27 December 2004
The Rose and the Ring - a Fireside Pantomime by William Makepeace Thackeray
|
A delightful comedy of pride, gluttony, anger, sloth, greed, envy, lust and mistaken identity which works as fun for children and a sharp political satire for the grown ups.
Transcript
This transcript was typed from a recording of the program. The ABC cannot guarantee its complete accuracy because of the possibility of mishearing and occasional difficulty in identifying speakers.
In 1853 the English novelist and author of Vanity Fair spent Christmas with his two daughters in Rome staying at a boarding house, which catered for English visitors. Also staying there were a number of other small children and their governess.
In his prelude to The Rose and the Ring, Thackeray says that his story began as a series of character drawings he made to amuse the children. Then he and the governess, a Miss Bunch, made up the story between them about the adventures of the characters he had drawn. Chief amongst them Giglio, Bulbo, Rosalba, and Angelica who lived in the kingdoms of Paflagonia and Crim Tartary.
Concludes 15 January
Reader: Edgar Metcalfe
Sound engineer: Ian Manning
Produced by Gillian Berry
