Peter Sheriden Forty Seven Roses

SANWAL

(4.5 stars; 2 reviews)

Afternoon Play: Forty-seven Roses Wed 8th Jan 2003, 14:15 on BBC Radio 4 FM A Story of Family Secrets and Enduring Love. A dramatisation of Peter Sheridan's compassionate memoir of how he coped with his father's unexpected death and the realisation that the English woman who spent summers with them in Dublin when he was a boy was actually having an affair with his father. This relationship lasted 47 years and was conducted mainly by letter. Even more surprising was the discovery that his mother knew all about it. Director Tanya Nash Peter:…Liam Cunningham Anna:….Maria McDermottroe Doris:….Angela Pteasence Dympna:….Stella McCusker Forty-seven Roses began as a tribute to his father, but includes memories of his brother Frankie whose untimely death had a devastating effect on the family. This subplot, while it increases sympathy for both grieving parents, dilutes dramatic tension, perhaps purposefully so. This beautifully written portrait of a marriage forces us, like Sheridan himself, to face truths of the heart that refuse to conform to the easy verities of convention. 

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.