Extracts from Paradise Lost written by John Milton performed by Michael Redgrave, Prunella Scales, Michael Horden and Tony Church on Cassette (Abridged)

Dramatisation of Milton's epic poem with Michael Redgrave, Tony Church, Prunella Scales, Michael Horden and others.

These readings, recorded for the British Council in the 1960's and directed by George Rylands, make one weep that there was no budget to record the work entire. Milton demands intelligent readers with beautiful voices and a clear understanding both of his sense and of the rhythmic sweep of his verse. All the voices here are electrifying: Redgrave as Satan, Horden in the thankless role of God and, above all, Tony Church, imperious as the narrator. These are not dramatisations: simply readings appropriately divided amongst the dramatis personae. Anyone hearing these tapes will glimpse what perhaps s/he hasn't otherwise: exactly why Milton's legacy is regarded by many as a poet second only to The Bard's.