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.