Family Voices (1981)

Family Voices (1980)

Channel	BBC Radio 3
Broadcast Date	22 January 1981
Broadcast time	22:00:00
Length (minutes)	40
Series	Unknown
Episode
Description	Members of the National Theatre perform this new play by Pinter. The same cast went on to perform Family Voices at the NT's Lyttleton Theatre on 13 and 17 February 1981. This radio production appears to be the one repeated on 7 October 1990, as part of Radio 3's 'Harold Pinter at 60 - A Birthday Party' series of programmes. Family Voices was the first play of Pinter's to be given its premiere on Radio 3 since 1968, when Landscape went on air after its being refused a stage license by the Lord Chamberlain. According to materials in Pinter's Archive, rehearsals took place between 10.30-18.00 on Thursday 8 January 1981, Studio B11, B.H. (presumed Broadcasting House) and a rehearsal and the recording took place between 10.30-1900 on Friday 9 January 1981 in Studio 6A, B.H. (presumed Broadcasting House). A recording of this broadcast is available on the UbuWeb website. It is unclear if this is a licensed release.
Language	English

Linked Productions

Family Voices (Stage Premiere: National Theatre) (1981)

Notes:

Linked People

Peter Hall (1930 - 2017)

Creative | Director

John Tydeman (1936 - 2020)

Production | Producer

Linked Organisations

BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) (Cultural Institution | Est. 1922)

Producer.

Royal National Theatre (Producing & Receiving House | Est. 1963)

South Bank, London SE1 9PX, England

Producer.

Characters

Voice 1 (Age: Not Specified, Male)

The Radio Times entry named this character 'The son'.

Performer: Michael Kitchen (1948)

Voice 2 (Age: Not Specified, Female)

The Radio Times entry named this character 'The mother'.

Performer: Peggy Ashcroft (1907 - 1991)

Voice 3 (Age: Not Specified, Male)

The Radio Times entry named this character 'The father'.

Performer: Mark Dignam (1909 - 1989)

Linked Awards

No award have been added to this production record yet.

Resources

BBC genome entry for this broadcast (URL)

Type: Website

External Link: https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/6e3211d6c6224202bf56db39edcf33db

Sources

'Radio's pride ... a play a day', by Paul Vallely

Radio Times, 15 January 1981, pp. 72-74

Magazine article

Photograph

BBC Photograph Library

Archival materials

Shoring, from L to R, Pinter, Hall, Ashcroft, Dignam and Kitchen.

Family Voices (listing and illustration)

Radio Times, 15 January 1981, pp. 60-61

Magazine

Family Voices (listing)

Radio Times, 4 October 1990, p. 68

Magazine

For the 1990 repeat of this production.

The British Library Modern Manuscripts, The Harold Pinter Archive, 'Family Voices. Add MS 88880/1/20

https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/data/gb58-addms88880/addms88880/1/20

Library archive

Contains rehearsal scrip and details of rehearsal and recording

The British Library Modern Manuscripts, The Harold Pinter Archive. 'Book 17' [Pinter's scrapbook]; Jan. 1981-Jan. 1982. Add MS 88880/8/17

https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/data/gb58-addms88880/addms88880/8/17

Library archive

Transcript of BBC Performance Preview: Information (in Description field) about Family Voices and Landscape on the BBC taken from Michael Billngton's commentary in the preview discussion.