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As part of MacNeice's centenary year (2007), Roma
Tomelty and Centre Stage Theatre Company, based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, presented the radio play with an original score composed and performed by Mark McGrath.
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The play was first broadcast on 21 January 1946, a Monday, at 9:15pm. It was introduced as "a parable play on the ancient theme of the Quest, suggested by
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and is the oldest complete programme made available by the BBC, online. It has a running time of 1 hour, 13 minutes.
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MacNeice wrote the play in the autumn of 1945. At the time, he was still badly shaken by the wartime death of a schoolfriend,
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produced a recreation of the first broadcast performance, with the BBC Concert
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The audio recording of the original 1946 broadcast is available to
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184:(1947). MacNeice dedicated the published script to Britten.
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as The Mother. The "ad hoc" orchestra was conducted by
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142:(1937). MacNeice asked Britten to write music for
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