British Comedy Guide
William Shakespeare
Cymbeline

Cymbeline

  • Radio comedy drama
  • BBC Radio 3
  • 2024
  • 1 episode

Modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare's late tragicomedy. Stars Michael Maloney, Lydia Wilson, Daniel Rock, Philip Arditti, Amanda Lawrence and more.

F
X
R
W
E
William Shakespeare

Key details

Genre
Comedy Drama
Broadcast
2024
Channel
BBC Radio 3
Episodes
1
Stars
Michael Maloney, Lydia Wilson, Daniel Rock, Philip Arditti, Amanda Lawrence, Will Close, Greta Scacchi, Ayesha Dharker and more
Writers
William Shakespeare and Emma Harding
Director
Emma Harding
Company

Shakespeare's exhilarating late play of lovers under strain and leaders under pressure. Staged in an alternative present-day Britain.

An ineffectual ruler governs a divided, insular Britain, alienated from the rest of Europe. That ruler, Cymbeline, refuses to pay the taxes demanded by a foreign power, clinging to mythical notions of sovereignty. "Britain's a world by itself and we will nothing pay for wearing our own noses." But Cymbeline's judgement is clouded by grief, having lost his two older children as babies. When his daughter Imogen rebels and marries boyfriend Posthumus in secret, Cymbeline is enraged and banishes Posthumus. But waiting in the wings is a power-hungry figure, plotting to seize control by any means necessary.

Catch-up

Additional details

Also known as
  • Drama On 3: Cymbeline
Soundtrack
Original music composed by Joseph Howard, performed by Zak Ghazi-Torbati, Joseph Howard and Eosaph Caimbeul.

Broadcast details

First broadcast
Sunday 28th April 2024 at 8pm on BBC Radio 3
Episode length
120 minutes

Share this page