Emma Harding
Radio Plays
Marcy Kahan's new play THE WARHOL YEARS (R4, 1415, 17 Dec 18) took a light-hearted look at the life of Oscar Wilde before he had written anything of note. Wilde has left University; he is in his early 20s, and he embarks on an American tour, determined to become rich and famous. He meets Sarah Bernhardt, Walt Whitman and Henry James, gives a series of lectures, and by the end of the tour, his reputation is spreading rapidly. The play was part of Radio 4's celebration of his life. Wilde was played by Max Bennett, his friend Charles Kitteridge by Liam Lau Fernandez and Speranza Wilde by Dervla Kirwan; the producer was Emma Harding. (....ND, Diversity Website review, Dec 2018)
21 Feb 18: Unfit
By Katherine Jakeways. 'Riot Girls' season. Gemma confides in her new friend Kirsty. Gemma chose to leave her children. Gemma: Rebecca Humphries, Kirsty: Emerald O'Hanrahan, Matt: Rylan Early, Joe: Joe Sims, Emily: Karen Bryson, Gabs: Florence Duncalf, Charlie: Billy Duncalf, Mother: Amber Aga, teacher: Georgie Glenn, Pete: Clive Hayward, Chloe: Lauren Cornelius, Barbara: Belinda Lang. Producer: Emma Harding.
20 Feb 18: Male Order
By Ming Ho. Comedy drama. 'Riot Girls' season. Barbara, a 59-year-old dentist from Bristol, surprises her family when she returns from Brazil with a new husband, a 20-year-old waiter. Barbara: Belinda Laing, Fabio: Lino Facioli, Sue: Carolyn Pickles, Graham: Niel McCaul, Amy: Kerry Gooderson, Matt: Luke Bailey, Dorota: Edyta Budnik, DI Aplin: Rupert Holliday-Evans, DC Begum: Amber Aga, Chloe: Lauren Cornelius, Gemma: Rebecca Humphries. Producer: Emma Harding.
19 Feb 18: Polygamy for Girls
By Julie Mayhew. 'Riot Girls' season. A feminist vlogger carries out a radical domestic experiment. Chloe: Lauren Cornelius, Dan: Luke Bailey, Rosa: Aneta Piotrowska, Gemma: Rebecca Humphries, Barbara: Belinda Lang. Producer: Emma Harding.
Alistair McGowan's latest play, THE B WORD (R4, 1415, 26 May 2017) told us about the events leading to the opening night of Shaw's 'Pygmalion' in 1913; the first time that the word 'bloody' was used on stage. At the time it caused considerable controversy. Producing the play also caused strong reactions between Shaw, his leading man, Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and his leading lady, Mrs Patrick Campbell, who played the 19 year old Eliza Doolittle at the age of 49. Richard Huggett wrote a play in 1968 (The First Night of Pygmaliion) in which he similarly depicts backstage events during the first production. Shaw was played by Alistair McGowan, Beerbohm Tree by Richard McCabe and Mrs. Campbell by Charlotte Page. The producer was Emma Harding. (....ND, Diversity Website review, Sep 2017)
Salman Rushdie's novel MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN, dramatised by Ayeesha Menon, was produced by the BBC as a one-day epic broadcast in seven parts throughout the day (R4, 15 Aug 2017) and subsequently repeated a few weeks later as a Classic Serial on Sunday afternoons. The story centres around Saleem, played by Nikesh Patel, born at midnight on 15 Aug 1947, the exact moment of the Partition of India. Partition was to have a profound influence on his life. Fatima Hasan, writing in RT, describes the story as witty, savage, tender and magical. The first episode describes an extraordinary scene in which a doctor has to examine a female patient through a hole in a blanket. This must be based on fact; you couldn't make it up. There are other peculiar and absurd occurrences throughout the narrative; it is strange but compulsive listening. The drama was produced by Tracey Neale and Emma Harding. (....ND, Diversity Website review, Sep 2017)
AUDIO DRAMA AWARDS 2018
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO RADIO DRAMA
Presented by Alan Davey
AYEESHA MENON (adaptor) and the Midnight's Children Production Team, with Emma Harding and Tracey Neale, 27 actors, Sound Design: Peter Ringrose, SMs Anne Bunting and Jenni Burnett; production coordinators: Maggie Olgiati and Jenny Mendez; BBC Radio Drama London. An outstanding piece of radio drama in every way.
Paul Farley's new drama, SINGLES GOING STEADY (R4, 1415, 2 Oct 2017) was set in Liverpool in 1961. The sixties were a different world to the one we inhabit today: no email, no mobile phones,
no internet. If you wanted to contact someone you had to make a significant effort to do so. The play
charts the progress of a love affair between two people who send each other singles made in an
automatic voice-recording booth. The title refers to a compilation released by the Buzzcocks in
1979. Clarry was played by Katherine R Morley and George by Robbie O'Neill, with Charlie
Clements as Frank and James Nelson-Joyce as Big Pat; the producer was Emma Harding. (....ND, Diversity Website review, Dec 2017)
23 Apr 17: Iphigenia in Crimea
By Tony Harrison. Verse Drama, after Euripedes. A Classics-loving Lieutenant persuades a company of British soldiers to stage an all-male production of Iphigenia in Tauris. Lieutenant/Iphigenia/Athena .... Blake Ritson, Orestes .... Robert Emms, Pylades .... Richard Glaves, Sergeant/Thoas .... John Dougall, Irish soldier/Cowherd/Chorus .... Eugene O'Hare, Soldier/Messenger/Chorus .... Michael Colgan, Soldier/Chorus of Greek Women .... David Sterne, Soldier/Chorus of Greek Women .... Gavi Singh Chera, Soldier/Chorus of Greek Women .... John Bowler, Soldier/Chorus of Greek Women .... Finlay Robertson, Music performed by Peter Ringrose (trumpet), Detta Danford (flute), Howard McGill (clarinet), Jon Banks (accordion) and Matt Sharp (cello). Music composed and directed by Jon Nicholls. Producer .... Emma Harding.
THE ELECTRICAL VENUS (R4, 1415, 5 Sep 16) by Julie Mayhew was set in an 18th-century travelling circus. Such circuses were not like the ones of today; they contained freaks such as the human skeleton, the dog-faced boy and the human gorilla as well as horse riders, acrobats and jugglers. In the story, a man arrives one day with a proposition and a new invention which could make the circus's fortune and the beautiful mixed-race girl into a star. He has a primitive Van de Graaf generator, a device which produces static electricity, capable of making a person's hair stand on end, or of producing other uncanny visual effects. It catches on... .... Mim was by played by Hannah John-Kamen, Alex by Arthur Hughes, Fox by Mark Edel-Hunt and Grainger by Michael Bertenshaw; production was by Emma Harding. (....ND, Diversity Website review, Sep 2016)
As a chemist I was aware for years of Primo Levi's book "The Periodic Table" but never got around to reading it. The BBC produced a fascinating set of programmes based on the book, which consists of a series of short tales, reminiscences and other episodes. He was a chemist and many of these 'splashes' from his workbench are autobiographical or have a chemical twist; each one is given the title of one of the elements. For part of WW2 Primo was incarcerated in Auschwitz and was one of the tiny minority which survived. 11 dramatizations of varying lengths were broadcast, adapted for radio by Graham White, R4, July 18-24. The younger Primo was played by Akbar Kurtha and older Primo by Henry Goodman. The series producers were Emma Harding and Marc Beeby. (....ND, Diversity Website review, Sep 2016)
Stephen Wyatt's new dramatization of DANTE'S DIVINE COMEDY, lasting three hours (R4, Classic Serial, 1500, beginning 30 Mar 14) tells of Dante's imaginary journey through hell, purgatory and paradise. It was published seven hundred years ago. The imagined 35-year-old Dante finds himself in the middle of a dark wood, in crisis and on the verge of suicide. Hope of rescue comes when he encounters the shade of the Roman poet Virgil, who offers to lead him through the afterlife, beginning in the depths of hell. He proceeds to Mount Purgatory, where he meets some souls on their journeys of spiritual salvation. Finally he is led to the different levels of Paradise by Beatrice, a woman he loved when he was a young man. The word 'comedy' in the classical sense refers to a work which reflects belief in an ordered universe, in which events resolve to a conclusion, influenced by Providence which steers events in the direction of ultimate good. Paradise, for example, begins with the traveller's moral confusion and ends with the vision of God.
The rhyming structures of the original have been replaced by a flowing narrative which gives an evocative, visual feel to the story. There are clear descriptions of what can be seen as the traveller makes his journey. The three central characters - Dante the younger, Dante the elder, and Virgil, are played by Blake Ritson, John Hurt and David Warner. Beatrice, his companion at the end of the story, was played by Hattie Morahan and the producers were Emma Harding and Marc Beeby. (....ND, Diversity Website review, Apr 2014)
Nigel Deacon, Diversity website
