The Heart of A Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov

[Riklaa]

The Heart of A Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov

BBC Word Service: Play of the Week

Broadcast: Saturday 8th October 1988

A rich, successful Moscow professor befriends a stray dog and attempts a scientific first by transplanting into it the testicles and pituitary gland of a recently deceased man. A distinctly worryingly human animal is now on the loose, and the professor's hitherto respectable life becomes a nightmare beyond endurance. Absurd and superbly comic, this classic story can also be interpreted as a fierce parable of the Russian Revolution.

Mikhail Bulgakov's 1925 novella,"The Heart of a Dog", was translated from the Russian by Michael Glenny and adapted for radio by Brian Wright.

Charles Kay ............... Professor Preobrazhensky
Andrew Sachs ....................... Sharik, the dog
Steve Hodson ............... Doctor I. A. Bormenthal
Peter Craze ........................... Mr. Shvonder
Joanna Mackie ........................ Zina Petrovna
Norman Bird ................ Fyodor Pavlovich Sablin
Jill Fenner ......................... Darya Petrovna
Ian Targett ................... The Secret Policeman

Other parts were played by members of the cast.

Directed by David Hitchinson

Re-broadcast on Sunday 15th January 2006 @ 9:30 p.m. on BBC Word Service: Play of the Week in their season of Award Winners from the Play of the Week archive.

In "The Heart of a Dog", Andrew Sachs won the 1989 Sony Gold for Best Actor for his performance as Sharik, the dog.

The Heart of A Dog Link

[Reuben Bright]

Thanks so much Rick, Bulgakov is a far more important writer for me than Joyce.

[Riklaa]

You are very much welcome Reuben.  ------------------  Rick

[Mike Hobart]

Look forward to hearing this -- I'm a great fan of "The Master and Margarita"

[Robert]

Now that is a strange plot !!

[Riklaa]

Posted by a strange person.

[Steve Kostelecky]

Thanks, Rick. This sounds fascinating.