Radio Plays XXIII
Radio Plays XXIII
Most LA Theatre Works plays are 2 hours and recorded live.
LA Theatre Works - Speech and Debate by Stephen Karam
******They may go to the same school, but misfits Solomon, Diwata and Howie have never met
and their teachers and peers just don’t take them seriously – until a sex scandal involving one
of their teachers brings them together. Soon they realize that three voices are stronger than one.
And since their school has no speech and debate squad,
maybe this is their chance to be heard at last...
Cast: Andrea Bowen, Bobby Steggert, Gideon Glick, Nora Dunn
LA Theatre Works - The Young Man from Atlanta by Horton Foote
******From the Oscar-winning screenwriter of To Kill a Mockingbird and Tender Mercies
comes this 1995 Pulitzer Prize-winning play--"an American original" (Variety).
Houston, 1950: A Texas couple's attempts to make sense of the death of their son are
futher complicated when the man he had been "rooming with" in Atlanta arrives.
Cast: Shirley Knight, David Selby
LA Theatre Works - The Ruby Sunrise by Rinne Groff
******Setting off from a farm in Indiana as a young girl, Ruby struggles to turn her dream
of the first all-electrical television system into a reality, and jumping forward to a McCarthy-era
New York TV studio where Ruby's heirs fight over how her story should be told, THE RUBY
SUNRISE charts the course of the phenomenon of television: from early idealism and sparks
of genius, to promises fulfilled and compromises brokered, and beyond.
Smart and absorbing.
Starring Jobeth Williams, Henry Winkler
Bel Ami 1.2 by Guy de Maupassant
Bel Ami 2.2
******Dramatisation by Frances Byrnes of Guy de Maupassant's story of political corruption
in the newspaper world of 19th-century France and the inexorable rise of Georges Duroy - 'Bel Ami' -
a charming, ruthless man of little talent but plenty of ambition.
Bel Ami is making the perfect match with a society heiress but his past is about to catch up with him,
in the shape of Mme de Marelle, his long-term mistress.
LA Theatre Works - Zoot Suit by Luis Valdez
****** Chicano playwright Luis Valdez masterfully uses the Sleepy Lagoon murder case to examine
the Chicano Zoot Suit Culture of the 40’s. Passionate and provocative, Zoot Suit pulses with the beat
of Big Band Music and traditional Latin songs.
Starring Spencer Garrett, Gregory Itzin and Alma Martinez.
LA Theatre Works - Steambath 1.2 by Bruce Jay Friedman.
LA Theatre Works - Steambath 2.2
******A parade of unforgettable characters emerge from the steam in this hilarious,
supernatural bathhouse. There is Tandy, fresh from teaching art appreciation at the
Police Academy; Meredith, whose last memory is buying a micro-miniskirt; Biberman,
a karate silver-belt who masquerades as a paraplegic; and the mysterious Puerto Rican
janitor given to omniscient musings and manipulating the fate of all mankind.
Starring Jason Alexander, Ed Asner, Mary Gross, Gerrit Graham, Arthur Hanket,
Paul Mercier and Sierra Ruben.
Degrees Of Separation by Katie Hims
******Series of five linked stories by Katie Hims on the theme of separation,
based on experiences sent in by Woman's Hour listeners.
We begin with Empty Nest, a story in which some listeners may well recognise echoes of their own experience.
1.5 - Empty Nest - When Sheila and Simon's daughter leaves home for a gap year trip, Sheila is inconsolable.
It is the separation she has dreaded, and Simon's attempts to comfort her only make things worse.
It is not until an eccentric elderly neighbour asks for help that she begins to think about something other than her own grief.
2.5 - Fatima the Catima
3.5 - The Boy in the Library
4.5 - Twins
5.5 - Ashes
Seaton's Aunt by Walter de la Mare
******HP Lovecraft admired this chilling story for its
"noxious background of malignant vampirism." This is de la Mare's most famous story.
Singleparentpals.com 1.5 by Sue Teddern - You Are Not Alone
Singleparentpals.com 2.5 - Getting Back on the Horse
Singleparentpals.com 3.5 - Coming Clean
Singleparentpals.com 4.5 - The Other Man
Singleparentpals.com 5.5 - We Can't Go on Meeting Like This
******Sue Teddern's story of the developing friendship between two single parents who correspond via
a parenting advice website.
This week's story takes a look at a fictional website specially designed for parents bringing up children
single-handedly. Housing Officer Tom from Exeter is initially very nervous about using the message board
forum of SINGLEPARENTPALS.COM for urgent advice about what to do when his 6 year old daughter Lily
needs to use a public toilet. A swift and astringent response comes from Rosie, a careworker miles away in Bolton.
This is the start of a combative, supportive, long-lasting and long-distance relationship.
Tales From the Perilous Realm 1.4 by JRR Tolkien - Farmer Giles of Ham
Tales From the Perilous Realm 2.4 - Smith Of Wotton Major
Tales From the Perilous Realm 3.4 - The Adventures Of Tom Bombadil
Tales From the Perilous Realm 4.4 - Leaf by Niggle
******For the first time in A-format, the definitive collection of Tolkien's four acclaimed
modern classic 'fairie' tales in the vein of The Hobbit. Farmer Giles of Ham is fat and
unheroic, but -- having unwittingly managed to scare off a short-sighted giant -- is called
upon to do battle when the dragon Chrysophylax comes to town; The Adventures of
Tom Bombadil tells by way of verse of Tom's many adventures with hobbits, princesses,
dwarves and trolls; Leaf by Niggle recounts the strange adventures of the painter Niggle
who sets out to paint the perfect tree; Smith of Wootton Major journeys to the Land of
Faery thanks to the magical ingredients of the Great Cake of the Feast of Good Children.
The four tales are written with the same skill, quality and hallmarks that made Tolkien's
Hobbit a classic. Largely overlooked because of their short lengths, they are finally together
in a volume which reaffirms Tolkien's place as a master storyteller for readers young and old.
No Place To Hide 1.8 by Ted Albury - How It All Began
No Place To Hide 2.8 - A Meeting In Amsterdam
No Place To Hide 3.8 - Joanna Appears
No Place To Hide 4.8 - It's Better When You're There
No Place To Hide 5.8 - The Kidnap
No Place To Hide 6.8 - Some Indications of Paranoia
No Place To Hide 7.8 - Rennie Flys Out
No Place To Hide 8.8 - The Final Encounter
******When his orders were to kill, Rennie killed without hesitation. He had no qualms
when his intelligence superiors ordered him to lie or to pervert justice.
But then Rennie becomes the hunted, struggling to escape his past.
LA Theatre Works - Thirteen Things About Ed Carpolotti by Jeffrey Hatcher
******A funeral parlor in a small Midwestern town is the setting. A newly widowed suburban matron
finds her world crashing about her –
only to be rescued by love from beyond the grave.
Rue McClanahan stars.
LA Theatre Works - Private Lives by Noel Coward
****** The lights of a yacht on the French Riviera are reflected in the water and in the eyes
of four hilariously mismatched lovers. Private Lives shimmers with wit,
romance, desire and bittersweet truth.
Starring Rosalind Ayres, Marnie Mosiman, Ian Ogilvy, Begonya Piazza and Kristoffer Tabori.
Listen to Your Parents by Benjamin Zephaniah
******Benjamin Zephaniah's drama portrays domestic violence
through the eyes of a football and poetry loving boy.
The Hairy Ape by Eugene O'Neill
******The play tells the story of a brutish, unthinking laborer known as Yank, as he searches for
a sense of belonging in a world controlled by the rich. At first Yank feels secure as he stokes the
engines of an oceanliner, and is highly confident in his physical power over the ship's engines.
However, when the weak but rich daughter of an industrialist in the steel business refers to him
as a "filthy beast," Yank undergoes a crisis of identity. He leaves the ship and wanders into Manhattan,
only to find he does not belong anywhere—neither with the socialites on Fifth Avenue, nor with
the labor organizers on the waterfront.
Finally he is reduced to seeking a kindred being with the gorilla in the zoo
Where Are They Now by Tom Stoppard
******A cynical view of an old boys' reunion, with Timothy West, again, and Carleton Hobbs in splendid form
as a waspish old schoolmaster. John Wood plays the querulous outsider who proves, after all,
not to have attended this particular alma mater.
The Soldier's Fortune by Thomas Otway
******The Soldiers' Fortune deals with the real treatment of soldiers returning
from the Dutch wars. The predicament of these men with no paid retirement
and no visible means of support for years of service
The Soldiers' Fortune was a popular play in its day and maybe this was at least
partly due to its tackling current political issues. Everyone in that audience would
have known a soldier returning from the wars.
We are told that when Otway's plays were staged they starred Elizabeth Barry,
the some time mistress of the Earl of Rochester, who was the male dissolute model
for The Libertine. Son of a curate, Otway fell in love with Mrs Barry but as he was
penniless there was no prospect and he joined the army in 1678. Otway had gone
to war and returned to no future so he is writing from first hand experience,
both of being penniless and finding the woman he loved had settled for a richer lover.
The Atheist by Thomas Otway
******Otway's last play, The Atheist, a sequel to The Soldier's Fortune, appeared in 1683,
and its author now began to sink into death by slow starvation. Still a "Jovial Companion,
and a great Lover of the Bottle, particularly of Punch", it was said he was "more beholden
to Captain Symonds the Vintner, in whose debt he died four hundred pounds, than to all his
Patrons of Quality." He was composing a congratulatory poem on the inauguration of
King James II when he died. In this classic account, given in Dr Johnson's Lives of the Poets,
while hiding from his creditors in a pub, he was:
"driven at last to the most grievous necessity, ventured out of his lurking place, almost naked
and shivering, and went into a coffee-house on Tower Hill, where he saw a gentleman, of whom
he solicited the loan of a shilling. The gentleman was quite shocked to see the author of
Venice Preserv'd begging bread, and compassionately put into his hand a guinea. Mr Otway,
having thanked his benefactor, retired and changed the guinea to purchase a roll; as his stomach
was full of wind from excess of fasting, the first mouthful choked him and instantaneously put a period to his days."
"Think and be generous"
Otway to Mrs Barry
He was thirty-three
LA Theatre Works - This Town by Sidney Blumenthal
******a hilarious political satire. The play takes us inside the well-groomed Washington Press Corps,
who yawn when they hear about peace treaties but snap to attention
at the chance to uncover a little dirt about the First Dog.
Cast: Gerrit Graham, Richard Kind, Jane Lanier, David Lewman,
Joe Liss, Gates McFadden, Paul Mercier
The Mystery of Charles Dickens by Peter Ackroyd
******A one-man show. Simon Callow brings Charles Dickens to life in this powerful play
written by Dickens' biographer Peter Ackroyd.
The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht
******An example of Brecht's epic theatre, the play is a parable about a peasant girl
who steals a baby but becomes a better mother than its natural parents.
Brecht, in his typical anti-realist style, uses the device of a "play within a play".
The "frame" play is set in the Soviet Union around the end of the Second World War.
It shows a dispute between two communes, the Rosa Luxemburg goat farming commune
and the Galinsk fruit growing commune, over who is to own and manage an area of farm
land after the Nazis have retreated from a village and left it abandoned.
A parable has been organised by one group, an old folk tale, to be played out to cast
light on the dispute. The Singer, Arkadi Cheidze, arrives with his band of musicians,
then tells the peasants the fable, which forms the main narrative, and intertwines throughout
much of the play. The Singer often takes on the thoughts of characters, enhances the more
dramatic scenes with stronger narration than simple dialogue, and is responsible for most
scene and time changes. Often the role is accompanied by several "musicians" (which usually
incorporate music into the play itself) that help the Singer keep the play running smoothly.
At the end he states that the land should go to those who will use it most productively,
the fruit growers, and not those who had previous ownership.
The Irish Play by Michael Butt
******A long-forgotten English playwright cashes in on the vogue for Irish drama by resetting his old Essex plays in Kerry.
Miss Mapp 01.10 - by E F Benson - Redcurrant Fool
Miss Mapp 02.10 - God Bless the Prince of Wales
Miss Mapp 03.10 - The Wars of the Roses and the Poppies
Miss Mapp 04.10 - The Duel
Miss Mapp 05.10 - Kingfisher Blue
Miss Mapp 06.10 - The Cowards
Miss Mapp 07.10 - Humble Pie
Miss Mapp 08.10 - Crimson Lake
Miss Mapp 09.10 - Faradiddleony
Miss Mapp 10.10 - Alas, Poor Puffin
******Arch-schemer and social climber, Miss Mapp spends her days using opera glasses and a notebook
to chart her neighbors' affairs. Among her interests are Major Benjamin Flint,
whom she has been trying to marry for years.
Bodies in Motion and at Rest by Thomas Lynch, a poet and undertaker.
******One day young Tom has to carry out a task most of us could not even contemplate.
(Well-written. I liked this one a lot.)
With Ed Begley Jr/ Michael Weston/Richard Kind/Shirley Knight/ Francis Guinan/
Robert Machray/Roxanne Hart/Jamie Hanes/Forrest Landis.
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William Blake
******Inspired satire on religion and morality
Marriage a la Mode 1.5 by Jonathan Myerson - The Marriage Settlement
Marriage a la Mode 2.5 - The Tete-a-Tete
Marriage a la Mode 3.5 - The Inspection
Marriage a la Mode 4.5 - From the Toilette to the Bagnio
Marriage a la Mode 5.5 - From the Bagnio to the Lady's Death
******Mr and Mrs William Hogarth return in another scandalous romp through
a famous series of Hogarth paintings, bringing to life the story in
– and behind – each canvas.
Mr Moonlight 1.5 by Robert Forrest
Mr Moonlight 2.5
Mr Moonlight 3.5
Mr Moonlight 4.5
Mr Moonlight 5.5
******'The tale of a day in the life of a man who goes spectacularly off the rails when he hears about
the death of John Lennon.
The More Sinned Against 1.3 by Alexander Ostrovsky
The More Sinned Against 2.3
The More Sinned Against 3.3
******The More Sinned Against is one of the most enduring masterpieces of the Russian theatre repertoire.
Ostrovsky was the director of the Maly Theatre in Moscow. Irina Brown directed the BBC radio version in 1997.
The play is a story of abandoned lovers and children, and of the cost being brought up as a foster child.
Mr Finchley Goes to Paris 1.6 by Victor Canning
Mr Finchley Goes to Paris 2.6
Mr Finchley Goes to Paris 3.6
Mr Finchley Goes to Paris 4.6
Mr Finchley Goes to Paris 5.6
Mr Finchley Goes to Paris 6.6
******Dramatisation of the second novel in a trilogy by Victor Canning about the exploits
of a London solicitor's clerk, Mr Finchley. Starring Richard Griffiths.
Mr Finchley Takes the Road 1.6 by Victor Canning
Mr Finchley Takes the Road 2.6
Mr Finchley Takes the Road 3.6
Mr Finchley Takes the Road 4.6
Mr Finchley Takes the Road 5.6
Mr Finchley Takes the Road 6.6
******Mr. Finchley marries and explores the county of Kent in a horse-drawn caravan.
He takes to sea, disturbs an intruder, sees double and visits a house of spirits,
leads a village uprising and gains a travelling companion, meets a one-man band,
makes a movie, gets to the bottom of a mystery and finds a home.
Memory Experience 1.5 by Michael Butt and Rachel Joyce- The Incredible Norman
Memory Experience 2.5 - The Debt to Memory
Memory Experience 3.5 - Innocence
Memory Experience 4.5 - The Memory Thief
Memory Experience 5.5 - Departing Events
******Five plays inspired by memories left in the Memory Survey. Present into Past: Short works about
how we remember, what we remember and why we remember. individual plays that combine to make
a week long reflection on memory and its role in our lives.
Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf 1.2 by Toby Hadoke
Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf 2.2
******Toby Hadoke's charts his journey as a Doctor Who obsessive.
Will Doctor Who return to our screens and help Toby find happiness?
2000 Tales 1.5
2000 Tales 2.5
2000 Tales 3.5
2000 Tales 4.5
2000 Tales 5.5
******THERE'S a DJ instead of a miller, Prince Charles instead of a knight. The road to Canterbury has become
the M1 near Nottingham, and the narrator is a service station waitress.
The BBC is celebrating the 600th anniversary of the death of poet Geoffrey Chaucer with 2000 Tales -
a collection of new radio stories inspired by his Canterbury Tales.
In Chaucer's original, written in the 1390s, a group of pilgrims meet at the Tabard Inn in Southwark
and agree to hold a storytelling contest as they travel to the shrine of Thomas a Becket in Canterbury.
Where Chaucer immortalised the merchant, sailor ...
John Mortimer takes not a Rumpole-style lawyer, but a journalist as his narrator, while Liz Lochhead
has a one-time house-husband as her hero.
The actor Joseph Fiennes is a teacher in a story by poet Glyn Maxwell, and Victor Spinetti takes the role
of the shepherd in a modern version of Chaucer's Pardoner's Tale by Barrie Keeffe.
Joss Ackland, Frances Tomelty, Henry Goodman and Warren Mitchell are among the other stars in a cast
of characters including a barber, a pleasure-wear sales executive, an actor's agent and a slapper.
The Beekeeper's Apprentice 1.4 by Laurie R King
The Beekeeper's Apprentice 2.4
The Beekeeper's Apprentice 3.4
The Beekeeper's Apprentice 4.4
******Set in 1914, a young woman, Mary Russell, meets a retired beekeeper.
His name is Sherlock Holmes, and he sees a fellow intellect in 15-year-old Mary,
so takes her as his apprentice. Together, they tackle crimes
and investigations, as Sherlock becomes Mary's mentor and friend.
MR James At Christmas 1.5 - Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad
MR James At Christmas 2.5 - Tractate Middoth
MR James At Christmas 3.5 - Lost Hearts
MR James At Christmas 4.5 - Rose Garden
MR James At Christmas 5.5 - Number 13
******Derek Jacobi as the voice of M R James introduces classic ghost stories
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