The Bagman
Delia produced electronic music and effects for the BBC's 1970 production of The Bagman or The Impromptu of Muswell Hill, a radio play by John Arden, directed by Martin Esslin. The presenter for a repeat broadcast says: "In it, in the form of a dream, some of the problems facing a socially conscious playwright in our time are described."
The play is one hour and 28 minutes in length and is described as a "Witty Fable" and a "modern version of Molière's Versailles Impromptu"[1].
John Arden has a dream in which he meets an old woman who sells him a canvas bag, "A pig in a poke", he then finds himself transported to a dystopian land where the people are starving while the rich live in idleness and squalor.[2]
A note in her papers says that The Bagman was entered by the BBC for the Italia Prize 1970 and that she was scheduled to receive 20% of the prize money if the play should win.[3]
The Radiophonic Database credits it to Delia and Malcolm Clarke,[4] and the Performing Rights Society's list of works by Delia Ann Derbyshire has:
Title: Bagman Writer(s): Derbyshire Delia Ann, Clarke Malcolm John (SNR), Arden John (FR) Publisher: BBC Worldwide Music Work number: 1652496T Type: 00/90 [?] Creation date: 1 January 1984
Its tape's catalogue entry is dated February 1970.[4]
Excerpts
The moments with Delian music and effects are:
- 00:26-01:34 Opening theme
- 03:04-04:26 Dreaming in Highgate Wood (a.k.a. Phantoms of Darkness)
- 50:28-51:07 Dreaming at the Ministers
- 1:14:50-56 Vocal fanfare
- 1:15:20-57 Percussive Phantoms
- 1:23:51-24:25 The Little People
- 1:25:12-13 Huge Steel-Shod Foot
- 1:26:17-27:14 The Gypsy Woman
- 1:27:35-28:25 Closing theme
Availability
- First broadcast on Radio 3 in March 1970.[5]
- Broadcast as "The Monday Play" on BBC Radio 4 on 31st January 1977.
- In the BBC Sound Archive on tape TRW 7163.[4]
- In 1976, Dreaming in Highgate Wood was renamed Phantoms of Darkness[6] and issued on record.
- The whole play is available on mediafire.com.
References
- ↑ John Arden's entry at doollee.com
- ↑ audiodrama.wiki.com's entry for The Bagman
- ↑ DD141636: Memo dated 8th July 1970 from A. Parotte to Delia about division of the prize money should The Bagman win the Italia Prize 1970 and DD141601, her reply.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 The Tape Library List's entry for TRW 7163.
- ↑ Yael Zarhy-Levo, The Making of Theatrical Reputations: Studies from the Modern London Theatre (University of Iowa Press, 2008), p.148 on Google Books.
- ↑ DD073025: List of Delia's tracks renamed for issue on Out Of This World.
