The Sweeney

“London’s a slick place, London’s a swell place, London’s a fine place to come on a visit—”

That’s my favourite line from TS Eliot’s Sweeney Agonistes, and I got to speak it in this prerecorded reading for Sunday night’s Glue Factory, the online salon hosted by critic David Collard.

There’s a great version of Sweeney Agonistes on Youtube, produced and recorded in 1965 as part of an Homage to T.S. Eliot: a programme of poetry drama and music. Devised and produced by Vera Lindsay. Presented by the Stage Sixty Theatre Club for the London Library at the Globe Theatre, London, Sunday 13 June 1965. That version featured Cleo Laine, Anna Quayle, Roddy Maude-Roxby, Bernard Cribbins, Clive Revell, Alec McCowen, Nicol Williamson, John Le Mesurier.

Our version featured David Collard, and (clockwise from top left), Paige Niblet, Alex Kapila, David Henningham, Ray Davies, David Henningham again, and me ;)

Here’s the 1965 version – I’m afraid that it doesn’t include visuals, so you’ll just have to imagine Bridget Riley’s projections.