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by Alessandro Manzoni, adapted for radio by Eileen Horne

The Betrothed (I Promessi Sposi) is an icon of Italian literature as well as the country’s most popular novel. In it, engaged couple Renzo and Lucia attempt to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles to be together.

Published in 1827, The Betrothed is the story of two lovers who want nothing more than to marry. Lombardy, their region of northern Italy, is under Spanish occupation, and when the Spaniard Don Rodrigo blocks their union in an attempt to have Lucia for himself, the couple are forced to resist his plots while beset by the hazards of war, bread riots and the machinations of a nameless crime lord .

Groundbreakingly popular in its day and hugely influential to succeeding generations, Manzoni’s masterwork is so integral to contemporary Italian culture that it has never been out of print, and every schoolchild reads it to this day.

"a bona fide canonical classic hiding in plain sight" - The Wall Street Journal

Lucia ….. Hiftu Quasem
Renzo ….. Ian Dunnett Jnr
Father Abbondio ….. Paul Higgins
Gabriel/Servant Boy ….. Joel Maccormack
Griso / Officer ….. Owen Whitelaw
Nibbio/ Ambrogio ….. Tunji Kasim
Agnese ….. Maureen Beattie
Brother Cristoforo ….. Ewan Bailey
Nameless / Old Friar ….. Jonathan Forbes
Rodrigo / Boss / Boatman / Traveller ….. Sandy Grierson
Gertrude / Gilda ….. Chloe Pirrie

Directed by Gaynor Macfarlane