Madhouse on Castle Street

Madhouse on Castle Street
Left to right: Bob Dylan, Maureen Pryor, James Mellor, Ursula Howells – publicity still from the BBC
Genre	Television play
Written by	Evan Jones
Directed by	Philip Saville
Starring	David Warner Bob Dylan Maureen Pryor Ursula Howells Reg Lye James Mellor Georgina Ward Ian Dallas
Theme music composer	Bob Dylan
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Release
Original network	BBC Television
Original release	13 January 1963 (1963-01-13)
External links
Website

Madhouse on Castle Street is a British television play, broadcast by BBC Television on the evening of 13 January 1963, as part of the Sunday Night Play strand. It was written by Evan Jones and directed by Philip Saville. The production featured the young American folk music singer Bob Dylan, who soon became a major musical star.

The play was made with electronic video cameras, although recorded onto film rather than tape. The only known copy of the play was junked in 1968, as was the standard practice of the time, despite the fact that Dylan and lead actor David Warner were by then famous. Although extensive searches have been made by the BBC, only partial audio recordings of four songs sung by Dylan survive.

The play is set in an English boarding house. One of the lodgers locks himself in his room, leaving a note stating that he has decided to retire from the world until the world has changed. Other lodgers and his sister try to coax him out and establish what the problem is. The action is punctuated by songs performed by Bob Dylan.

Madhouse on Castle Street was commissioned as part of the Sunday Night Play strand which had been running on BBC Television since 1960. The play was written by Evan Jones, who would go on to write the screenplays for films such as Modesty Blaise and Funeral in Berlin, and directed by Philip Saville. Saville had seen Bob Dylan performing in New York City in 1962, and in December that year he contracted Dylan to come to London for three weeks to star in Madhouse on Castle Street, in spite of Dylan's complete lack of acting training or experience. This was the performer's first trip outside of North America. Dylan was originally supposed to have played the leading role in the play, but during rehearsals it became apparent that he lacked the ability to learn lines – stating that he would rather "express himself in song" – was lax in his time keeping, and would often wander off to smoke cannabis.