Madhouse on Castle Street (partially found BBC television play; 1963)

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Production still.

Status: Partially Found

Madhouse on Castle Street was a television play that was aired only once on January 13th, 1963, by BBC TV as a part of the BBC Sunday-Night Play series.

Premise

One of the lodgers of an English boarding house has locked himself in his room, leaving a note stating that he has decided to retire from the world. His sister and the boarders try to convince him to come out and explain himself.

Production

The play was written by Evan Jones and directed by Phillip Saville. Then-unknown musician Bob Dylan was cast for the role of the main character after Saville saw him perform in New York City; however, Dylan lacked the ability to play the part. Saville, still wanting to include Dylan, gave him the role of a new character who responded to the actions of other characters in song. The main character was restructured into two new characters. The plans were to shoot the entire play in a single session; however, the session ended without finishing shooting. The play's completion was delayed due to a blizzard.

Availability

The BBC wiped the master tape of the play in 1968 and no other copies are known to exist.

Reel-to-reel recordings of the four songs performed by Dylan that were recorded by viewers of the program were turned into the BBC after an appeal in 2005 and remastered for partial use in the BBC documentary Dylan in the Madhouse. Two full tracks, "Ballad of the Gliding Swan" and "Blowin' in the Wind", were released on the bootleg album Bob Dylan & Friends - Decades Live'61 To '94. The script is also known to still exist.

Gallery

The "Blowin' in the Wind" and "Ballad of the Gliding Swan" recordings.

External Links

• IMDB page for Madhouse on Castle Street. Retrieved 18 Jan '18
• The first half of Dylan in the Madhouse. Retrieved 31 Jan '18
• The second half of Dylan in the Madhouse. Retrieved 31 Jan '18