Nine full-cast dramatisations of Schnitzler’s sizzling psychological plays and stories, plus a reading of Dream Story

The sharp, provocative works of Viennese writer Arthur Schnitzler have been banned for transgressive content, burned by the Nazis, and beloved by fellow writers and artists – many of whom took inspiration from his pieces for their own work. This includes his well-known 1926 novella Dream Story, which was reversioned as the 1999 hit Stanley Kubrick film Eyes Wide Shut, and La Ronde or Love Game, which were adapted for the stage at various times by David Hare, Tom Stoppard, and David Harrower.

This comprehensive collection features some of Schnitzler’s finest tales of love, sex, jealousy and desire, brought to life by ensemble casts, feauturing Angharad Rees, Anton Lesser, Malcolm Sinclair, Carole Boyd, Martin Jarvis, Maureen O’Brien, and many others. Also included is the erotic, enigmatic Dream Story, read by award-winning actor Paul Rhys.

Content List:

• The Spring Sonata
• Love Games, aka Liebelei
• A Confirmed Bachelor
• Anatol
• Professor Bernhardi
• Intermezzo
• What a Hysterical Girl
• Lieutenant Gustl
• Festival of Bacchus
• Dream Story

With thanks to Keith Wickham and the Radio Circle for sourcing the recordings.


Cast and credits

The Spring Sonata
Featuring: Alison Ram, James Duke, Claudia Harrison, Christopher Kent, Michael Jenn, David Thorpe, Fenella Norman, Vanessa Rosenthal, John McCraw, Catherine Kinsella, Dominic Curran, Sam Starling

Dramatised by Vanessa Rosenthal
Directed by Chris Wallis

Love Games
Featuring: Angharad Rees, Anton Lesser, Diana Bishop, John Webb, Geoffrey Matthews, Carole Boyd, William Hope

Translated by Charles Osborne
Adapted for radio by John Scotney
Directed by Walter Acosta
Pianist: Mary Nash
Technical presentation: Keith Perrin

A Confirmed Bachelor
Featuring: Keith Drinkel, Cathy Sara, Jo Rafferty, Oona Beeson, Robert Lister, Sunny Ormonde, Richard da Costa, Marian Kemmer, Elizabeth Wofford

Dramatised by Vanessa Rosenthal
Directed by Peter Leslie Wild

Anatol
Starring Malcolm Sinclair as Anatol and Simon Shepherd as Max

With Victoria Carling, Pauline Moran, Julia Swift, Helena Breck, Jane Bertish, Richard Pearce, Emily Richard, Melinda Walker and Roy Miles

Directed by Glyn Dearman
Music by Colin Guthrie played by the composer, Perry Montague-Mason and Chris Laurence

Professor Bernhardi
Featuring Dorit Welles, Leslie Heritage, Gabriel Woolf, John John, John Rye, Jack May, John Wyse, David Spenser, Victor Lucas, Lewis Stringer, James Thomason, Gerald Cross, Richard Hurndall, Martin Friend, Patrick Tull, David Hadda, John Gabriel

Produced by Archie Campbell
Adapted for radio by Mollie Hardwick from the English version by Louis Borrell and Ronald Adam

Intermezzo
Featuring James Aubrey, Mel Martin, Tim Woodward, Kim Wall, Julie Berry, Haydn Gwynne, Alistair White, Jennifer Piercey, Elaine Claxton

English version by Robert David MacDonald
Original music composed, and piano played, by Terence Allbright
Song sung by Anna Bernardin
Directed by Glyn Dearman

What a Hysterical Girl
Starring Carole Boyd as She, John Rye as He and Vernon Joyner as the Narrator

Produced by Martin Esslin

Lieutenant Gustl
Starring Hugh Hayes as Gustl
With Michael Graham Cox and Ian Targett

Translated by George Roubicek
Dramatised by George Roubicek, Ivor Benjamin and Hugh Hayes
Directed by Ivor Benjamin
Produced by Caroline Raphael

Festival of Bacchus
Featuring Martin Jarvis, Maureen O’Brien, Dinsdale Landen, Josie Kidd, Gordon Reid

Translated and adapted for radio by Basil Ashmore
Directed by Martin Jenkins

Dream Story
Read by Paul Rhys
Translated by JMQ Davies
Produced by Eugene Murphy

© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd