Episode details
Available for over a year
by Alessandro Manzoni, adapted for radio by Eileen Horne The Betrothed (I Promessi Sposi) is an icon of Italian literature as well as the country’s most popular novel. In it, engaged couple Renzo and Lucia attempt to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles to be together. Published in 1827, The Betrothed is the story of two lovers who want nothing more than to marry. Lombardy, their region of northern Italy, is under Spanish occupation, and when the Spaniard Don Rodrigo blocks their union in an attempt to have Lucia for himself, the couple are forced to resist his plots while beset by the hazards of war, bread riots and the machinations of a nameless crime lord . Groundbreakingly popular in its day and hugely influential to succeeding generations, Manzoni’s masterwork is so integral to contemporary Italian culture that it has never been out of print, and every schoolchild reads it to this day. "a bona fide canonical classic hiding in plain sight" - The Wall Street Journal Lucia ….. Hiftu Quasem Renzo ….. Ian Dunnett Jnr Father Abbondio ….. Paul Higgins Gabriel/Servant Boy ….. Joel Maccormack Griso / Officer ….. Owen Whitelaw Nibbio/ Ambrogio ….. Tunji Kasim Agnese ….. Maureen Beattie Brother Cristoforo ….. Ewan Bailey Nameless / Old Friar ….. Jonathan Forbes Rodrigo / Boss / Boatman / Traveller ….. Sandy Grierson Gertrude / Gilda ….. Chloe Pirrie Directed by Gaynor Macfarlane
Programme Website