelicacies Remixed from Boccaccio

Credits

WriterGiovanni Boccaccio
AdaptorRobin Brooks
PerformerRobert Hollingworth
PerformerPaula Chateauneuf
PietroTim McInnerny
MadamHannah Genesius
PandaraJane Slavin
MasettoMonty d'Inverno
ErcolanoDavid Acton
ProducerJonquil Panting
DirectorJonquil Panting

Broadcasts

  • Mon 8 Dec 201422:45
    BBC Radio 3
  • Mon 19 Jan 202606:45
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Mon 19 Jan 202611:45
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Mon 19 Jan 202617:45
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Tue 20 Jan 202601:45
    BBC Radio 4 Extra