Radio 3 Drama, 2024
Drama on 3 2024
Sundays
7 Jan 24 No drama
14 Jan 24 Bacon in Moscow
By Stephen Wakelam, based on the memoir by James Birch. How Francis Bacon became the first major Western artist to have a solo exhibition in the Soviet Union. Written by Stephen Wakelam, based on the memoir by James Birch. In 1986, Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and his advisers had adopted glasnost (openness) as a political slogan, together with the terms perestroika (restructuring or regrouping) and demokratizatsiya (democratisation). Glasnost reflected a commitment of the Gorbachev administration to allowing Soviet citizens to discuss publicly the problems of their system and to explore potential solutions. On the 22nd September 1988 an exhibition of Francis Bacons work opened at the Central House of Artists in Moscow: the result of a complex and convoluted negotiation by London gallerist James Birch. Birch had known Bacon since childhood. The play is about his struggle to make the exhibition happen.
Francis Bacon
Timothy Spall,
James Birch
Luke Norris,
Sergei Klokov
Simonas Mozura,
Elena Khudiakova/ Valerie Beston/ TV Interviewer
Amrita Acharia,
Johnny Stuart/ John Edwards
John Hopkins,
Bob Chenciner/ British Council/ Taxi Driver
Al Barclay,
Russian Official/ Guard/ Vasili
Michael Tcherepashenets.
Sound design by Markus Andreas and Alisdair McGregor.
Directed and produced by Jeremy Mortimer.
Production coordinator Annie Keates Thorpe.
Executive Producer Joby Waldman.
Indie (Reduced Listening).
21 Jan: Wunderkind
By Sebastian Baczkiewicz. It's 1770 and Leopold Mozart is taking his 14 year old son on a much-anticipated trip to Italy to perform for the great and the good. They hit trouble in Rome when young Wolfgang is found to have written down the closely-guarded and hitherto unpublished music for Allegri's sacred 'Miserere'. Cardinal Ucelli sees a chance to make a name for himself. The play is interesting because although we hear Wolfgang's playing, we never hear him speak. But a person who is only referred to in a radio play can be just as real as the other characters.
Leopold Mozart ..... Paul Higgins,
Cardinal Ucelli ..... Craige Els,
Liana ..... Claire-Louise Cordwell,
Donna Maria ..... Ayesha Antoine
Lucius ..... Justice Ritchie,
Anna Mozart ..... Jasmine Hyde,
Violinist ..... Natalie Purton,
Singer ..... Dominic Mattos,
Composer/musical director ..... John Chambers,
Produced by Toby Swift.
28 Jan: Under Milk Woods
By five Welsh writers. To mark the 70th anniversary of the first radio broadcast of Dylan Thomass Under Milk Wood (25 January 1954), five short dramatic portraits of each writer's parts of Wales in 2024. The writers are Joe Dunthorne (Swansea), Manon Steffan Ros (Tywyn), Menna Elfyn (New Quay), Hanan Issa (Cardiff) and Rachel Trezise (the Rhondda). Additional narration by Joe Dunthorne. The original Under Milk Wood moves through the fictional town of Llareggub over the course of a single day; these pieces do the same.
First Voice.....Ruth Jones,
Act 1: Swansea by Joe Dunthorne,
Caitlin....Sophie Melville,
Emlyn....Shaheen Jafargholi,
Fiona.....Nadia Wyn Abouayen,
Helen.....Tamara Brabon,
Mikey.....Antoine Lopez-Norton,
Act 2: Tywyn by Manon Steffan Ros,
Mrs Satin....Sara Harris-Davies,
Gwil the Poet.....Gwion Morris Jones,
Delyth Elen.....Lois Meleri Jones,
Afanc.....James O'Quinn,
Act 3: New Quay by Menna Elfyn,
Cai.....Ioan Hefin,
Osian.....Ifan Huw Dafydd,
Rhiannon.....Eiry Thomas,
Act 4: Cardiff by Hanan Issa,
Hanan.....Hanan Issa,
Diff.....Dean Rehman,
Lord Bute.....Colin Paterson,
Act 5: The Rhondda by Rachel Trezise,
Gracie Rowlands.....Maisie Lee Bryant,
Bex.....Sophie Melville,
Eric Watkins....Alan David,
Amy Jenkins...Tamara Brabon.
Production Co-ordinators Eleri Sydney McAuliffe and Lindsay Rees,
Sound design by Jonathan Thomas and Catherine Robinson,
Produced by Fay Lomas and Emma Harding, BBC Wales.
4 Feb: The Farewell Glacier
By Nick Drake. In 2012, Nick visited the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard on a 19th-century ship. On his return home, he wrote a collection of poems in the voices of the many Westerners who came to the Arctic over the centuries - explorers, whalers, mapmakers, scientists, financiers, the famous and the forgotten.
The poems have been turned into an audio drama for BBC Radio 3, intercut by interviews with Sheila Watt Cloutier.
The announcer ..... Adjoa Andoh,
St Brendan ..... Paisley James,
Pytheas and the Poet ..... Peter Mullan,
Robert Peary ..... Kevin Harvey,
The future ..... Jude Coward Nicoll, Paisley James, Urmila Patel and Chloe Ragrag.
All other roles played by the cast.
Production team:
Original music, Emma Jean and Isbel Pendlebury.
Inuit throat singing, Sylvia Cloutier and Akinisie Sivuarapik.
Inuit pronunciation advisor, Leslie Qammaniq.
Producer: Polly Thomas.
Nature Sound Recordist, Thomas Rex Beverly.
Sound Designer/Exec Producer, Eloise Whitmore.
Indie (Naked, in collaboration with Edel Rae).
11 Feb:French like Faiza
By Ilana Navaro, with Sudha Bhuchar and Nicolas Jackson.
Faiza is French of Algerian descent and moves to London hoping to reset her life. She has never felt truly accepted in her own country and arrives in Britain eager to escape a sense of exclusion she believes unique to France. In the wake of a painful break-up she is also open to the romantic possibilities this new city might offer. But when she meets Mehdi, a British Pakistani, Faiza soon discovers that Britain is far from the land of butterflies and rainbows she had imagined.
Faiza
.. Laila Alj,
Mehdi
.. Navin Chowdhry,
Elsa
.. Jade Matthew,
Afrine ..
Sophie Khan Levy,
Deepika
.. Hussina Raja,
Prema ..
Sudha Bhuchar,
Paul
.. Will Howard,
Echo
.. Liz Sutherland-Lim,
Atif
.. Danny Ashok,
Sabrina
.. Adelia Esteve Richard,
Elias
.. Djan Miske Navaro,
Salma and Adele
.. Fatima Adoum,
Nico
.. Yves Heck.
Executive producer, Sara Davies.
Mix, Steve Bond
Sound design, Adam Woodhams.
Produced and directed by Nicolas Jackson.
Indie (Afonica).
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