Stephen Dunstone Radio Plays
Stephen Dunstone gave up full-time German teaching ten years ago (paragraph written 1990) in order to write. Since then he has written regularly for radios 3 and 4, winning a Radio Times drama award and a Giles Cooper Award. His work has been translated into French, German, Norwegian, Hebrew, Icelandic, Japanese and Russian. (info. found by Clive Lever, in "The Man In Black", BBC Publications 1990, ISBN 0 563 20904 6)
Stephen has written some cracking tales...."Arrived Safe, Writing Later" is a subtle, other-world play occurring on two different levels, and "The Devil's Kiss" is in the same class as Scott Cherry's nightmarish "Book of Shadows".
The website at http://stephendunstone.wordpress.com/ gives the following biographical details: Stephen is a harpist, teacher, composer and writer. The site is interesting and well worth a visit.
Nigel Deacon
BBC Broadcasts
WHO IS SYLVIA?....1984
I heard part of this play twenty years ago whilst in the car, and looked
for a copy of it (not knowing the title) for twenty years; finally I
heard the whole thing in 2004. Two scientists are
engrossed in their work in the laboratory, experimenting on cockroaches.
It works on two levels - we hear the scientists and their mindless
chatter; then there's a subtle change in the sound quality, and we are
with the insects. They are aware of the horrible things which are being done
to them, but can't understand why they are happening. It is truly horrific. At the same
time it is superbly
written and directed, and it won a Giles Cooper Award. It stars Michael Aldridge as Sir
Archibald, Nigel Hawthorne as Henry, Martin Jarvis as Michael, Anna
Massey as Angela, and Frances Jeater as Sylvia. Director: John Tydeman.
OENANTHE AND THE BEANSTALK ....1986
R3, 26 December 1986, 75 minutes
The true story of Jack and the beanstalk. ("the Christmas offering
that has stayed most memorably through the discarded tinsel... a
bitter-sweet and charming fantasy of lost love, with Jack's mother as
the baddie and Jack falling for the giant's young wife." The
Guardian, 3 Jan 1987) With Polly James, Robert Meadmore, Geoffrey
Matthews and Pauline Letts. Produced by John Tydeman.
GOD'S FIRST DRAFT ....1987
R3, 25 Jul 1987, 25 minutes
The world we know and live in may not be the only version of God's
attempt at the Creation. This story suggests there were other drafts
- all of them rejected! Performed by Anna Massey. Produced by John
Tydeman.
FEAR ON FOUR: FAT ANDY....1988
R4, 6.3.1988/1930, Series 1, no. 10.
HEAVEN'S CHILDREN ....1988
R4, 13 Jun 1988, 90 minutes
"In the excellent Monday play, Caroline, disappointed in love for
Richard joins a pseudo-religious sect, and her father insists that
Richard must get her out. He is able to visit, but Caroline insists
he must meditate, and then she is able to enter his mind." (Financial
Times, 18 June 1988) Starring Steve Hodson, Victoria Carling and
Susannah Fellows. Produced by John Tydeman.
FORGIVENESS ...1989
R4, 09 May 1989, 30 minutes
The pursued is a criminal, a specialist in his field. The pursuer has
been on his trail for years and tracks him to his secret hideaway.
But then suddenly the criminal is overwhelmed with compassion.
Performed by Tony Haygarth. Produced by John Tydeman.
ARRIVED SAFE, WRITING LATER....1989
R4, 30/12/89, 75min....... Radio Times said ...."A writer who finds
two postcards from the same woman decides to investigate her for his
next novel."
This is factually correct, but one could equally say
that "Romeo and Juliet" is the story of two feckless
teenagers who won't obey their parents. The plot of
"Arrived Safe, Writing Later" isn't really the point - this is
a closely-written play about coincidence, life and the nature of time.
.....ND
UNDER THE RAINBOW ....1991
World Service, 24 March 1991
A retelling of the Noah's Ark legend. Were Noah's instructions direct
from God? ("the neat twists and the near-serious reflections on the
original story saved Upon the Rainbow from the merely fanciful. The
Guardian, 29 March 1991) Starring Bill Patterson. Produced by Gordon
House.
THE DEVIL'S KISS....1996
R4, 21/10/96, 90min.
Set in the late 1300s somewhere in Yorkshire,
this is a frightening tale involving superstition and the devil.
Villagers are set a near impossible task by the local squire and are
subsequently approached by a mysterious stranger to help them carry it
out. The help comes at a high price. The opening scene of this story is
almost unsurpassable....a group of men are drinking in an inn, and one of them has
a story to tell. He reaches in his bag, and pulls out a lump of wood
which he puts on the table. It it obviously old, sawn from a long beam,
and it contains a wooden
peg, driven in hard with a hammer. The man says that behind the peg,
something frightful is trapped. His story reveals what it is, and how
it got there.
With Paul Copley, Michael Cochrane, Christian Rodska,
Carole Boyd, Rachel Atkins, Keith Drinkel. Based on an old Swiss tale.
Jim's notes....
Broadcast 21 October 1996, The Monday Play
For defying the Devil, a medieval Yorkshire village faces an eruption of murderous spiders.
Based on Jeremias Gotthelf's 1842 novella, The Black Spider (“Die schwarze Spinne”, 1842). Jeremias Gotthelf was the pen name of Albert Bitzius (October 4, 1797 – October 22, 1854). Producer Martin Jenkins.
Cast:
Paul Copley .................................. John Faber
Christian Rodska ......................... William Dunger
Michael Cochrane .......... Sir Richard, the Local Squire
Carole Boyd ................................ Mother Keech
Rachel Atkins ............................. Christina May
Keith Drinkel .......................... The Man in Green
Robert Harper .................................. Theodore
Alice Arnold ...................................... Sarah
Colleen Prendergast .................... Alice / Margaret
Andrew Branch ............................ Thomas Pyshank
Kim Wall ............................... William Honeyman
Jonathan Adams ................................... Muckle
David Collings ........................... Father Crispin
Peter England .......................... Jeffrey, a Child
THE DROUGHT....1999
45 mins, 9 July 1999.
Jean's former home, submerged in a reservoir, has been uncovered
by a drought. Her visit there does not bring back the happy
memories her nurses expect. With Kathleen Helme, Angela Wynter
and Susan Cookson. Dir. Janet Whitaker.
Introduction by Janet Whitaker in 'Director's Choice' on BBC7:
The Drought .... it's one of the most requested plays whenever repeates are asked for. It seems to strike a chord with people and it's easy to see why. The story is very simple; an old lady is in a nursing home, when she hears that the ruin of a village drowned many years before has been revealed again when the reservoir has emptied because of drought.
It's the village that she used to live in, but this is no sentimental journey back in time; what is revealed is a drought of the heart and of human behaviour, as much as the lack of water.
I think everyone seeing pictures of those ruined churches and houses must wonder what the lives were like of the people who used to call them home, and what became of them after the waters drowned their former lives. This is what 'The Drought' tries to do, through the story of an old lady.
LOOKING FOR MR. BIG ....date nk
BBC World Service. A group of drama students is given the task of scripting and producing a drama which will warn young people of the dangers of drug addiction. Josh has an idea and scripts for a series of scenes looking at the parts played by the people and organisations who produce, export and push heroin in the death of Jamie, who died of a heroin overdose. But are the stories fiction? Who is Mr. Big, the person ultimately responsible for killing Jamie? For that matter, who is Jamie? This play expertly weaves between the scenes in the play and those in the drama within the play. Dunstone seems particularly adept at plays with plots on different levels. For that reason I enjoyed the play as much as I did 'Arrived Safe, Writing Later', and 'Who Is Sylvia'. ....CL
Most of the above are known to exist in VRPCC collections.
Greg Linden & Nigel Deacon, Diversity website.
