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Information
For Writers and Producers of Radio Drama
Recent
Broadcasts
THE TRICK OF TOGETHERNESS
Friday 10th December at 14.15 on Radio 4
Producer: Tanya Nash
Synopsis:
 Gloria
and Rab have separated after being married for a couple of years.
They have a two year old daughter, Bonny who Gloria is using to
manipulate her ex-husband by refusing him regular access. The
drama looks at their relationships with new partners Harry and
Dorothy and how this complicates their lives further. Gloria is
jealous of Dorothy because of a rivalry from their youth when
Rab dumped Gloria for Dorothy when they were teenagers. Rab is
very jealous of Harry because he still loves his ex-wife and she
initiated the split. Harry is looking for a new family after his
wife left him five years ago taking their child with them. However,
Gloria is only interested in Harry because he might be coming
into a large compensation claim for a leg injury. Dorothy thinks
her relationship with Rab is true love and has deluded herself
about Rab’s feelings for his ex-wife.
The story is set in a fictional small town in
Northern Ireland and revolves around whether or not Dorothy can
persuade Harry to allow Rab secret access to his daughter Bonny
behind Gloria’s back and what happens when Gloria finds
out.
This is writer Joseph Crilly’s third play
for Radio 4. He won the Stewart Parker Award for his first stage
play Second Hand Thunder (produced Tinderbox Theatre Co). His
second stage play On McQuillan’s Hill was produced also
by Tinderbox Theatre Co (2000).
The play stars Richard Dormer (Alex Higgins in
Hurricane London/New York) as Rab, Lloyd Hutchinson (Stones in
His Pockets, London West End) as Harry, Maria Connolly (John Bull’s
Other Island, Lyric Belfast) as Gloria and Laura Hughes (The Dollie
Mixtures Radio 4) as Dorothy.
LETTERS OF JOHN B KEANE
(abridged by Kerry Lee Crabbe)
Monday 3rd to 7th January 2005 at 10:45am & repeated at 19.45
(Repeat) on R4
Slot: Woman’s Hour
Producer : Gemma Mc Mullan
A
delightful week of John B Keane’s most celebrated letters
taken from two collections: Letters of a Country Postman and Letters
of a Love Hungry Farmer. Doused in delicious comedy we meet a
host of unforgettable characters such as Mocky Fondoo, the Country
Postman; John Bosco, the Love Hungry Farmer and Dicky Mick Dicky,
the Matchmaker, determined to find the farmer a match. Find
out who is starring, see photos find out more about John B's letters.
We ran a competition for two lucky listeners to win the Best of
John B Keane books. The winners are Sam Wodehouse & Vince
Bowers. Congratulations.
EVEN
THE OLIVES ARE BLEEDING
Wednesday December
1st @ 1415 on Radio 4
Producer : Gemma McMullan
Synopsis
Even the Olives are Bleeding is partly
an historical biography, but mainly a tragic love story set
in Ireland and Spain during the Spanish Civil War (1937). It
tells the true story of the young Irish Poet, Charlie Donnelly,
who makes the decision to leave Ireland and his girlfriend,
Cora, and take up the fight against Fascism in Spain.
The long-distance love affair continues
to burn as Charlie travels through Spain; his idealism of “fighting
for what he believes in” begins to waver as he witnesses
firsthand the harsh reality of futile death among his own international
Brigade. Through his letters and poetry sent home to Cora we
get a heartfelt portrayal of his fear and admiration for his
fellow soldiers, until Charlie himself is positioned on the
front line.
Jim O’ Hanlon
A writer-director for television and theatre,
he is the author
of five plays, including The Buddhist of Castleknock, which
enjoyed a sell-out run in Dublin. His next play, Pilgrims in
the Park, will be presented by Fishamble Theatre Company in
November 2004. Other work as a writer includes Coronation Street
(Granada TV), Casualty, The Boy Who Became Prime Minister (BBC
Radio 3.) TV credits as director include Bad Girls, Belonging,
Casualty, The Bill and Coronation Street, for which he also
wrote storylines. Jim's poetry and prose have both appeared
on The Sunday Tribune New Irish Writing Page, and he was recently
short listed for a Hennessy Literary Award for New Irish Writing
and a Stewart Parker Award for New Irish Playwrights.
Cast:
Andrew Scott (Dead Bodies, Band of Brothers,
Saving Private Ryan, The American, Longitude)
Ruth Bradley (Sinners, The Clinic)
Pat Laffan (Intermission, The General,
An Awfully Big Adventure, Space Truckers)
Luke Griffin (Band of Brothers, Borstal Boy, Vicious Circle,
The Nephew)
Stuart Sinclair Blyth (Monarch of the
Glen BBC, POW, Tinsel Town, Taggart)
John Hewitt (The Wayforward, The Boxer, Life after Life,)
Simon Imrie (Kepler, Various Radio 4 Dramas)
Mike Massimi
A black comedy about the difficulties of that 21st century phenomenon,
serial monogamy as experienced through the eyes of a married
couple who have recently split up and their new lovers.
THE
DOLLIE MIXTURES
Tuesday November 16th @ 1415 on Radio 4
Producer : Tanya Nash
When Pat decides to divorce her husband after 45 years of marriage,
she discovers that it is harder to leave him than she thought.
More
information
JOURNEYS
AND MIGRATIONS: STORIES FROM THE BELFAST FESTIVAL
Monday 8th - Friday 12th November
2004 at 3.30 pm on R4
Producers: Heather Brennon, Heather Larmour, Oonagh McMullan
 BBC
Radio 4 has commissioned five acclaimed writers to writer five
new stories for this year's Belfast Festival at Queen's. The theme
for this year's Festival - Journeys and Migrations - has been
imaginatively embraced by writers Colin Bateman, Clare Boylan,
Anne Dunlop, Arthur Mathews and Gretta Mulrooney. The short stories
will be recorded live before an audience at Belfast City Hall,
on Tuesday 2nd November at 8pm and then broadcast daily on Radio
4 the following week. The evening will be hosted by a special
guest and each story read by five well known actors. More
information
WE
GOT TONIGHT
Monday
November 1st @ 1415 on Radio 4
By Maria Connolly & Keith Law
Producer : Tanya Nash
We Got Tonight is a comedy about an
idealistic musician who finds it hard to sacrifice his principals
to save his marriage until he is kidnapped by two escaped
convicts and his whole future is put in jeopardy.
Rick is a guitarist and song
writer and with his wife Rita they earn a meagre living playing
cover versions at wedding, funerals and functions. Rick despises
this kind of work and does as little of it as possible. The
only other regular employment he has is donning a tiger outfit
each Saturday afternoon and selling face-painting at their
local shopping complex. His wife Rita is in despair about
how much longer they can live like this let alone give their
daughter Kiki a real chance in life. Rita gives Rick one last
chance. They have written a song together and are due to play
it at the local heat of an all-Ireland talent contest in their
town. If they win they collect £1,000 and the chance
to go on to the next round. However Rick seems pre-occupied
and Rita worries if he will show up. To complicate matters
even further, two minor convicts escape from the local prison
and are looking for somewhere to hide.
 This
play is written by Maria Connolly and Keith Law as part of
the third series of Double Acts, the umbrella title for an
exciting series of afternoon plays written by teams of writers
new to radio. These writing teams were brought together by
a unique initiative from BBC Radio Drama and BBC Radio 4.
To make this 3rd series of Double Acts different to the previous
two, the writers were paired with an artist from another discipline.
Maria Connolly, from Belfast,
has written two stage plays. Massive was produced by Tinderbox
Theatre Co. in 2002 and her second play Bathtime was given
a rehearsed reading by Replay Theatre Co. last October 2003
at the Linen Hall Library.
Keith Law, a musician and comic
performer from Belfast, has composed the songs for this play,
including the title song – We Got Tonight. He plays
with TV house band the Supreme Pontiffs which started out
on the Patrick Kielty Show and they recently performed for
RTE’s show, The Lyrics Board. Also he is currently working
as a performer in the BBC 1 comedy Just For Laughs (2nd series
is recording this autumn 2004).
Cast:
Rick – Dan Gordon (Give My Head Peace, (BBC1 NI) A Night
in November by Marie Jones (Lyric Theatre, Belfast and worldwide
tour)
Rita – Laura Hughes (The Dollie Mixtures, Two Doors
Down (R4)
Herbie and Jock – the two convicts are played by comedy
duo Grimes & McKee (Conor Grimes and Alan McKee) currently
appearing in Motormouth (BBC 1 NI)
Other cast members are Niki Doherty, Gerard Jordan and Martha
Gordon.
GHOST STORIES
By John Connolly
Mon 25th October to Fri 29th October at 15.30 on Radio 4
Producer Lawrence Jackson
Synopsis
John Connolly and Lawrence Jackson, the author and producer respectively,
share a love of supernatural fiction and in particular the tradition
of telling a good ghost story, as exemplified in the work of masters
of the genre such as M.R.James and Sheridan Le Fanu. Many writers
better known for their more mainstream fiction, from Dickens and
Kipling to E.Nesbit and L.P.Hartley, have written classic ghost
stories. It is in this spirit of atmospheric storytelling that
best-selling author John Connolly has contributed these five new
stories.
They are arguably less conventional
and more exotic than the previous five (produced by the same team
in 2000, and read by the late Tony Doyle); they range from occult
inkpots, pagan sacrifices and sinister clowns to rural vampires
and winged changelings. John Connolly’s lucid prose, suspenseful
storytelling and sense of mythic, organic horror make for a potent,
and entertaining, combination.
The Author
John Connolly, a native Dubliner, is one of the most successful
writers of fiction working in the world today. He began writing
as a journalist for the Irish Times, before his first novel “Every
Dead Thing” became a best-seller on both sides of the Atlantic.
Since then, John has published the novels “Dark Hollow”,
“The Killing Kind”, “The White Road” and
“Bad Men”, many of them “Maine noir” horror-thrillers
featuring the detective character Charlie Parker, and all of them
critically acclaimed best-sellers. In Autumn 2004 “Nocturnes”
will be published, a collection of his ghost stories which includes
these ones first broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
The Readers
The Inkpot Monkey is read by Freddie Jones veteran of stage, screen
and radio. His many film credits include “Juggernaut”,
“The Elephant Man” and “Dune”, and recently
he was seen on TV in “The League of Gentlemen”.
The Shifting of the Sands is read
by Ian McDiarmid who is best known to audiences from his role
as the Emperor in the “Star Wars” films. His many
other film credits include “Sleepy Hollow” and “Dirty
Rotten Scoundrels”, and his acclaimed stage performances
include “The Tempest”, “The Jew of Malta”
and most recently Pirandello’s “Henry IV”.
Some Children Wander by Mistake is
read by Alun Armstrong who is one of Britain’s best-loved
and most versatile actors. His film credits include “The
Mummy Returns” and “Braveheart”, his stage roles
include leads in “Sweeney Todd” and “Les Miserables”,
and most recently on TV he has been seen in “When I’m
64” and “New Tricks”.
Miss Froom, Vampire is read by Jacqueline Pearce well known to
audiences from cult horror films “The Reptile” and
“Plague of the Zombies” and her role as Servalan in
TV’s “Blake’s 7”. Most recently she appeared
in London’s West End in an acclaimed stage production of
J.B.Priestley’s “Dangerous Corner”.
The New Daughter is read by Niall
Buggy whose film credits include “Spin the Bottle”,
“The Butcher Boy” and “The Lonely Passion of
Judith Hearne”, and his stage work includes leads in West
End productions of “The Weir” and “An Inspector
Calls”. Most recently he gave an acclaimed performance in
Shaw’s “John Bull’s Other Island”.
The Producer
Lawrence Jackson’s credits for Radio 4 include three series
of “Baldi” starring David Threlfall, and dramatisations
of Thackeray’s “Barry Lyndon”, Stendhal’s
“The Charterhouse of Parma” and Sheridan Le Fanu’s
“Carmilla”. His work for BBC7 includes readings of
C.S.Lewis, G.K.Chesterton, Le Fanu and Algernon Blackwood.
CLASSIC IRISH SHORT STORIES
Mon - Fri 11th - 15th October 15.30 on Radio 4
Producer : Heather Brennon, Oonagh McMullan, Heather Larmour
Synopsis
A week of classic short stories from some of Ireland’s
most well-loved writers.
Ireland has often been called a ‘nation of
storytellers’ and this week of short stories from BBC Northern
Ireland Radio Drama is devoted to some of Ireland’s best-known
and most highly regarded masters of storytelling. The week encompasses
five humorous and light-hearted stories from Walter Macken, James
Stephens, Bryan MacMahon, Liam O’Flaherty, and John B. Keane.
An ensemble of readers including David Kelly, Pauline McLynn, Darragh
Kelly, Marion O’Dwyer and Jim Norton bring some lively and
eccentric characters to life and take us on a colourful tour of
unexpected transactions, doggie dealings, and downright skulduggery!
Gaeglers and the Greyhound by Walter Macken Producer: Heather
Brennon
Read by David Kelly
When local ‘entrepreneur’ Gaeglers is persuaded to go
to the greyhound racing by his friend Softshoe, he thinks he’s
found his next easy money making scheme; however Gaegler’s
grand plans for his new dog’s future don’t go quite
as he intended.
The Triangle by James Stephens
Producer: Heather Larmour
Read by Pauline McLynn
Mrs Morrissy has a predictable life with her oh so predicable husband
until her cousin comes to visit. Suddenly, the old proverb of ‘Two’s
company and three’s a crowd’ takes on new meaning, but
how can Mrs Morrissy rid her house of her unwanted guest?
The Bull Buyers by Bryan MacMahon
Producer: Heather Larmour
Read by Darragh Kelly
When Peter the Bull Buyer and his brother Paul hear of the death
of a farmer at the horns of his bull, they set off intending to
strike a deal for the animal. Peter, however, soon discovers that
he has more than met his match in the form of the unfortunate widow,
and finds himself entering into a most unexpected transaction.
A Red Petticoat by Liam O’Flaherty
Producer: Heather Brennon
Read by Marion O’Dwyer
When Mrs Deignan’s family find themselves with no work, no
money and no food in the house she has no qualms about stooping
to deception and trickery to put a meal on the table.
Dousie O’Dea by John
B. Keane Producer: Oonagh McMullanRead by Jim Norton
When Dousie O’Dea, an amateur mortician, decides she is going
to retire everyone in the valley of Tanvally is shocked.Although
she receives numerous requests to prepare corpses for burial, nothing
could make her change her mind, that is, until the ultimate challenge
arises!
The Writers
Walter Macken was born in 1915, in
Galway. Originally an actor, with the Tadhbhearc in Galway, and
The Abbey Theatre, he played lead roles on Broadway in MJ Molloy's
The King of Friday's Men and his own play Home is the Hero. He also
appeared in films, notably Brendan Behan's The Quare Fellow. With
the success of his third book, Rain on the Wind, he devoted his
time to writing, plays including Mungo's Mansion and Home is the
Hero, novels including Rain on the Wind; The Bogman; the trilogy
Seek the Fair Land; The Silent People; and The Scorching Wind and
a huge number of short stories contained in anthologies including
The Green Hills; The Coll Doll and other Stories and God Made Sunday
and other Stories. He also wrote children’s books, including
Island of the Great Yellow Ox; and Flight of the Doves, which was
adapted for the cinema. He died in Galway in 1967.
James Stephens was born in
Dublin in 1882. In his early years he was a solicitor's clerk, and
later Registrar of the National Gallery of Ireland. The author of
novels, short stories and poems, he is perhaps best known for his
novel The Crock of Gold which won the Polignac Prize for fiction
in 1912. During his lifetime, he won critical acclaim and praise
from other writers, including James Joyce, who suggested that Stephens
finish Finnegan’s Wake should Joyce himself fail. In later
years he worked as a radio broadcaster for the BBC. He died in London
on December 26, 1950.
Bryan MacMahon was born in Listowel,
Co Kerry in 1909. A teacher all his life, he was the author of numerous
short stories, novels, plays, radio features and stories for children.
Among his collections of short stories are The Lion-tamer and Other
Stories, The End of the World and Other Stories and The Sound of
Hooves and Other Stories; his plays include The Bugle in the Blood,
The Song of the Anvil, The Honey Spike (all staged at The Abbey)
and his novels include Children of the Rainbow, The Honey Spike
and his autobiographical works The Master and The Storyman. A close
friend of John B. Keane and co-founder of Listowel Players and Listowel
Writers’ Week, MacMahon was member of Irish Academy of Letters,
and of Aosdána, and was awarded LL.D for his services to
Irish writing by the National University of Ireland in 1972. He
died in 1998 and A Final Fling: Conversations between Men and Women
was published posthumously the same year.
Liam O'Flaherty was born in 1896 on the largest
of the Aran Islands. He wrote in English and Irish. His main works
include the novels Thy Neighbour's Wife, The Black Soul, The Informer
(which was made into a film of the same name by John Ford) The Assassin,
Skerret, Shame the Devil, Mr Gilhooley and Famine. His short story
collections include The Short Stories of Liam O'Flaherty, Two Lovely
Beasts and Other Stories and The Pedlar's Revenge and Other Stories.
He died in 1984.
John B Keane who died in May 2002, will always
remain one of Ireland’s most cherished writers. He wrote 19
plays and 32 works of prose and poetry, including "The Field,"
which was made into a Hollywood film in 1990 starring Richard Harris
as “Bull McCabe”. Other celebrated works include The
Matchmaker, The Chastitute, Sive, The Bodhran Makers & Big Maggie.
The Readers
David Kelly is probably best known
to worldwide audiences for his role as Michael O'Sullivan in the
1998 comedy hit Waking Ned and for his role in the cult TV series
Fawlty Towers. However, he has also performed in other major productions,
including Ordinary Decent Criminal, starring Kevin Spacey and countless
other television and film roles; he also had a small part in the
film production of Brendan Behans A Quare Fellow which starred Walter
Macken.
 Pauline
McLynn is perhaps best known for her role as Mrs Doyle
in the BAFTA award-winning Father Ted. She has appeared on television
in Bremner, Bird and Fortune, Aristocrats and Ballykissangel and
in films including Iris, Angela’s Ashes, When Brendan Met
Trudy and Nora. Pauline is also a successful author whose novels
include Something for the Weekend, Better than a Rest and Right
on Time. Her most recent novel The Woman on the Bus was published
this summer.
Darragh Kelly has many stage, television
and film credits to his name. He has appeared in RTE’s Fair
City, Judge John Deed (BBC); films such as Pat Murphy’s Nora,
Intermission and Veronica Guerin, and recently on stage in Advice
for Young People at the Abbey Theatre.
Marion O’Dwyer is one of
Irish Theatre’s most popular  actresses
and is well known for her role as Oonagh Dooley in Ballykissangel.
Her most recent television appearance was in an episode of Poirot
and she co-starred with Anjelica Huston in the film Agnes Browne.
Jim Norton a well known and respected actor in theatre,
film, television and radio. His film and television credits include:
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Conspiracy of Silence,
Doctor Who & Proof; plays include: Port Authority, The Weir
& Closing Time.
MACMORRIS
By John Morrison
Monday 3rd October 14.15 on Radio 4
Producer Tanya Nash
A comic fantasy about some of the minor characters in Shakespeare’s
cannon of plays who demand that their Creator write them better
roles or they will destroy his universe.
This story takes place in a parallel world, a
theatrical ether, which is populated by the characters in Shakespeare’s
cannon. Presiding over them all, godlike is their Creator, William
Shakespeare.
Capt. Macmorris, a very minor character from Henry
V with only one scene, is the only Irish character in the whole
cannon and he is portrayed as a stereo typical Irish buffoon with
a violent arrogant temper. This characterisation infuriates Macmorris.
His dilemma is that he thinks he is real, a human being able to
act for himself and that his nature can be changed. After 405
years trapped in this part, Macmorris he has decided that Shakespeare
must give him deeper characterisation, better motivation and the
chance to get the girl in the end. He enlists the help of the
three other Captains in Henry V, Capt. Jamie, Capt. Fluellen and
Capt. Gower and they go and confront their maker. Shakespeare
throws them out and the ‘four musketeers’ resort to
violent action. However they haven’t reckoned with the might
of the immortal bard, William Shakespeare and his ally Iago who
has spies everywhere.
WRITER:
John Morrison is from Belfast. His stage play Stranger in Paradise
was produced by Tinderbox Theatre Co, in Northern Ireland (1997).
For screen has as had a TV drama Innocent Party produced as well
as the short film The Rules of Golf. He regularly writes dramas
for BBC Education which are broadcast on Radio Ulster.
CAST:
Macmorris – Gerard McSorley (lead in Omagh, C4 2004, Veronica
Guerin dir.Joel Schumaker)
Capt. Jamie – Gerard Kelly (PC Duggan in Hamish McBeth (BBC
1), Dogberry in Matthew Warchus’ stage production of Much
Ado About Nothing)
Capt. Fluellen – Alan David (Brand, Polonius in Hamlet and
The Prisoner’s Dilemma RSC)
Capt. Gower – Jeremy Child (Midsomer Murders ITV, Major
Cotton in Bollywood film Lagaan)
Shakespeare – David Schofield (Footballers Wives, ITV, Shylock
in The Merchant of Venice, Birmingham Rep, feature film Gladiator
dir. Ridley Scott)
Other cast members are: Philip Fox, Jon Glover, Jillie Meers,
David Holt and Damian Lynch.
KEPLER
by John Banville
Wednesday 11 August at 2.15pm on Radio 4
Producer Gemma McMullan
SYNOPSIS: John Banville's
Kepler explores the clash between two of the 17th century's
leading astonomers - the assured, prickly and self-mocking Johannes
Kepler, and the aristocratic, overbearing and secretly insecure
Danish nobleman, Tycho Brahe.
When Kepler, at the time a lowly Graz schoolteacher, arrived
in Prague in 1600, Brahe welcomed him as a friend and colleague.
Within days, however, the two were engaged in furious arguments,
as Kepler demanded what Brahe had promised - equality, a salary,
and, most importantly, access to Brahe's astronomical data -
and the Dane in his lordly fashion treated Kepler as if he were
no more than a domesticus, little higher than a house servant.
The play explores the fiery relationship which ensues between
the two astronomers during the last year of Brahe's life.
|
Back
from left: Kevin Jackson (BBC NI) Simon Imrie, Scott Handy,
Marcella Riordan, Arabella Weir, Benedict Cumberbatch,
Gillian Kearney, Alun Armstrong. Front from left: Hannah
R Gordon and Kenny Baker |
CAST: Alun Armstrong (Messiah),
Benedict Cumberbatch, Simon Imrie, Scott Handy, Marcella Riordan,
Arabella Weir, Gillian Kearney, Hannah R. Gordon and Kenny Baker.
MAY CHILD
By Elizabeth Kuti
Monday 5th July at 2.15 pm on Radio 4
Producer Tanya Nash
Patricia Routledge stars as Margaret in this extraordinary
and moving radio drama debut from award-winning writer Elizabeth
Kuti. With Roy Hudd as her sweetheart Ron, and Emily Fleeshman
as May.
 SYNOPSIS:
Margaret, a happily retired spinster, has led a deliberately quiet,
though possibly too quiet life. The story takes place on the afternoon
of Margaret’s 67th birthday when May, a young teenage girl
knocks on her door to ask for help with a local history project.
By a strange co-incidence it turns out to be May’s birthday
also; she is thirteen. Margaret reluctantly lets May in and gets
more than she bargained for. May’s questions have little
to do with local history and she seems to know far more about
Margaret’s past than she should.
Over the course of the afternoon May’s probing questions
help Margaret to review her tragic past, understand it and move
on. Meanwhile, her teenage sweetheart Ron Williams, whom she hasn’t
seen for over thirty years, gets in touch.
Elizabeth Kuti (writer) won the
BBC Northern Ireland Stewart Parker radio drama bursary and A
Susan Smith Blackburn prize for her first stage play Treehouses
produced at The Peacock Theatre, Dublin (2000) and later at the
Northcote Theatre, Exeter (2001). She has also written Whispers
which successfully completed Acts IV & V of Frances Sheridan’s
play A Trip to Bath. (Toured Ireland and Edinburgh Festival 1999).
Elizabeth is currently under commission to Rough Magic Theatre
Co, Dublin and Northcote Theatre, Exeter.
CAST:
Patricia Routledge (Margaret) is best known for
her television performances as Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances
(BBC1) and Hetty Wainthropp in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates (BBC1).
She has had a long and illustrious career on stage and screen.
Most recently in Alan Bennett’s work Talking Heads (BBC
TV), Sheila Bowler in Anybody’s Nightmare (Carlton TV) on
television and for stage Wild Orchids, Beatrix, Importance of
Being Earnest and The Rivals all for Chichester Festival Theatre.
 Emily
Fleeshman (May). At the tender age of seventeen, Emily
already has an acting career in television, theatre and radio.
On radio played the leading role in The Growing Summer (Radio
4) and appeared in the series Stockport.(Radio 4) TV credits include
My Parents Are Aliens (ITV) and 24/7/Rochdale (ITV) and in Jakes
Women (Library Theatre Manchester)
 Roy
Hudd (Ron) has been performing on radio for many years
with The News Huddlines. He became very familiar with television
audiences after playing Archie Shuttleworth on Coronation Street.
Other recent radio work includes the role of Max Miller in Casting
the Shadows, Catching Up with Clifford, In Conversation with Paul
Jackson about his career in Comedy and Variety and Like They’ve
Never Been Gone all for Radio 4.
THE REIGN OF JOSEPH CAIN
By Dominique Moloney
Friday 2nd July at 9.00 pm on Radio 4
Producer Tanya Nash
A Friday Play about sisters Alice and Celia who
find the courage to stand up to their autocratic father when he
demands their blessing for his engagement to a woman half his
age.
Mark Lambert plays Joseph Cain, a wealthy
self made business man who thinks he is the perfect gentleman,
living in a large country house in Northern Ireland. In the eyes
of his daughters, Alice (Annie Farr) and Celia (Andrea Irvine),
their father is a bully and after their mother died of cancer,
they have had little contact with him.
Dominique Moloney’s black comedy is
about the sisters Alice and Celia who are invited to spend the
weekend with their father when he makes a surprise announcement.
Joseph introduces them to Donna, a woman of similar age to themselves,
and then, to their horror, says that he and Donna are getting
married.
Joseph expects his children to be happy
for him and act accordingly. Alice and Celia find it hard to behave
well and the ensuing painful situation uncovers a family secret.
Writer Dominique Moloney won the Tony Doyle
Bursary for New Writing in 2003. Her first play for Radio 4 was
The Greenhouse starring Adjoa Andoh and Neil McWilliams (txm 2003).
A graduate from The London College of Printing, she set up her
own production company Debut Films which has produced a series
of short films. She is currently developing various ideas for
television.
CAST
Mark Lambert (Joseph Cain) has worked extensively in theatre,
film and television. He has just finished working with Judi Dench
in the RSC production of All’s Well that Ends Well. Other
recent credits include the films Evelyn, Chasing the Dragon and
Borstal Boy, and stage work The Gili Concert at The Abbey, Dublin.
Mark also directs and last year was spent directing Memory of
Water at the Lyric Belfast, Doldrum Bay, the Peacock, Dublin and
six part radio series Baldi for BBC Northern Ireland.
Other actors: Annie Farr plays
Alice (Making Waves ITV ), Andrea Irvine plays Celia (Much Ado,
The Gate, Dublin),
Tara Lynne O’Neill plays Donna (Eastenders)
and Kevin Elliot (Pulling Moves, BBC3) plays her brother Connor.
GOOD BEHAVIOUR
by Molly Keane, dramatised by Clare Boylan
Classic Serial
Episode one 13th June 2004 at 3.00 pm
& repeated on 19th June at 9.00 pm on Radio 4
Episode two 20th June 2004 at 3.00 pm
& repeated on 26th June at 9.00 pm on Radio 4
Producer Gemma McMullan
Nominated for the Booker Prize
in 1981, Molly Keane’s novel is widely regarded as her best
work, a classic Irish “big house” drama.
 SYNOPSIS:
Behind its rich veneer, the estate of Temple Alice is now a crumbling
fortress. The aristocratic Anglo-Irish St. Charles family are
also sinking into a decaying grace.
To Aroon St. Charles, the plain and self-conscious daughter of
the house, the fierce forces of sex, money, jealousy and love
seem locked out by the ritual patterns of good behaviour. But
crumbling codes of conduct cannot hope to save the members of
the St Charles family from their own unruly and inadmissible desires.
MOLLY KEANE
Molly Keane (also wrote under the pseudonym MJ
Farrell) was born in Co Kildare in 1904. She has been referred
to “The Jazz Age Jane Austen”. Her novels include:
Devoted Ladies (1934); Full House (1937); Rising Tide (1937);
Two Days in Aragon (1941); Red Letter Days (with Snaffles); Loving
Without Tears; Good Behaviour (1981); Time after Time (1983);
Loving and Giving (1988). Her plays include Ducks and Drakes (1941);
Treasure Hunt (1949); Dazzling Prospect (1961); and Spring Meeting
(1983). Among her many honours she received a D.Litt. from the
National University of Ireland and the University of Ulster. Good
Behaviour was short listed for The Booker McConnell Prize in 1981.
She was a member of Aosdana and died in 1996.
CLARE BOYLAN
Clare Boylan is one of Ireland’s most prestigious novelists.
Her novels include: Emma Browne (based on an unfinished novel
of Charlotte Bronte.), Beloved Stranger, Holy Pictures, Last Resorts,
Black Baby, Home Rule)
Clare was a close friend of Molly Keane in the last few years
of her life.
CAST INCLUDES:
Sylvestra Le Touzel (Credits include – Henry IV
Part one (RSC), Les Enfants Du Paradis (RSC), Kiss Me Kate, Hearts
and Bones, Midsummer Murders, Vanity Fair)
Julian Wadham: (Credits include – A Different Loyalty, High
Heels and Low Lifes, The English Patient, The Madness of King
George, Middlemarch)
 Beth
Goddard: (Credits include - Paradise Reclaimed, Take Me, Big Bad
World, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Cracker, Peak Practice)
Ruth Sheen: (Credits include – All or Nothing, Cheeky, It’s
a Great Shame, White Teeth, H.G. Wells, Lorna Doone, Berkeley
Square, Holding On, Tom Jones.)
Ciaran McMenamin: (Credits include: Pulling Moves, Bollywood Queen,
Sunday, Beating Jesus, David Copperfield, A Rap at the Door, Any
Time Now, Young Person’s Guide to becoming a Rock Star)
Jonathan Firth: (Credits include: Victoria & Albert, In the
Beginning, Far from the Madding Crowd, Henry IV, Middlemarch,
Breed of Heroes.)
Tina Kellegher: (Credits include: Baldi (R4), Sinners, Ballykissangel,
In the Name of the Father, The Hostage.)
Owen Roe: (Credits include: Baldi (R4), Any Time Now, Michael
Collins, Ballykissangel, Loving.)
Gerard Murphy: (Credits include: Heartbeat, The Scarlet Pimpernel,
Vanity Fair, The Governor II, Waterworld)
James Greene: (Credits include: The Statement, Charles II,  William
and Mary, What a Girl Wants, The Prince and the Pauper.)
Pat Laffan: (Credits include: Intermission, The General,An Awfully
Big Adventure, Durango, Eastenders.)
Nuala O’Neil: (Credits include: Rebel Heart, Eureka Street,
I was the Cigarette Girl, Titanic Town.)
Kids: Hannah R Gordon & Daniel Price (Both have acted in various
radio productions for BBCR4 and RTE).
BLOOMSDAY 100: WALKING AT RINGSEND
By Edel Brosnan
Saturday Play 12th June 2004 at 2.30 pm on Radio 4
Producer Heather Larmour
June 16th 2004 marks the centenary
of Bloomsday and will see Dubliners and Joyce fans the world
over celebrating the day on which James Joyce set his literary
masterpiece Ulysses: June 16th 1904.
SYNOPSIS: This date held great personal significance
for Joyce, for the day on which Leopold Bloom set off on his
famous fictional journey across Dublin, was the day that the
22 year old James Joyce first went walking with the young,
Galway-born, Nora Barnacle. Joyce's setting of Ulysses on
this date was an indirect tribute to Nora, the extraordinary
woman who became his lifelong companion and whom he married
in July 1931. Walking at Ringsend dramatises the events which
led up to the original Bloomsday on 16th June 1904: a day
which changed Joyce's life - and literary history - forever.
 CAST:
With Michael Colgan (Wall of Silence, This is Not
a Love Song, Sinners) as Joyce and Nora-Jane Noone (The Magdalene
Sisters, Ella Enchanted) as Nora.
A wonderful supporting cast includes Jason Barry, Elaine Symons,
Michael Legge, Nuala O'Neill and John Hewitt, Mark Lambert
and Pat Laffan.
 Edel
Brosnan is an established television writer whose credits
include Casualty, Eastenders, and A and E. For radio she has
written the popular Woman's Hour Drama The First Witch for
Radio 4.
D DAY:DROP ZONE
by Hilary Fannin
Woman’s Hour 4th June 2004 at 10.45 am & repeated at 7.45pm
on Radio 4
Producer Tanya Nash
As part of Radio 4’s celebrations for the 60th anniversary
of D-day, Hilary Fannin was commissioned to write one of a series
of five short plays about what was happening to civilians during
the run-up to the D-day landings in Normandy 1944.
SYNOPSIS: Blind priest Fr Pierre
and his niece Louise are called to help one of his distressed parishioners,
eighty year old Mme Des Rochers who lives in a Château, now
being run by the German army.
FINAL SACRAMENT
Monday 19 April to Friday 23 April at 1045
& 1945 (rpt)
Producer : TANYA NASH
Writer: Bill Murphy
SYNOPSIS: Detective Sgt Sue
Manson thought working for the Missing Persons Bureau would be dull
after her time with the Flying Squad. Since Sue joined the MPB,
she has caught one serial killer and now she thinks there could
be a second murderer at large. So far three people have disappeared
for no apparent reason. The only clues are a cardboard triangle
left at their home along with traces of a deadly zombie poison and
a series of macabre photographs sent to a priest in South London,
a Fr Raphoe. The priest has a passion for art history and he spots
a connection with the weird photographs to a series of religious
paintings by 17th Century Renaissance painter, Nicholas Poussin.
Sue sets out to discover how this link could help find the missing
persons and why is the killer sending the pictures to Fr Raphoe.
Bill Murphy (writer) made his radio drama debut
with Fractions of Zero for Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour drama
series. He was also BBC Northern Ireland Drama’s first winner
of our television writers’ bursary, The Tony Doyle Award (2001).
Bill has written two novels Tin Kickers and Fractions of Zero (pub
Hodder & Stoughton). He is currently writing an episode for
Radio 4’s detective series Baldi and is working on his third
novel.
CAST: Annie Farr (Sue Manson) Recent
TV work includes June Maguire in Making Waves (ITV), 15 Storeys
High (BBC3), Doctors (BBC1) and Helen Murray in M.I.T (ITV) For
radio drama Annie played the lead in Pearse Elliot’s play
The Calling and Maria in The Tunnel by Tim Loane. Recent theatre
work includes Playboy of The Western World and Peer Gynt (RNT) and
Translantions (dir. Laurence Till) Watford Palace Theatre.
Patrick Robinson (Brian Torrey) Best known for the
role of Ash in BBC 1’s Casualty, Patrick’s recent work
includes feature film Belly of the Beast, The Merchant of Venice
(Chichester Festival Theatre) and Dangerous Corner (Really Useful
Company).
Des McAleer (Fr Raphoe) Des has worked extensively
on theatre, film and television. Recent work includes BBC NI’s
new television comedy for BBC 3 Pulling Moves and a season with
the RSC – Friar Lawrence in Romeo & Juliet and Lucius
O’Trigger in The Rivals, The Price and Ten Rounds (both at
Tricycle Theatre, London). Previous TV work includes Between the
Lines (BBC1) Monsignor Renard (ITV), Eureka Street (BBC 2) and Touching
Evil (ITV).
HORSES
Writer:
Keith Ridgway
Unabridged reading Crime and Thrillers
1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th March 2004, every Monday 1.00pm
- 1.30pm and repeated 8.00pm on BBC 7.
Producer:
Heather Brennon
Reader: Owen Roe
 Horses
by Keith Ridgway, read by Owen Roe is the story of a storm, of
grief, of arson and revenge. A doctor, a priest and a policeman,
one wild stormy night, struggle with the grief of a teenage girl,
the unpredictability of a vagrant and the terror of an arsonist.
Horses is a thriller set in the present day, south of Dublin.
One wild stormy night a priest, a doctor and a policeman discover
the identity of an arsonist who set fire to the doctor's
stables, killing his daughter's beloved horses. When the
doctor's daughter finds out who did it she sets out to avenge
the killing of her horses. The doctor, the priest and the
policeman are then locked in a race against time to stop the daughter
taking dreadful revenge.
Keith Ridgway is from Dublin. The novella Horses was published
in 1997 and was followed in 1998 by his critically acclaimed first
novel The Long Falling, which has since been awarded both the
prestigious Prix Femina Etranger and Premier Roman Etranger in
France.
His short stories have appeared in
various anthologies in Ireland, Britain and the United States.
His collection Standard Time, won the Rooney Prize in 2001.
His most recent novel The Parts, is set in Dublin and he is currently
writing his next novel which is set in London where he currently
lives.
Owen Roe has appeared
in numerous productions at the Abbey and Peacock Theatres, most
recently appearing as Fluther Good in The Plough and The Stars
directed by Ben Barnes. Owen recently appeared as Neil Bohr in
Rough Magic’s Irish premiere of Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen
(for which he received an Irish Times/ESB nomination for Best
Actor). Television credits include Paul Dooley in Ballykissangel
(BBC), Kevin Flaherty in The Ambassador (BBC), The Broker’s
Man (ITV) as well as the BBC/RTE series Anytime Now. Film credits
include When The Sky Falls, Frankie Starlight, Undercurrent, Arthur
Griffith in Neil Jordan’s Michael Collins and Mr. Adamson
in the forthcoming Intermission directed by John Crowley for Company
of Wolves. On radio he has performed in numerous plays for RTE
and BBC most notably at Superintendent Rynne in Radio 4’s
popular “Baldi” series and many roles in RTE’s
Scrap Saturday most notably, P.J. Mara.
THE
KRAKEN WAKES
Writer: John Wyndham
BBC Radio 7 From Friday 12 March to Friday 2 April weekdays
@ 18:00 & Repeat 12:00 midnight
Producer:
Susan Carson
 Stephen
Moore reads John Wyndham’s follow-up to Day of The Triffids,
The Kraken Wakes for BBC Radio 7.
This
is the story of the awakening and rise to power of intelligible
forces beneath the surface of the sea. The almost imperceptible
beginnings and the cruelly terrifying consequences of this new
threat to the world are seen through the eyes of a radio scriptwriter
and his wife.
John
Wyndham’s second novel is a well-paced, vivid and alarming
story. It is told with convincing detail and immediacy and although
it’s world is it’s own, it is perilously close to
ours with our awareness of the “Greenhouse Effect”
and the threat of rising sea levels.
Synopsis:
 A
radio scriptwriter, Mike and his wife Phyllis are aboard a ship
when they see lights in the sky. These draw closer and then plunge
violently into the sea, amidst bubbling steam. When ships and people
start to disappear mysteriously it brings a realization that the
bottom of the deepest oceans are now occupied by a nameless, faceless
and utterly foreign form of life that has arrived in an apparent
attempt to colonize the planet.
The
life forms are investigated but the probes sent down, the ships
attached to them and all in them are electrocuted. When a nuclear
bomb is used to try and get rid of the aliens, they react by launching
a series of invasions of coastal villages and towns in which they
kidnap earthlings but prove elusive themselves.
Finally
they start melting the polar ice caps which causes a worldwide increase
in sea level and leaves entire regions of the world under water.
In Britain there is a breakdown of social order and an emergence
of anarchical self-organized communities that defend their small
turf with everything they’ve got.
Stephen Moore is an experienced actor who has appeared on stage
with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has been seen in many television
dramas and feature films including Clockwise and Brassed Off.
THE
FIRST WITCH
Writer:
Edel Brosnan
BBC Radio 4 from Monday 22 March to Friday 25 March on Women's hour
@ 10.45 & repeated @ 19.45
Producer:
Gemma McMullan
 Based
on real events, The First Witch tells the story of DAME ALICE KYTELER
of Kilkenny (Sorcha Cusack) who was the first woman in Europe to
be put on trial for witchcraft in 1324AD.
Following the sudden illness of her fourth husband, suspiscion was
cast that Alice was in fact, a witch and had been using sorcery
as a means to kill off each of her husbands.
Alice’s stepdaughter, Kathryn, was determined to save her
father from the same fate. She called for the assistance of Bishop
Richard Ledrede of Ossary (John Kavanagh) who would stop at nothing
to condemn Alice as a witch. Ledrede publicly denounced her claiming
she was a “Heretical Sorceress” and fuelling panic among
the people of Kilkenny. The case was taken to “parliament”
in Dublin where Alice realised just how far Bishop Ledrede was willing
to go to ensure she would burn-at-the-stake. Alice was left with
no choice but to flee to England and plan her revenge.
Edel
is an established television writer whose credits include Casualty,
Eastenders, A and E
and Grease Monkeys. The First Witch is Edel’s first radio
play.
The Cast: Sorcha
Cusack (Credits include: Snatch, Playing the Field, Eureka Street,
Casualty, The Bill)
John Kavanagh (Credits include: Alexander the Great (Oliver Stone
2004), Sinners, Vicious Circle, Braveheart)
Don Wycherley (Credits include: Veronica Guerin, Ballykissangel,
Bachelor’s Walk,
When Brendan Met Trudy, Father Ted)
Marcella Riordan (Radio credits include: The Charterhouse of Parma,
Two Doors Down, Faithful Departed)
Elaine Symons (Credits include: Conspiracy of Silence, Sinners,
Custer’s Last Stand Up, As If),
Niall
Buggy (Credits include: Cruise of the Gods, The Butcher Boy, Anna
Karenina, Lucy Sullivan is getting Married, Father Ted, The Weir,
Full Wax, Once in a Lifetime)
Luke Griffin (Credits include: Band of Brothers, The Nephew, Vicious
Circle, The Disappearance of Finbar)
THE
DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS
Writer:
John Wyndham
BBC Radio 7 until Thursday 11 March weekdays @ 18:00 & Rpt
@ 12:00 midnight
Producer:
Susan Carson
 Roger
May reads the classic Science Fiction novel The Day of The Triffids
for BBC Radio 7.
John
Wyndham’s most famous book, this unsettlingly vivid and thrillingly
realized tale of ecological apocalypse is a classic in its genre
of science fiction. Although written in 1951, this novel expresses
our current fears of biological warfare, ecological disaster and
the unforeseen results of genetic engineering.
Synopsis
 Triffids
are odd but interesting plants that seem to appear in everyone's
garden. They are curiosities, but little more, until an event occurs
that alters human life -- what appears to be a meteor shower, spectacular
at first, turns into a bizarre green inferno that has blinded virtually
everyone and rendered humankind helpless. Even stranger, spores
from the inferno have caused triffids to suddenly take on lives
of their own -- large, crawling vegetation that uproot themselves
and roam about, attacking humans and inflicting agony. Bill Masen
happened to escape being blinded in the green inferno -- he was
hospitalized with his eyes bandaged following surgery -- and he
is now one of the few humans left who can see, who can avoid being
attacked by triffids, who might be able to save mankind from the
chaos and possible extinction threatened by this cataclysm.
Roger
May, the reader is a very experienced radio actor. His television
roles include Harry MacLean in Shackleton and he recently played
Hamlet in the Wimbledon Attic Theatre.
THE GOLD DIGGER
Sunday 15th February 2004 on R4 @ 19:45
Producer: Gemma McMullan
Writer: Gretta Mulrooney
Jack Daly’s daughters, Rose
and Ita, are far from happy at the prospect of Leila entering the
life of their father. They are convinced this younger woman is nothing
more than “an old fashioned gold digger” who is out
to relieve their father of his money and leave them with nothing.
Jack, however, is determined to prove them wrong.
A delightful story by Gretta Mulrooney, one of Irelands most exciting
writing talents. Gretta has won great acclaim for her recent novels
“Marble Heart” and “Araby.” Her children’s
fiction includes “Nest of Vipers”, “A Den of Thieves”
and “A Can of Worms.”
The story is read by Dermot Crowley whose television credits include,
Falling for a Dancer, Poirot, The Sculptress, A Touch of Frost,
Kavanagh QC, Helen West, Jonathan Creek.
Film credits include: The Legend of Bagger Vance, The Star Wars
Trilogy.
SOME
TYPE OF WOMAN
Sunday 8th February on R4 @ 19.45
Producer: Susan Carson
Writer: Pearse Elliott
A petty thief is driven by the love for
his girlfriend to carry out an armed robbery on a bank in upstate
New York in order to fund her breast enlargement. He persuades
his hapless gang to help him out but none of them bargain for
what’s in store.
Kerry Shale is a native North American and is well
known to Radio Four audiences. He is also a prolific stage actor
and has recently finished his one-man show, CAVEMAN, INC at the
Edinburgh Festival. His film and tv credits include: Max, 102 Dalmatians,
Welcome to Sarajevo and Kiss Me Kate.
Pearse Elliott is a unique Irish writing talent
on the brink of major success. His single drama, A Rap at the Door
was broadcast on BBC2 to critical acclaim and his new 10-part drama
has recently been greenlit by the BBC. He has three feature films
in development with DNA Films, Simon Channing Williams and Treasure
Films. He has also written two novels, which are yet to be published,
and a short story, Tiger Slayer that was broadcast last year on
Radio 4.
LIFE HALF SPENT
Writer: Lizzie Mickery
Friday Play: 30th January 2004 at 9pm on BBC R4
Producer: Gemma McMullan
What brings a woman to write to a prisoner and develop a relationship
with him? LIFE HALF SPENT by acclaimed writer Lizzie Mickery explores
the personal experiences of two women as they each embark on relationships
with two male prisoners. No relationship is simple but a relationship
with a prisoner brings its own set of difficulties as the women
soon discover.
 Life
Half Spent uncovers the fears of each couple alongside their hopes
and dreams and their expectations and disappointments. The drama
reveals how and why both couples are drawn to each other and why
they believe their relationship will stand the test of time.
Lizzie
Mickery is one Britain’s most prestigious female
writers whose work include the award winning Sinners, Messiah
1 & 2; (The Ice House, Inspector Lynley Mysteries;
The Beggar Bride The Great Deliverance (BBC1) and the upcoming
Every Time You Look at Me.
Life Half spent stars Lynda Bellingham (At Home
with the Braithwaites, Dalziel and Pascoe), Anne Marie Duff (Charles
II, Sinners, The Magdalene Sisters), Christopher Eccleston (The
Second Coming, Clocking Off), and Stuart Graham (As the Beast Sleeps,
Waking the Dead, Silent Witness,)
THE FISHING TRIP
Sunday 1st February on R4 @ 19.45
Producer: Susan Carson
Writer: Marian O'Neill
Young Jack is desperate to go fishing with his Dad and older brother.
To him going on a fishing trip means being accepted as a man. However
when he arrives at Jim Grimes’ fishing boat he realises with
horror what becoming a man will entail. Jack decides that he still
has plenty of time to enjoy his childhood comforts - he doesn’t
want to become a man yet.
Owen
Roe is best known on Radio 4 as Supt. Rynne in the series Baldi.
He is also prolific on stage and screen, his screen credits including
Ballykissangel and The Ambassador. He has also featured in films
namely Michael Collins and When The Sky Falls.
Marian
O’Neill is originally from Dublin. She has written two novels,
the critically acclaimed Miss Harrie Elliott and Daddy’s Girl,
which was published by Scribner in 2001. She is currently working
on a third novel.
I CAN SEE CLEARLY
Writer: Tim Loane
Producer: Tanya Nash
Afternoon Play: Thursday 22 January 2.15 pm on Radio 4
A disarming new comedy from writer Tim Loane about one man’s
journey back to his native hometown of Belfast to see how it has
changed in the ten years since Peace broke out. When
successful PR man, Frank is head-hunted for a job back in Northern
Ireland he decides to return home to Belfast to attend the interview
and spend the weekend there. Frank hasn’t been back for
twelve years but he has become jaded with his life in London and
is curious to see how Northern Ireland has changed since the ceasefires.
After the interview Frank spends an event filled weekend looking
up his old friends and finds that both his emotions and prejudices
are challenged.
Award-winning writer Tim Loane, who created the
television series Teachers (C4), won the Stewart Parker Award this
year with his first stage play Caught Red Handed – a biting
satire on Unionist politics in Northern Ireland. The play achieved
UK-wide critical acclaim despite only being produced in Ireland.
Other writing credits include Reversals (ITV Nov 2003), and The
Tunnel (Radio 3, The Wire). He also directed the award-winning,
Oscar nominated short film Dance Lexie Dance.
Cast: Frank McCusker plays Frank.
A highly experienced stage actor, he regularly performs at The Abbey
Theatre Dublin; recent productions include Communion, The House
by Tom Murphy and Translations by Brian Friel. TV appearances include
Pulling
Moves (BBC 3) As
The Beast Sleeps (BBC1), and Any
Time Now (BBC 1).
Other cast members are Cathy White, John Paul Connolly, Frankie
McCafferty, Maria Connolly, Alan McKee and Kathy Keira Clarke.
TRANSPARENCY
Sunday 25th January on R4 @ 19.45
Producer:
Heathor Brennon
Writer: Brian Gallagher
It’s
two years since Michael’s last affair, when his wife caught
him in a compromising situation with his assistant. However, with
a new atmosphere of openness in his marriage, Michael thinks it
would be safe to risk giving in to the seductive allure of Lucille
Garvey. Brian
Gallagher is a Dublin barrister turned writer who has had two novels
published, Feng Shui Junkie, which has been translated into five
different languages and optioned for film. The screenplay is presently
being written for an Australian production company. Junk Male, his
second novel has also been very successful, and he’s currently
working on his third.
Liam
Cunningham has appeared in numerous films, Abduction Club, a Little
Princess, Dog Soldiers, First Knight, The Island of the Mapmaker’s
Wife and television dramas including Falling for a Dancer, A Likeness
in Stone, Cracker, Roughnecks as well as being a prolific stage
actor.
SITTING WITH THE DEAD
Sunday 18th January on R4 @ 19.45
Producer : Gemma McMullan
Writer: William Trevor
The Geraghty’s are two middle-aged sisters,
who sit with the dying. They are Legion of Mary women famed for
their charity and tireless in their support of the Society of St.
Vincent de Paul. However, on this particular day, as they attempt
to bring their good works to a sick room, they are about to experience
a rather strange visit.
William Trevor has been one of Ireland’s
most prolific writers of novels and short stories since the 1960’s.
He has written fourteen novels and nine collections of short stories.
His contribution to the Arts was awarded with an honorary knighthood
earlier this year. He has won the Whitbread three times and was
short listed for the 2002 Booker Prize for his latest novel The
Story of Lucy Gault.
Sorcha Cusack who has worked extensively in
theatre, television and film reads the story. Among her many television
credits are Inspector Morse, Maigret, Poirot, Plastic Man, Playing
the Field, Eureka Street, Ulysses, Private Affairs, Murder Machine,
August Saturday, four series of Casualty, Shoot the Revolution,
Married Love, Jane Eyre, Confessional, Rides, Boon, Hold the Dream,
The Real Charlotte, Kilmore House, Napoleon & Love, Brookside,
Boon, Thou Shalt Not Kill, and The Bill. Films include Angel (Neil
Jordan), Sinful Davy (John Huston), and Snatch (Guy Ritchie).
EVERY
BREATH YOU TAKE
Writer: Annie McCartney
Afternoon Play: Tuesday 6 Jan 04 at 2.15 pm on R4.
Producer: Tanya Nash
 A
psychological thriller about a mother who has to protect her
family from a man who threatens to expose her past in the newspapers,
after her son wins a TV talent contest.
Have a look at our behind
the scenes photos from Every Breath You Take
Maura
and her family are thrilled when nineteen year old Ryan wins a
recording contract as a singer in the latest television talent
show. The family are now local celebrities in their small town
in Northern Ireland. Ryan’s three younger sisters delight
in his success and the press attention it brings the whole family.
However, unknown to them all, Maura receives an unexpected phone
call from Mick, a man she met on holiday twenty years ago and
who she hasn’t seen since. When Mick insinuates he could
be Ryan’s father, Maura realises that their happiness could
be shattered.
The
play follows Maura’s journey as she sets about protecting
her family. She tells her sister Bronagh that she and Mick only
ever kissed but then agonises that there could be some truth in
his claim. With Bronagh’s help they discover that Mick has
a dark secret of his own but can they keep Mick at bay before
he ruins their world?
The
Writer: Annie McCartney has written eight afternoon plays
and the comedy drama series Two Doors Down for Radio 4 which all
proved very popular. Currently she is developing a two part television
drama for BBC NI Drama and working on her second novel, Your Cheatin’
Heart. Her debut novel, Desire Lines was re-issued in paperback
in May 2002.
Cast: Brid Brennan
plays Maura (Any
Time Now BBC1, Dancing At Lughnasa dir. Pat O’Connor,
Felicia’s Journey, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth forRSC, The Billy
Plays, BBC1)
Orla Charlton plays her sister,
Bronagh. (Memory of Water by Shelagh Stevenson, Lyric Theatre
Beflast, On Home Ground, RTE and Valerie in The Weir, Royal Court,
dir Ian Rickson
Malachi Cush a finalist from
the first Fame Academy is to play Ryan Devine and sing one of
his own songs.
A CANDLE FOR CASEY
TX Date: Tuesday 23rd December 2003 at 1415 on R4
Writer: Harry Towb
Producer/Director: Tanya Nash
See
the photos from behind the scenes
A delicious comic ghost story, set in New York on Christmas Eve,
about Casey (David Kelly) an Irish rogue who haunts his old Jewish
friend, Israelovitch (Henry Goodman) to help him get to Heaven.
All Israelovitch has to do is light a candle for him on the first
anniversary of Casey’s death at St Michael’s church.
Israelovitch isn’t keen because Casey died owing him money
and its cold and very snowy outside. So Casey enlists the help
of Israelovitch’s wife, Bessie (Suzanne Bertish) who is
already there and will get her wings if she helps Casey. Then
the race is on to light the candle before 12 noon.
The
writer is the veteran Northern Irish actor, Harry Towb who also
has a cameo role as Mr Price in the play. Harry’s extensive
career spans early years in radio drama and British films Above
The Waves, 39 Steps, numerous TV appearances including The Camomile
Lawn, Minder and Holby City, later films Patten, Moll Flanders,
a rich stage career Guys & Dolls with Bob Hoskins, Schweyk
in the Second World War plus many others with the National Theatre.
Roles with the RSC include - Bernard Shaw’s Man & Superman,
Tom Stoppard’s Travesties and Sherlock Holmes.
As
a writer, Harry has written over twenty short stories for both
the BBC and RTE. He has written four radio plays; two for Radio
4 - The Debt Collector and The Righteous Gentile and two for RTE.
He has also written regularly for the children’s TV series
You and Me.
Henry
Goodman is currently playing a critically acclaimed Richard
III for the RSC. Other recent appearances include the stage version
of Mel Brook’s film The Producers, Stephen Sondheim’s
musical Follies and Shylock in Trevor Nunn’s last production
of The Merchant of Venice at the National Theatre.
David
Kelly is familiar face for fans of Ballykissangel and
the TV sit-com Robin’s Nest. Recent appearances include
a US stage tour of Krappes Last Tape and feature films Waking
Ned and Ordinary Decent Criminal.
Suzanne
Bertish works mostly in theatre with leading directors
such as Stephen Daldry on Inspector Calls and Peter Hall’s
production of The Oedipus Plays. Recent work includes a guest
appearance on Silent Witness, Gertrude in Laurence Boswell’s
production of Hamlet and the New York production of Memory of
Water by Shelagh Stephenson. Other
cast members are Joyce Springer and John Guerrasio.
POOR
TOM THY HORN IS DRY
Writer: John Arden
TX Date: 21st December 2003 at 8.00 pm on Radio 3
Producer: Roland Jaquarello
‘I
have nothing in this world but to dare and to attempt!’
Thomas Ashe in ‘Poor Tom Thy Horn Is Dry.’
 John
Arden’s new play written for BBC Radio 3 is based on the
three volumes of the ‘Memoirs and Confessions of Captain
Ashe’.
It
tells the extraordinary story of Thomas Ashe - the Tipperary born
Protestant - from his early days, brought up among the impoverished
Irish gentry in 1787, up to his exile in France in 1815 and stretches
across three continents.
Thomas
Ashe was more than just a soldier, much more. He was a clerk,
tradesman, teacher, sailor, murderer, embezzler, explorer, impersonator,
political propagandist, ‘hack’ journalist, plagiarist,
blackmailer, lover and writer!
Find
out more information about the drama and the writer.
John Arden.
DRACULA
(Book at Bedtime)
TX Date: Monday - Friday from 24 Novermber for two weeks @ 22:45
on Radio 4
Producer:
Gemma McMullan
 First
published in 1897, the novel Dracula by Irish author Bram Stoker
has never been out of print. The popularity of the world’s
most notorious vampire, Count Dracula, has ensured that it has
remained a timeless classic.
In
this new reading, Michael Fassbender, Gillian Kearney, James D’Arcy
and James Greene read the various diary accounts of the four main
characters of Jonathan Harker, Mina Murray, Dr. Seward and Dr.
Van Helsing to relate the epic legend of the Transylvanian Count.
More
photos from behind the scenes of Dracula
Read
the comments you have e-mailed about Dracula
Michael Fassbender Jonathan Harker (Gunpowder,
Treason and Plot, Carla)
Gillian Kearney Mina Murray (Sweet Medicine,
Forsyte Sage, Murder in Mind)
James D’Arcy Dr Seward (Wilde, Edward II,
Nicholas Nickleby, Rebel Heart and P.O.W)
James
Greene Dr Van Helsing (The Prince and the Pauper, Kavanagh
QC, As Time Goes By, William and Mary)
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