Enyd Williams Radio Plays
Enyd was born in Liverpool, of Welsh parentage and went to primary school with two of the Beatles. She is one of our most experienced radio drama producers, and has worked with many playwrights, but has made a speciality of producing Peter Tinniswood's work, with which she has a close affinity.
The following remarks are taken from the Society of Authors website (by permission of Jo Hodder) as they appeared prior to the first Peter Tinniswood Award for 2003, where she was one of the judges.
She first met Peter Tinniswood about 35 years ago, when he was still a journalist on the Western Mail in Cardiff and had just completed his first novel A Touch of Daniel. At the time, she was working with (and married to) his then literary agent Jonathon Clowes so she knew, first hand, the ideas and plays for radio, television and theatre that were already tumbling out of him. Back at BBC Radio Drama she commissioned several of his projects to be produced by, amongst others, Tony Cliff and Shaun MacLoughlin and once locked Peter in her office to make him write a synopsis for a particularly brilliant Saturday Night Theatre about which he’d been talking to her. He hated writing synopsis and rebelled by scrawling this one on a paper napkin. It still got sold. She’s lost count of how many of his plays she’s directed herself.
Some years ago, when Peter had to have his voice-box removed, Enyd was asked for her reaction. She pointed out that Peter’s voice wasn’t trapped in his larynx but that it lived in the words he gave to other people to say, those lucky and privileged actors. And so she hopes it will stay, resonating forever.
NOTES ON SOME OF THE PLAYS ENYD WILLIAMS HAS PRODUCED:
The Penthouse Apartment ....1998
28 July 98. By William Trevor,
dramatised by Michael Bakewell. A shy spinster leads a quiet life - until she is
invited to visit the opulent home of her neighbours. With Dorothy Tutin,
Bryan Pringle and Ada Russo. Director Enyd Williams.
Dorothy, A Manager’s Wife....2000
producer & director: Enyd Williams
writer: Peter Tinniswood
editor: Caroline Raphael
performers: Pauline Collins, Timothy West & David Thorpe
BBC Radio Drama for Radio 4
Nominatedfor Sony award, 2001
THE PACKER….2000
A monologue by Peter Tinniswood written for Michael Williams who stars as Gladwyn Jebb, a man who sees his job as a vocation, his craft as an art and his lies as truths. Director: Enyd Williams
Tales from the Backbench....2001
Naming Names, by Peter Tinniswood. A useless and forgetful MP recalls a particularly juicy scandal involving an eminent politician and the Third Lady. With Leslie Phillips. Directed by Enyd Williams.
Uncle Happy....2001
by Michael Mears (R4, 1415, 12 Oct 01): a one-man play, the author playing an amazing variety of voices as Bob Jones, a middle-aged Maths teacher, searches for an Italian ancestor he sees in an old wedding photograph. The story line was well worked out; Mears has made a speciality of these one-man productions, and readers may remember "A slight tilt to the left", "Tomorrow we do the sky" and "Slow Train", all broadcast in recent years. Enyd Williams produced, Mears doing everything else.
DOROTHY, A MANAGER'S WIFE....2001
Dir. Enyd Williams; with Pauline Collins, Timothy West and David Thorpe. See Peter Tinniswood page. (Radio-LISTS-Peter Tinniswood)
ANTON IN EASTBOURNE 2002
Tinniswood's final radio play, written for Paul Scofield, in tribute to his love for Checkhov. He plays Mr. Anton, Emma Fielding is the young lady, and Stephen Thorne is the hotel manager; dir. Enyd Williams. Repeated on BBC7, June 2003, as part of the Peter Tinniswood season:
"...... his haunting Chekhovian play, the last he wrote. Two writers meet at a seaside conference; it rapidly becomes apparent that they are from different times. Is he a ghost? Are they both? Does it matter?" Gillian Reynolds, excerpt from Daily Telegraph
TAKEN AT THE FLOOD....2003
A Poirot story, with John Moffat, Robert Lang, Susannah Corbett, Ifan Meredith, Fritha Goodey, Tom George, Derek Waring, James Taylor. Dir. Enyd Williams.
CARDS ON THE TABLE....2004
A peverse eccentric's idea of fun goes horribly wrong when a murderer strikes during a game of bridge. But Poirot is among the guests. With John Moffatt, Mary Wimbush, Christopher Godwin, Stephanie Cole, Donald Sinden, Ioan Meredith, David Timson, Nigel Anthony, Helen Longworth, Sarah Paul, Marlene Sidaway and Ewan Bailey. Dramatised by Michael Bakewell and directed by Enyd Williams.
Nigel Deacon / Diversity website
Asterisked plays known to exist in VRPCC collections
