Sunday Feature

The Astor Place Riots

Sunday 18 June 2006 21:30-22:15 (Radio 3)

The curse of Macbeth, one of the most ill starred plays in theatrical history, took its greatest toll in the Astor Place riots in New York, one of the bloodiest riots ever to take place in the history of the United States.

On May 10,1849, US militia killed 23 people and wounded over 100. Was this just the unhappy climax of a longstanding feud between two actors? Not quite. Tim Pigott Smith traces the events on the streets of New York, looking at and beyond this pivotal moment, examining the tensions between nations and the antagonisms between classes in a city ripe for reform.

Duration:

45 minutes

Sunday Feature

Episode and Playlist Information

• 20 August 2006
• 7 Aug 06 Reviving Asmara
• 6 Aug 06 Francis Petrarch
• 9 Jul 06 Rembrandt 400
• 2 Jul 06 Beyond a Boundary
• 25 Jun 06 George Stubbs
• 18 Jun 06 Astor Place Riots
• 11 Jun 06 Oral history
• 4 June 2006
• 28 May 06 Maroon Rebels

Sunday Feature pages