Reminiscences of childhood: Radio Plays
*THE PEACOCK SCREAMED ONE MORNING....1970
-by R.C.Scriven. I was struck by the intense visual quality of the
writing when I listened to this; it reminded it me of the Roy Hutchins play
"Spacehoppers, clackers and really big fish", in the
way it remembers a childhood from long ago, but
Scriven's work is not humorous; it is evocative,
poignant, and intense.
*JUST REMEMBER TWO THINGS - IT'S NOT FAIR AND DON'T BE LATE....1980s
by Terence Frisby. Narrated by the author. A very effective wartime evacuee story, with Ray Smith, Petra Davies, Charles Clarke, Boris Huneker, Polly James, Caroline Gruber, John Baddiley, Barbara Atkinson, Zela Clarke, Danny Schiller, Richard pearce. Directed by Matthew Walters.
*SPACEHOPPERS, CLACKERS AND REALLY BIG FISH....1993
R4, 6.1.93, 2.02pm, 45m. A wonderful autobiographical evocation of childhood. It conjures up all those things we thought were forgotten - school dinners in the sixties, swedes, clackers...("pieces might fly off and blind you")...narrated by Roy Hutchins, with Jennifer Piercey, Emma Fielding, Richard Sandall, Kevin Bassant, Alun Jenner, Philip Brown, Clair Hilton, Rebecca Parker. Assorted pupils played by pupils of the Fleetdown Junior School; also stars John Baddeley, Nadine Fitzgerald and David Thorpe. Music composed and played by Nick Dwyer. Directed by Tracey Neale.
*JUST FOURTEEN....1993
by Amanda Swift, well-known as a comedian and comedy writer. This is
another excellent "reminiscence" play, acutely observed,
made through the eyes of a fourteen year old girl.
*DEAR GERALD....1999
By A.Hallett. A drama-documentary based on 60
year old letters written by wartime evacuee Gerald
Meadows, who was evacuated to South Africa during the
war. If I remember rightly, the play has a short interview
with Gerald Meadows at the end. R4, 16 Sep 99.
*THE PAST IS A FOREIGN COUNTRY....2001
By Louise Page. Wartime evacuees and black children. R4, 23 Aug 01.
The Twenty-Nine Worst Minutes of
Raymond Hej....2002
- was a wonderfully funny and touching play
about the son of the only Norwegian in Barnsley,
written by poet Ian MacMillan (R4, 1415, 25 Jun 02).
Raymond's father tells him "although life is a matter of years, the bad things that happen to you are just a matter of minutes...". Raymond therefore decides to give his autobiography, the twenty-nine worst minutes of his life, in one-minute bursts. Introducing each minute is a "fanfare" on the bass tuba. The form varies; one minute is presented as a Philip Marlowe mystery; another as a George Formby song, and minute 22 describes " the evenings of my married life, an extremely long minute, presented as a Samuel Beckett monologue".
Nigel Deacon / Diversity website
Asterisked plays known to exist in VRPCC collections
