Doing Time: The Last Ballad of Reading Gaol
Famous as the setting of Oscar Wilde's bleak poem, Reading Gaol has closed after 170 years. Mike Walker's time-shifting drama lays bare its surprising and unsettling history.
A spine-chilling serial murderer, a controversial biscuit, a grand piano and a lesson in the art of a good hanging - Mike Walker's unsettling drama, made to mark the closure of Reading Gaol after 170 years, shows there's more to its story than Oscar Wilde's famous Ballad.
The play is a shocking reminder of the lengths society will go to in the name of justice - a fearful mixture of soul crushing isolation and the physical punishment of hard labour.
Oscar is on hand to give us some typically Wildean analysis. There are more Irish elements, too - republicans offering some rousing and organised resistance to the gaol's stark regime.
There's a visitation from the Ogress of Reading, a miscarriage of justice and, perhaps most shocking of all, we hear from one of the many children locked up for the kind of petty crime which is born mostly of poverty.
And, as Reading gaol's very last prisoner prepares for life on the outside - have things moved on?
Directed by Duncan McLarty.
Last on
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Interview with Annette Badland on 大象传媒 Berkshire
Andrew Peach interviews Annette Badland on about playing The Visitor in Doing Time
Clip
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"Doing time" feature
Duration: 04:23
Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| The Visitor | Annette Badland |
| Child | Nell Herrin |
| Maria | Nell Herrin |
| Jennings | Ifan Meredith |
| Oscar Wilde | Ifan Meredith |
| Darren | Jimmy Akingbola |
| Martin | Jonathan Forbes |
| Figgis | Jonathan Forbes |
| Governor | Gerard Horan |
| Calcott | Gerard Horan |
| Writer | Mike Walker |
| Director | Duncan McLarty |
Broadcast
- Thu 13 Mar 2014 14:15大象传媒 Radio 4
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