BBC Radio 4 production of Dame Ivy's Mother & Son
- anewton2
- Jul 18
- 1 min read
Updated: Oct 10
Sat 27th Apr 2002, 21:00 on BBC Radio 4 FM
Mother & Son by Ivy Compton-Burnett
Dramatised in two parts by Maria Aitken and broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2002 as part of their Classic Serial productions.
Dame Ivy Compton-Burnett's dark comedy about filial devotion and maternal domination, of betrayal and the denial of love, and the misuse of power within a family. Created in two parts.
Music by Howard Davidson : Director Maria Aitken ; Producer Marilyn Imrie
CONTRIBUTORS
Director: Maria Aitken
Music By: Howard Davidson
Producer: Marilyn Imrie
CAST
Miranda: Anna Massey
Julius: Oliver Ford Davies
Rosebery: Bill Nighy
Emma: Joanna David
Hester: Samantha Bond
Miss Burke: Imelda Staunton
Bates: Sarah Badel
Francis: Ed Rice
Alice: Lauren Bird
Adela: Tracey Wiles
On the page, I remember it as dense, grim but curiously thrilling. On the air, it is densely atmospheric grimly funny and utterly gripping. Anna Massey, brilliant as the matriarch who envelopes and intimidates her whole household, was balanced by Joanna David, Samantha Bond and Imelda Staunton as the women who struggle in her long shadow. When it ended, it left ghosts lingering in my kitchen.
Review by The Daily Telegraph's Gillian Reynolds
