Penny Gold Radio Plays
Penny Gold is both a writer and producer of radio plays. I've not, so far, found any biographical details, but Penny was a judge in the Giles Cooper Awards of 1989.
NOTES
12 Aug 10 The Judgement Test
By Michael Butt.
Officers in the armed units of the Police have a dangerous job - both physically and psychologically. We ask them to face death and to make life and death decisions. But when it comes to the crunch, what kind of decisions does Constable John Woolf make? And how are they affecting him? In Michael Butt's play, a probing journalist asks some difficult questions and gets some very unexpected answers.
John Woolf ..... Ian Hart,
Paul ..... Jay Simpson,
Linda ..... Claire Price,
Gerry Lawson ..... Alistair Danson,
Mr Taylor ..... Peter Sproule,
Mrs Taylor ..... Caroline Gruber
Armourer ..... Ian Barnes,
Counsellor ..... Andrew Branch.
Director: Penny Gold.
Indie (Pier productions).
9 Jul 10 A Chaos of Wealth and Want
By Penny Gold. The play focuses on an episode in the career of the great chronicler of London life and pioneer of oral history, Henry Mayhew. In the 1850s, Mayhew spent his days gathering verbatim testimonies from the city's poor for his 'London Labour and the London Poor'. No moralising do-gooder, he believed he could talk to such people on equal terms. It took his challenging friendship with Jack, a sharp-witted teenage coster (market trader) and his over-trusting attempt to assist Mouse, a drunken child-runaway with a winning smile, to teach him where the borders lie.
At the heart of the story is Mayhew himself: a vigorous, humorous, volatile, improvident, totally engaging, totally exasperating man. No wonder he sees similarities between himself and the street people he interviews; no wonder he drives his wife to distraction. Rpt. 3 Oct 2012.
Henry Mayhew ... David Haig,
Jane Mayhew .... Alison Pettit,
Jack........ Steven Webb,
Mouse....... Sam Alexander,
Sal.......... Joanna Monroe,
Arthur ........ Sam Dale,
With Keely Beresford, Michael Shelford, Vineeta Rishi.
Director Jeremy Mortimer.
The Judgement Test ....2008
By Michael Butt. 19 Aug 08. A probing journalist asks Constable John Woolf; an officer in the armed units of the police; some difficult questions about his job; its physical and psychological dangers and the split-second life-and-death decisions he has to make. He gets some very unexpected answers. John Woolf ...... Ian Hart, Paul ...... Jay Simpson, Linda ...... Claire Price, Gerry Lawson ...... Alistair Danson, Mr Taylor ...... Peter Sproule, Mrs Taylor ...... Caroline Gruber, Armourer ...... Ian Barnes, Counsellor ...... Andrew Branch. Producer Penny Gold.
Old Man Goya....2006
24 Nov 06: By Penny Gold, based on Julia Blackburn's book. A severe illness leaves the famous painter stone deaf. By force of iron will he manages to battle his demons and produce some of his greatest work.
With Sean Barrett, Maggie McCarthy, Clare Cathcart, Teresa Gallagher. Directed by Richard Wortley.
Dear Brother....2003
2 Apr 03. By Penny Gold. Robert Glenister/Jonathan Firth/Kika Markham/Kenneth Crantham. I think this was about Van Gogh.
(06-12-2001) In The Keep-Net....2001
By Penny Gold. A petty thief is accused of the attempted murder of a small boy half-drowned in a canal. He protests his innocence, but in the past he has lied. Not sure of the producer.
(15 Dec 2000) Toad....2000
By Pat Rowe. Minnie, an elderly Polish wartime emigre, begins a new friendship with a little toad that skips in from the garden which offers her a delightful way back into her romantic memories of the past. But for her daughter Sylvia, this is the last straw - Minnie seems to be going mad. With Ruth Posner, Imelda Staunton, Rachel Gaffin and Nitzan Sharron. Directed by Penny Gold.
(1999-05-14) The Perfect Woman
(Michael Butt, dir Penny Gold, mus David Chilton) w/Michael Kitchen, Helen McCrory and David Cardy - Jack and Mike are each obsessed with their `perfect woman', but does such a creature exist? The two men go on a difficult journey to discover the truth.
Jacob's Folly....1992
By Juliet Ace. 10.3.1992/1400 Jennie Linden/Paola Dionisotti/John Church, 30m. Producer Penny Gold.
THE TEMPTATION OF DR. WILLIAM FOSTERS....1992
By Elaine Feinstein. Dr. Fosters is a molecular biologist whose laboratory is running out of funds. Lucifer Jordan appears and makes a very tempting offer. A contemporary morality play with music by John Harle. Stars Paul Jones as Lucifer, with Edward Petherbridge, Ronald Herdman, Timothy Carlton, Petra Markham, James Greene, Colin McFarlane, Joanna Myers, Alan Barker, James Simmons, Fraser Kerr, Richard Pearce. Director - Penny Gold.
"Three Days That Shook the World"....1991
By Penny Gold; a dramatisation of the 1991 coup to overthrow Mikhail Gorbachev, staring John Shrapnel and Frances Jeater, went out on Fri 20 Oct 06 at 9pm, R4.
THAT CUNARD WOMAN ..1989
By Edgar White. Monday Play, 20 Feb 89. The story of Nancy Cunard, one of the most glamorous and outrageous figures of the 20's, and her love for the black musician Henry Crowder.
Cast:
Jane Lapotaire....Nancy Cunard,
Guy Gregory.....Henry Crowder,
Margaret Robertson....Lady Cunard,
Joe Dunlop......Sydney,
Peter Craze.....Edward,
Leo Wringer.....Jojo,
Sylvester Williams....Langston Hughes,
Melinda Walker....Virginia,
Joanna Mackie.....Margot Asquith,
John Moffatt....Sir Thomas Beecham / Doctor,
David Goudge....Hotel Manager / Cab Driver,
Alibe Parsons.....Jamaican Housekeeper,
Ken Cumberlidge.....Policeman,
Zelah Clarke....Jennifer,
Eva Stuart......Margaret .
Produced by Penny Gold.
The Red Shoes ....1986
By Juliet Ace. 25.2.1986/1100 hrs. Anna Massey, Martin Jarvis, Natasha Pyne. 30m. Producer Penny Gold.
LILY AND COLIN ....1985
9.12.85, by Elizabeth Bond. Monday play. The unlikely friendship of a thirteen year old girl and
a 39 year old vagrant, played by Paul Copley. They run off to the Lake District. The story was also
told on film. A sequel, "City Lights", had Lily and the half-witted Colin continuing their
association in London. Producer - Penny Gold. recording sent by Mike Wontner-Riches; many thanks.
WE WILL KNOW THEM....1981
By Gordon McKerrow 21.11.1981 Francesca Annis/Richard Derrington. Saturday Night Theatre. Conscientious objectors at the time of World War 1.
The play makes riveting listening. There is a copy in the BBC archive.
We are aware now of the terrible slaughter which took place on the Somme. At the time, a small minority of young men
was vocal in opposing the conflict, and when called up for active service, refused to go. Some of these individuals were treated so appallingly whilst in captivity (many were jailed) that they died.
Producer Penny Gold.
Cast list:
Molly...............................................Francesca Annis
Teddy............................................Richard Derrington
Lydia..................................................Fiona Walker
Joan..............................................Caroline Mortimer
Catherine.............................................Pauline Letts
Molly's
Mother.......................................Hilda Kriseman
Molly's Father........................................Michael Spice
Mr. Street/Mr. Tennant.................................Sion Probert
Clifford Allen......................................David McAlister
Inspector Cole/Constable.............................Ronald Herdman
Landlord/Tribunal Chairman...........................Alexander John
Army Captain.........................................Andrew Secombe
Policeman/Sergeant........................................John Webb
Major/MP..............................................Roger Hammond
Librarian.............................................Spencer Banks
Voice of the Press......................................Danny Schiller
One wonders what would happen if similar circumstances arose today. It is easy to take the freedoms which we now enjoy in the West for granted, as we are reminded on Armistice Day.
DISASTER COURSE....1979
11 Apr 79. By Michael Kittermaster. Afternoon Theatre. 45m. The investigation following an air crash, where the pilot was killed along with the passengers and the rest of the crew. Cast:Frances dela Tour, Charles Grey, John Graham, Audrey Muir, Heather Tobias, Fred Bryant, Hilda Kriseman, Alison Draper, Diana Olssohn, Petra Davies, Joan Matheson. Producer Penny Gold.
Nigel Deacon, Diversity Website
