The Milk of Paradise by Henri Alain-Fournier

[Riklaa]

The Milk of Paradise
from the 1913 novel 'Le Grand Meaulnes' by Henri Alain-Fournier
translated, adapted and produced by Barbara Bray

First broadcast 12 January 1959, Home Service
This recording: 21 July 1975, 20.00, The Monday Play
Re-broadcast 27 July 1975, Afternoon Theatre

The 1959 production ran about 9 minutes longer than the 1975 repeat

80/22; 50.6 MB; sound quality good

At the turn of the twentieth century in a small village in rural France, Augustin Meaulnes is a new arrival at the school run by Franois Seurel's parents.

Impulsive, reckless and heroic, Meaulnes embodies the romantic ideal, the search for the unobtainable, and the mysterious world between childhood and adulthood.

"...A clever and bewitching tale of a young man's dream of happiness. Meaulnes' night at the old chateau, his brief but fateful encounter with the lovely Yvonne during a fancy dress party held for a vanished bride, seems to his friend Francois, the narrator, the very stuff of fantasy. Yet time is to prove it real - for Francois, the watcher over four lives - too real". (Radio Times)

Cast:
Francois Seurel ..................Timothy Bateson
Augustin Meaulnes ................. Albert Finney
Yvonne de Galais ................... Clare Austin
Jasmin Delouche ...................... John Scott
M. Sourel ...................... Frederick Treves
Mme. Seurel ................... Catherine Salkeld
Great-aunt Moinel ................. Dorothy Green
Frantz de Galais .................   Lyndon Brook
Mme. Meaulnes ....................... Mary Morell
Desnoues, the blacksmith /Florentin ... Frank Windsor
M. de Galais/Man ............. Duncan McIntyre
Ganache/Doctor .................. John Cazabon
Firmin ........ ................. David Spenser
Marie Louise/Girl 1 ........ Patricia Leventon
Peasant Woman/Girl 2 .......... Hilda Schroder
Boy 1 .......................... Anthony Adams
Boy 2 ...........................Jean England
Boy 3 ............................Peter Wilde
Boy 4 ..........................Clive Parritt

Incidental music composed by Elizabeth Poston
conducted by Douglas Robinson
The music was recorded for an earlier production of this play in the Third Programme, 29 January 1956

The Milk of Paradise Link

[abby]

Thanks, Rick!