Across the Centuries

Burials, Bequests and Boundaries

Heaven, Hell and Subterranean Homesick Blues

Hosted by

Neil

Fleming

Sound Editing

Will

Jacob

Listen Now:

0:00/1:34

Season

Episode

running time

Across the Centuries

This episode links events that happened in different eras; two actors perform Othello 100 years apart, two musical geniuses live next door, two centuries apart, and one murder leads to ghostly apparitions for over a century.

Hosted by

Neil

Fleming

Sound Editing

Will

Jacob

Listen Now:

0:00/1:34

Theatre Royal

Drury Lane

London

The Golden Earrings

Written by

Milo

Harries

Performed by

Stephen

Fry

Delve Deeper

Bernth Lindfors’ book Ira Aldridge: The Early Years, 1807-1833 (University of Rochester Press, 2011) is a useful reference. Art UK has an article with portraits of Ira Aldridge. The Guardian website has an article on Robeson’s Othello. The New Yorker has an article about Amanda Aldridge.

About this story

19th-Century Ira Aldridge and 20th-Century Paul Robeson. Both actors, both Black Americans, both playing Shakespeare in London. But what’s the link?

It’s the Messiah

Written by

James

Rampton

Performed by

Neil

Fleming

Delve Deeper

The Handel Hendrix House website has details about the house, its history and its opening times. The National Portrait Gallery has several portraits of Handel. YouTube has many versions of Handel’s Messiah, and an official Jimi Hendrix channel. Read more about Hendrix on his own website.

About this story

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) and Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970). Two great musicians who happened to live next door to each other when they moved to London - just in very different centuries.

193 Steps

Written by

Robbie

Stamp

Performed by

Kate

Reid

Delve Deeper

London Lore: The legends and traditions of the world's most vibrant city, by Steve Roud, published by Random House 2008. Jack the Ripper Tour has a YouTube video about Terris’s murder. It also has an article about the incident.