Yesterday I completed listening to Vivat Rex and its one of the best drama experiences I've had. Coincidentally this morning in the post I received the accompanying booklet published in the seventies which has a nice introductions from producer Marin Jenkins and composer Christopher Whelan, a map with notable places, a useful family tree and a synopsis for each of the episodes.
What it doesn't have is a simple list of which plays constitute which episodes so I've produced that list below.
Why is this useful?
The whole of Vivat Rex is available to download on AudioGo at £1.84 an episode. To buy the whole lot would be £47.84 which is still a bargain but you could understand if someone might want to pick and choose individual plays, especially since as I mentioned the other day, Vivat Rex includes rare dramatisations of Edward II, Edward III, Thomas of Woodstock and Perkin Warbeck albeit in abbreviated versions.
Vivat Rex: At a Glance.
1/26 The King's Favourite
Edward II
2/26 Revenge
Edward II
3/26 Obsession
Edward II / Edward III
4/26 The Black Prince
Edward III / Woodstock
5/26 Treason
Woodstock / Richard II
6/26 King of Snow
Richard II
7/26 Victims
Richard II / Famous Victories of Henry V / Henry IV, pt 1
8/26 Vulgar Company
Henry IV, pt 1
9/26 Rebellion
Henry IV, pt 1 / Henry IV, pt 2
10/26 Corruption
Henry IV, pt 2
11/26 Deception
Henry IV, pt 2
12/26 Tennis Balls
Henry IV, pt 2 / Henry V
13/26 Harfleur
Henry V
14/26 St. Crispin's Day
Henry V
15/26 Joan of Arc
Henry V / Henry VI, pt 1
16/26 The White Rose - And The Red
Henry VI, pt 1
17/26 Witchcraft
Henry VI, pt 1 / Henry VI, pt 2
18/26 Jack Cade
Henry VI, pt 2
19/26 The Paper Crown
Henry VI, pt 2 / Henry VI, pt 3
20/26 Warwick The Kingmaker
Henry VI, pt 3
21/26 The Tower
Henry VI, pt 3 / Richard III
22/26 The Little Princes
Richard III
23/26 Ghosts
Richard III / Perkin Warbeck
24/26 The Pretender
Perkin Warbeck
25/26 Divorce
Henry VIII
26/26 Elizabeth
Henry VIII
Some notes:
The Edward III, Woodstock and Perkin Warbeck are heavily truncated and edited for the elements which reflect most on the Shakespeare/Marlowe portions of the piece. That said, the Henry VIII though also shorter is coherent in and of itself. The Famous Victories of Henry V contributes is just one scene.
The episodes are available here.
The above information is on the individual programme pages but I still hope you'll find this at a glance version.
1 comment:
This was a sunday night fix for me as an adolescent. I remember "Richard 3rd" being very spooky. Am delighted to be able to hear the whole thing again at leisure now its out on CD.
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