Decameron

Synopsis

Terry Jones introduces ten dramatisations of choice Florentine Fancies, adapted from Giovanni Boccaccio's classic human comedy by the BBCMonty Python star and medieval historian Terry Jones presents ten BBC Radio dramatisations of tales from Giovanni Boccaccio's humane and comic masterpiece.Composed in the early 1350s, in the wake of the Black Death, The Decameron comprises 100 short stories from all over the world, reset by Boccaccio among the flourishing merchant classes of Renaissance Italy. Their universal themes - love, sex, religion, fate, morality - resonate with us to this day, and their witty, satirical, bawdy voice sounds utterly modern. Beautifully realised in vivid, vernacular prose, they have become a bedrock of our storytelling tradition, mined ever since by authors from Chaucer to Shakespeare, Keats, Molière and Thomas Mann.The scene is the onset of the Black Death, Italy and a group of seven young women and three young men escape to the countryside to shelter in a secluded villa just outside of Florence in order to escape the Plague. There, they tell each other tales from all over the world.These ten radio retellings are performed by a stellar cast, including John Finnemore, Ingrid Oliver, Geoffrey Streatfeild, Lydia Leonard, Tim McInnerny, Samuel Barnett, Neil Pearson, Louise Brealey, and Tameka Empson.Cast and creditsSaint CiappellettoCiappelletto - Colin McFarlaneMusciatto - Sam DaleHoly Friar - Michael BertenshawThe Burgundians - Monty d'Inverno & Paul HeathDoctor - Ian ConninghamFederigo and His FalconFederigo degli Alberighi - John FinnemoreMonna - Ingrid OliverElena - Carrie QuinlanBeppo - Shaun MasonNiccolo - Adam Thomas WrightHow Elena Blew Hot and ColdElena - Lydia LeonardViolante - Elaine ClaxtonRinieri - Cyril NriPyrrhus - Paul HeathHow to Get It Off Your ChestZeppa - Ian ConninghamMrs Zeppa - Hannah GenesiusSpinelloccio - Shaun MasonMrs Spinelloccio - Bettrys JonesNarrator - Jude AkuwudikeKind Hearts and BayonetsMithridanes - Samuel BarnettNathan - Sam DaleBeggarmaid - Bettrys JonesThe Sweetest Young Man in PerugiaPietro - Tim McInnernyMadam - Hannah GenesiusPandara - Jane SlavinMasetto - Monty d'InvernoErcolano - David ActonThe WagerMusciatto - Michael BertenshawAmbrogiuolo - Geoffrey StreatfeildBernabo - Paul RitterZinevra - Louise BrealeySultan - Jude AkuwudikeCaptain - Shaun MasonA Job for the BoysMasetto - Neil PearsonSister Donna - Tameka EmpsonSister Lisa - Rhiannon NeadsHildegard - Jane SlavinNuto - Sam DaleSteward - Michael BertenshawLove Lies SleepingSilvestra - Laura MolyneuxBeppo - Rudi DharmalingamGiovanni - Joseph DrakeMother - Jane SlavinRinaldo - David ActonA Quiet Night in NaplesAndreuccio - Gunnar CautheryFilomena - Roslyn HillScarabone - Shaun MasonNeighbour - David ActonLudo - Paul HeathBruno - Ian ConninghamSister Lisa - Elaine ClaxtonSister Donna - Hannah GenesiusFirst broadcast BBC Radio 3, 1-12 December 2014Written by Giovanni BoccaccioAdapted by Robin BrooksMusic arranged and performed by Robert Hollingworth and Paula ChateauneufTranslations by Silvia ReseghettiScript consultant: Guyda ArmstrongProduced and directed by Jonquil Panting© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd