Author Elizabeth Charlesworth
Published 14/05/2018
Under Milk Wood
‘To begin at the beginning.’
On this day in 1954, Richard Burton, Emlyn Williams, Sybil Thorndike, Clifford Evans, Meredith Edwards, Rachel Roberts and Jessie Evans performed the first complete UK stage reading of Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood at The Old Vic.
Directed by Douglas Cleverdon (who also produced the BBC recording of the play in January 1954), the reading was adapted for this performance by Philip Burton and took place over two consecutive Sundays on 28 Feb and 17 March 1954 exclusively for members of The Old Vic Club and the Vic-Wells Association.
64 years later, Sophie Melville, from our recent production of The Divide, performs an excerpt of the FIRST VOICE introduction, originally performed by Richard Burton.