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³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio 3 today announced all-star casts for two bold new classic drama commissions.

Sam West (Enron, Desperate Romantics), Toby Jones (The Play What I Wrote, Doctor Who), Anna Maxwell Martin (Measure For Measure, On Expenses), Frances de La Tour (Rising Damp, The History Boys) and Sir Derek Jacobi are just some of the stars involved in the two classic commissions.

Faust by Goethe and The White Devil by John Webster will be broadcast this autumn.

Faust by Goethe, in a modern translation by John R. Williams, is presented in a major new four-hour production. Starring Sam West in the title role, Toby Jones as the tempter Mephistopheles and Anna Maxwell Martin as the wronged innocent Gretchen, this is an epic interpretation of the scholar who sells his soul in return for knowledge and power. The play is an Ukemi Production for the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳, directed by David Timson and produced by Nicholas Soames with new music written by Roger Marsh.

Webster's revenge tragedy of passion and murder, The White Devil, stars Anna Maxwell Martin as Vittoria, Frances de la Tour as her mother Cornelia and Shaun Dingwall as the powerful nobleman Brachiano, whose lust for Vittoria sets the tragic events of the play in motion. It is produced and directed by Marc Beeby.

Abigail Appleton, Head of Speech, Radio 3, says, "Radio 3 drama is the perfect medium to engage listeners' imaginations whether in the philosophy, myth and fantasy of Faust or the murder and seduction of The White Devil. We're delighted to have been able to cast such outstanding actors who will do justice to these intense stories."

DP