BBC R4 - David Edgar's 'Mary Barnes' sp7

BBC R4 - David Edgar's 'Mary Barnes'

Directed by Hillary Norrish

Broadcast June 26,1995

Coded from tape at 128/44.1



Mary Barnes was born on January 9, 1923 in Portsmouth. She

trained as a nurse and served as a sister in the British

Army in Egypt. She then entered a Carmelite convent, and

converted to Roman Catholicism.



She became ill and was diagnosed schizophrenic. After failed

treatment she met R D Laing and entered his Kingsley Hall

treatment centre. There she began to write and paint.



This play is a dramatisation of the book she co-authored with

Dr.Joseph Berke 'Mary Barnes Two Accounts of a Journey Through

Madness' (1972). It was first performed in 1979 at the Royal

Court Theatre in London, with Patti Love as Mary Barnes.



Cast

Patti Love - Mary Barnes

David Morrisy - Joe (Dr.Joseph Berke)

John Hannah - Ronnie (Dr. R D Laing)

Nicolas Le Prevost - Douggie

Claire Skinner - Angie

Tessa Worsley - Angie's Mother

Jonathon Keeble - Angie's Brother

Andrew Branch - Laurence

Steven Critchlow - Simon

Lecturer - David Collins