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Drama of the Week: Daily Summaries Delivered
by BBC Radio 4
Every Friday we bring you a new drama from BBC Radio 4 or Radio 3. Exercise your imagination with some of the best writers and actors on radio. Storytelling at its very best.
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- 2 days ago44 min
Yeartides: Lughnasadh
By Ben Lewis.Witty, warm and soulful drama infused with storytelling and song.Part of the Yeartides series inspired by the myths and rituals surrounding Pagan Celtic festivals.Claire and her husband David are visiting David’s family farm to celebrate his mum’s 75th birthday. It’s harvest time. And the impact of seeds sown decades before is about to be felt.Cast: Claire … Neve McIntosh David … Emun Elliot Lynn … Georgie Glen Andy … Jack GreenleesMusic performed by Anna Massie Sound Design by Kris McConnachieProduction Co-ordinator: Rosalind Gibson Studio Production: Keith GrahamDirected by Kirsty WilliamsWith thanks for farming consultation to Roger Howison and Willie Young.
- 1 weeks ago56 min
They Shoot Horses Don’t They?
Los Angeles, 1935. With nowhere to go and nothing to lose, Robert and Gloria enter a marathon dance on the Santa Monica pier, one of hundreds of couples competing to stay on their feet for weeks at a time for a prize of a thousand dollars. As the days blur into nights and the competition grows merciless, their unlikely bond deepens into something neither of them can name, and a reckoning neither can avoid.George MacKay (1917, Rose of Nevada) stars as Robert alongside Leah Brotherhead (Hullraisers, RSC's Wolf Hall) as Gloria.Horace McCoy's 1935 novel is one of the founding texts of American noir, previously adapted as Sydney Pollack's acclaimed 1969 film with Jane Fonda. This is its first ever audio adaptation, brought to radio by adaptor Kerry Shale.Story of America is a major collection of dramatisations of milestone American titles marking 250 years since the Declaration of Independence and the foundation of the United States.Robert . . . . . George MacKay Gloria . . . . . Leah Brotherhead Rocky . . . . . Kerry Shale Mrs Layden . . . . . Laurel Lefkow Pedro . . . . . Joseph Balderama Rollo . . . . . Ben Crowe Jim . . . . . David Menkin Ruby . . . . . Laura Dos SantosAdapted by Kerry Shale.Production co-ordinators: Sara Benaim, Jonathan Powell Technical producers: Keith Graham, Neva Missirian, Kira Golightly Sound design: Sharon Hughes Director: Sasha YevtushenkoA BBC Studios production.
- 3 weeks ago57 min
Anna Christie
Anna Christie has spent fifteen years waiting for a father who never came. When she finally arrives on the New York waterfront to find him, she brings with her a past she has told nobody, and a fury at the world that has shaped her whole life. What she doesn't expect is the sea itself, and what it might do to her.Eugene O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama is one of the towering works of American theatre: a searingly honest portrait of people trying to outrun their histories, until a shipwrecked Irish stoker arrives out of the fog and gives Anna a reason to stop running.Adapted for radio by Lucy Catherine.Story of America is a major collection of dramatisations of milestone American titles marking 250 years since the Declaration of Independence and the foundation of the United States.Anna . . . . . Julianna Jennings Chris . . . . . David Threlfall Mat . . . . . Ciarán Owens Marthy . . . . . Heather Craney Johnny . . . . . Parker Sawyers Larry . . . . . Kenndrick HortonDirector: Sasha Yevtushenko Technical producers: Keith Graham & Sam Dickinson Editor: Peter Ringrose Production co-ordinator: Ben HollandsA BBC Studios production.
- 4 weeks ago13 min
Once Upon a Time...Mermaid
David Almond reimagines The Little Mermaid.Set on Holy Island in Northumberland, the story is written and read by the author.When Joseph was a boy, fishermen on the island found a mermaid in their net. But no one believes those old stories, do they? Except his grandfather, who keeps a mysterious jar of jewels in a glass case on the wall.This magical, evocative story encompasses the degradation of the seas; the small attention spans of modern lives; the pressure on young people to leave the place they call home; the beauty and history of the island. It is also a love story.David Almond is 'A writer of visionary Blakean intensity.' The Times. He is also winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award, The Carnegie Medal, the Michael L Printz Award, the Nonino International Prize.This series of modern fairy tales reimagined by leading writers has been specially commissioned to celebrate a major new exhibition at The British Library dedicated to fairy tales, as well as the National Year of Reading.Producer, Mary Ward-Lowery
- Jun 26, 202614 min
The Day of the Papering by Bernie McGill
An original short story specially commissioned by BBC Radio 4 from the writer Bernie McGill. Read by Amy Molloy.The Author. Bernie McGill is the winner of the 2023 Edge Hill Short Story Prize for her collection ‘This Train is For’. She is the author of the novels ‘The Butterfly Cabinet’, ‘The Watch House’ and one previous short story collection ‘Sleepwalkers’. She has written audio scripts for heritage projects and stage scripts for theatre. She is a Writing for Life Fellow with the Royal Literary Fund and an honorary member of The Linen Hall Library in which building her writing archive is held.Writer: Bernie McGill Reader: Amy Molloy Producer: Michael ShannonA BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.
- Jun 19, 202644 min
Life and Time: Release
James Fritz's award-winning drama about the UK prison system returns with two contrasting stories of release, told from the perspective of prisoners and staff alike.In this first episode, a prisoner (who listeners met in Series 1) leaves with his paperwork signed and a discharge grant in his pocket, convinced his prayers have been answered. What he doesn't know is that a single clerical error, buried for years in a box of court paperwork, means he should never have been let out at all. As an overstretched prison scrambles to find him, the press whips up a manhunt and ministers demand a name, one question echoes from the courtroom to Whitehall: how could something like this happen?Written by James FritzLee ..... Carl Prekopp Yas ..... Yasmin Mwanza Clare ..... Maddy Lenny Jenny ..... Emma Handy Carly ..... Laura Dos Santos Rihanna ..... Rebekah Murrell Prison Director ..... Ben Crowe The Box Officer ..... Harry Myers Toby/Reverend ..... Joe Jameson Minister ..... Ian Dunnett JnrProduction Team: Producer and Director, Tracey Neale Sound Design, Keith Graham, Sam Dickinson and Andrew Garrett Production Co-Ordinator, Ben HollandsA BBC Studios production.James Fritz has won the Imison and Tinniswood Awards, Best Single and Best Series at the Audio Drama Awards, and Gold and Bronze at the ARIAs. For his theatre work he has won the Critics' Circle Award and the Bruntwood Prize, and was nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre. He is under commission to the RSC, on attachment to the National Theatre, and is currently writing a TV drama and adapting his play The Flea into a feature film.
- Jun 19, 202644 min
Life and Time: Three Days
James Fritz's award-winning drama about the UK prison system returns with two contrasting stories of release, told from the perspective of prisoners and staff alike.In this first episode, a prisoner (who listeners met in Series 1) leaves with his paperwork signed and a discharge grant in his pocket, convinced his prayers have been answered. What he doesn't know is that a single clerical error, buried for years in a box of court paperwork, means he should never have been let out at all. As an overstretched prison scrambles to find him, the press whips up a manhunt and ministers demand a name, one question echoes from the courtroom to Whitehall: how could something like this happen?Written by James FritzLee ..... Carl Prekopp Yas ..... Yasmin Mwanza Clare ..... Maddy Lenny Jenny ..... Emma Handy Carly ..... Laura Dos Santos Rihanna ..... Rebekah Murrell Prison Director ..... Ben Crowe The Box Officer ..... Harry Myers Toby/Reverend ..... Joe Jameson Minister ..... Ian Dunnett JnrProducer and Director, Tracey Neale Sound Design, Keith Graham, Sam Dickinson and Andrew Garrett Production Co-Ordinator, Ben HollandsA BBC Studios production.James Fritz has won the Imison and Tinniswood Awards, Best Single and Best Series at the Audio Drama Awards, and Gold and Bronze at the ARIAs. For his theatre work he has won the Critics' Circle Award and the Bruntwood Prize, and was nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre. He is under commission to the RSC, on attachment to the National Theatre, and is currently writing a TV drama and adapting his play The Flea into a feature film.
- Jun 12, 202656 min
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog
Returning to Swansea after the blitz, Dylan Thomas is overwhelmed by memories of his childhood and adolescence.From summers at Fern Hill, to failed camping trips on the beach; from plagiarised poetry to drunken first love, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog is a story of what it is to grow up.Comic, nostalgic, with a host of vivid characters, Dylan Thomas’s masterpiece is adapted by Joe Dunthorne (Submarine, Children of Radium) and stars Gerran Howell (The Pitt) as Dylan Thomas.Based on the short stories by Dylan ThomasAdapted by Joe DunthorneDylan Thomas… Gerran HowellAunt Annie/Gwyneth/ Mrs Evans/ Mother… Carys EleriUncle Jim/ Mr Thomas/ Mr Matthews/ Mr O’Brien… Ben AddisMrs Williams/ Mrs Thomas/ Mrs Franklin/ Female Stranger… Melanie WaltersDan Evans… Iwan DaviesLou/Jean/Nancy… Mia KhanBrazell/ Gwilym/ Older Sidney… Jacob IfanGeorge Hooping/ Barman… Gwïon Morris JonesSkully/ Chauffeur/ Male Stranger… Shaheen JafargholiYoung Dylan… Leon Raphael MullinsYoung Sidney…. Toby FoundsProduction Co-Ordinator… Eleri McAuliffeSound Design by Rhys MorrisProduced and directed by Fay Lomas, BBC Audio Drama Wales
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