With the Radio 3 production of three Sophocles plays last night, a promise given by the last director but three or four was kept at last.

I can't remember exactly when it was that a new director of Radio 3 announced that although he would be making sweeping changes, there would still be Sophocles.

I suppose that he picked on that name because he knew there was already a production, commissioned no doubt by his predecessor, of a Sophocles play, ready to air; and it was duly aired.
< br /> Since then, nothing.

Yes, there have been Sunday night dramas based on or inspired by Greek dramatists. There was an excellent evening of Vaughan Williams' Wasps music, with enough of the Aristophanes play there to put it in context. But the 'inspired by' plays have been without exception tedious, turgid, wordy, pseudo-poetic. Why do dramatists feel they have to improve on the master? What makes them think that they can?

Then came last night. Sophocles was at last allowed to speak for himself. I joined the evening near the start of Oedipus at Colonus, and at first I thought I was not going to be moved. The acting was, I felt, so-so. The actors did not convey the 'greatness' that Aristotle felt was an essential part of tragedy. I kept comparing this OC with one that I taped from Radio 3 back in 1978 and played until the tape wore out. Michael Redgrave was Oedipus, so comparisons with John Lynch are not in order. But last night Sophocles still spun his magic, and the tears flowed.

With all the superb things she has done since, Juliet Stevenson is still Antigone to me, and I fear Antigone is still Juliet Stevenson. Wow! That TV production was 1984. So long ago! But Nadine Marshal delivered the goods.

And so I could go on through the cast list, as one actor after another seemed at first inadequate, but turned out OK. As for my reservations about Timberlake Wertenbaker (I wrote in a previous post:"adapted (why does that word make my heart sink?)") they vanished as it was clear that here was Sophocles in English, speech by speech, line by line of stichomythia, - shortened, but not an 'improvement'. I say in English, but we heard several times 'Oimoi!' The ideal way out of the problem of how to translate that Greek exclamation.

The good news is that you can listen to the whole four hours for a week after the broadcast. Go to the BBC Radio 3 site, follow the drama link, and you'll find it. I'm going to catch up on the OT that I missed. This link may take you there directly: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/dramaon3/pip/rem5l/