Shakespeare - Venus and Adonis

Venus and Adonis
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A performance of the poem with no adaptation or new writing, broadcast in the week of what is commonly held to have been Shakespeare's birthday.

The poem is Shakespeare's retelling of a myth made popular through contemporary translations of Ovid's Metamorphoses. The goddess Venus tries desperately to seduce the beautiful young mortal Adonis, but fails. He rebuffs her advances. The next day Adonis goes hunting and is killed by his intended quarry, a wild boar. Venus weeps for him and prophesies that, from this time on, the romances of mortals will be beset by misunderstanding and sorrow. At this, Adonis' body metamorphoses into a flower. Venus takes the flower and puts it against her breast. This production is a rare chance for the listener to hear Shakespeare’s exquisite poem about desire and loss.

Narrator ... Nicholas Boulton
Venus ...... Claire Skinner
Adonis ..... Chris Moran

Violinist: Anne Wood

Director: Sara Benaim
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This is a two-part ZIP archive

Shakespeare - Venus and Adonis (BBC).z01

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