R2OK!

becky sharp · Joined: 01 Dec 2008 Posts: 6814

Saturday Drama on Radio 4

One of the many programmes on the radio and TV just lately to mark the the death,fifty years ago, of J.F.Kennedy.... I found it an absorbing listen.

I was put in mind (funnily enough Wink

) of Marilyn Monroe's breathy tones listening to the actress playing Jackie Kennedy.

Martin Jarvis directs a stellar American cast, headed by Stacy Keach, Glenne Headly, Susan Sullivan, Steven Weber - and introduced by Josh Stamberg - in Christopher Lee's extraordinary new play.
Fifty years ago, on November 22nd, 1963, President John F Kennedy was assassinated by a sniper while riding in an open-topped limousine in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas.
What happened immediately after the assassination?
Theories explored in Lee's riveting drama are based on Federal, classified and academic research, diaries and recollections, and statements by Mrs Kennedy - a mix of substantiated and contested documentation. He focuses, first, on the hospital mortuary, and then aboard Air Force One where former Vice President Lyndon B Johnson insists that Judge Sarah Hughes conducts the 'swearing-in' before take-off. Also present in the overcrowded aircraft is Kennedy's widow, Jackie, in a state of shock, still covered in blood. The play becomes a tense thriller as surprising events occur on board.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03hmh3t

oldraver · Joined: 18 Dec 2006 Posts: 1175 Location: London

I thoroughly enjoyed it too, Becky. Gillian Reynolds said it was "brave", and I must agree with that. Didn't paint LBJ in a great light at all.
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life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans

becky sharp · Joined: 01 Dec 2008 Posts: 6814

oldraver · Joined: 18 Dec 2006 Posts: 1175 Location: London

Thanks Becky. That was a fascinating read. What a complex man.
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life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans

essexlady · Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 348 Location: Essex

Yes thanks Becky. I just managed to catch up with the programme before it disappeared and thought it was very good. It certainly wasn't flattering to LBJ but I see a recent book suggests that he was actually implicated in JFK's death as well as that of other people who stood in his way to power.

becky sharp · Joined: 01 Dec 2008 Posts: 6814

Glad you managed to catch and enjoy it,essexlady.

Fifty years on and still the conspiracy theories abound.