Chiwetel Ejiofor

A collection of acclaimed radio retellings of Greek and Roman myths

Andrew Rissik's powerful, uncompromising reimagining's of classic tales from Roman and Greek history were hailed as masterpieces when they first aired on BBC radio. Told in contemporary speech, they revitalised the ancient myths, making them fresh, relevant and accessible to a modern-day audience. This collection brings them together on audio for the first time, with stellar casts including Michael Sheen, Paul Scofield, Lindsay Duncan, David Harewood, Eleanor Bron, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Diana Rigg, Roger Allam, Toby Stephens, Anton Lesser and Robert Hardy.

The Troy Trilogy - Praised by one critic as 'the greatest radio drama [anyone] could ever hear', this three-play sequence tells the tragic, timeless tale of the events leading up to and following the fall of Troy. In King Priam and His Sons, a child is born to Priam and his wife Hekabe, but the gods foretell disaster if he is allowed to live... The Death of Achilles resumes the story in the final year of the war, as Achilles quarrels with his supreme commander, Agamemnon. And in Helen at Ephesus, Troy has fallen, and as Agamemnon returns to face the judgement of his wronged wife Klytemnestra, Menelaos and Helen must begin the long spiritual journey towards forgiveness and self-knowledge.

Dionysos - Based on Euripides' The Bacchae, this dark, provocative drama is the first of three plays examining the conflict between religion and state. Charismatic cult leader Dionysos arrives in Thebes preaching a gospel of wine and ecstasy. Threatened by his popularity, King Pentheus orders his arrest...

The Art of Love - The second of the three-play cycle sees Roman poet Ovid sent into exile when his subversive ideas about love and freedom challenge the authority of the ageing Emperor Augustus.

Resurrection - In the final play of the trilogy, the Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, clashes with troublesome, itinerant preacher Yeshua Ben Youssef.

Cast and credits
Written by Andrew Rissik
Directed by Jeremy Mortimer

The Troy Trilogy
Toby Stephens, James Hayes, Oliver Cotton, Ian Hogg, Emma Fielding, Cassandra Sperry, Deborah Findlay, Michael Maloney, Geraldine Somerville, Paul Scofield, Lindsay Duncan, James Laurenson, Geoffrey Whitehead, Abigail Docherty, Jean-Marc Perret, Michael Sheen, Saeed Jaffrey, David Harewood, Julian Glover, Eleanor Bron
Music by Nick Russell Pavier and David Chilton.
Singer: Mia Soteriou.
First broadcast BBC Radio 3: 28 November 1998 (King Priam and His Sons), 29 November 1998 (The Death of Achilles, Helen at Ephesus)

Dionysos
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Toby Stephens, Paul Scofield, Diana Rigg, Roger Allam, Pip Donaghy, Bruce Purchase, Jeffery Kissoon, Trevor Martin, Anna Carteret, Mali Harries, Yolanda Vazquez & Mia Soteriou
Music by Mia Soteriou.
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 20 April 2003

The Art of Love/Resurrection
Stephen Dillane, Juliet Aubrey, Penny Downie, Robert Hardy, Peter Eyre, Ian McNeice, James Laurenson, Ioan Meredith, Damian Lynch, Anton Lesser, David Calder, Julia Ford, Sam Dastor, Raad Rawi, John Rowe, Mia Soteriou, Chris Moran, James Hayes, Jon Glover and Danny Sapani
Music by Mia Soteriou.
Musicians: Mia Soteriou, Steve Bentley Kline, Merlin Shepherd, William Lyons
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 11 April 2004

Piranesi lives in the House. Perhaps he always has. In his notebooks, day after day, he makes a clear and careful record of its wonders: the labyrinth of halls, the thousands upon thousands of statues, the tides that thunder up staircases, the clouds that move in slow procession through the upper halls. On Tuesdays and Fridays Piranesi sees his friend, the Other. At other times he brings tributes of food to the Dead. But mostly, he is alone.

Messages begin to appear, scratched out in chalk on the pavements. There is someone new in the House. But who are they and what do they want? Are they a friend or do they bring destruction and madness as the Other claims? Lost texts must be found; secrets must be uncovered. The world that Piranesi thought he knew is becoming strange and dangerous.