麻豆社

A new two-part adaptation by Ian Billings, celebrating the 300th anniversary of Jonathan Swift鈥檚 satire.

Rescued from the sea by the inhabitants of the island Laputa, floating above the troubled land of Balnibarbi below, Gulliver encounters visionary thinkers and eccentric inventors whose pursuit of knowledge has led them to unexpected extremes. Onwards, his voyage carries him to the remarkable land of the Houyhnhnms, a race of intelligent horses. There, Gulliver encounters a radically different vision of civilisation and humanity itself.

As Gulliver鈥檚 journey unfolds, he discovers that the greatest challenge is not surviving strange new worlds, but understanding what they reveal about his own.

Published in 1726, Swift's book has spent three centuries being read both as a children's adventure and as one of the sharpest satires on human vanity in English.

Swift was writing about the politicians and courtiers of Georgian England. Three hundred years later, the joke still lands.

Lemuel Gulliver.....Graham Dickson
Flapper 37/ Chair.....Joanna Neary
Lord Munodi/ Pedro De Mendez.....Jack Nuttall
Dapple.....David Holt
King of Laputa.....Sunil Patel
Queen of Laputa.....Lucie Shorthouse
Laputian Woman/ Wife.....Debbie Korley
Laputian Madam/ Professor.....Sumaiya Chaudhary
Inventor 2.....Ian Billings

Written by Jonathan Swift
Adapted by Ian Billings
Directed by Sally Avens
Produced by Lorna Newman
Sound design by Sharon Hughes
Production Coordinator: Sara Benaim
Studio Production Coordinator: Jonathan Powell
Technical Producers: Andy Garratt, Neva Missirian and Kira Golightly

A 麻豆社 Studios production for 麻豆社 Radio 4.