Richard Griffiths, Alison Steadman and Peter Woodthorpe star in this BBC Radio 4 version of Alan Bennett's acclaimed comedy drama stage play, first broadcast on 6 January 1991. Present-day Kafka aficionado Sydney, and his wife Linda, are visited by the long-dead Kafka and his friend Max Brod (with whom Kafka had left instructions for all his works to be burned instructions which Brod chose to ignore). As we spend time with the unusual party, it becomes clear that Kafka's wish was for anonymity and also that he had serious issues with his father. When his parent turns up, he is in possession of a very personal secret relating to his son one which Kafka is terrified he will disclose. This is a brilliantly clever, fast-moving comedy drama from award-winning Alan Bennett, and the performances of the starry cast are riveting.
Author
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. Alan Bennett is an English author and Tony Award-winning playwright. Bennett's first stage play, Forty Years On, was produced in 1968. Many television, stage and radio plays followed, along with screenplays, short stories, novellas, a large body of non-fictional prose and broadcasting, and many appearances as an actor. Bennett's lugubrious yet expressive voice (which still bears a slight Leeds accent) and the sharp humour and evident humanity of his writing have made his readings of his own work (especially his autobiographical writing) very popular. His readings of the Winnie the Pooh stories are also widely enjoyed.
