Radio 3 Drama
This page is in progress. each entry contains title, date, keywords, producer, duration, and sometimes a few notes. I'm adding new plays to the top of the page.
UPDATE....this listing will shortly be superseded by Barry Hodge's separate-year listings for R3.
2012
15 Jul Proms
8 Jul The Go-Between, L.P.Hartley, ad. Frances Byrne. From the novel about a boy who is betrayed by a rich woman and her farmer lover, who during the summer of 1900 use him to ferry letters back and forth. Richard Griffiths, Oscar Kennedy, Harriet Walter, Lydia Leonard, Amanda Root, Joseph Arkley, Blake Ritson, Josef Lindsay. Producer Matt Thompson. ....A moving examination of the nature of identity ... Jane Anderson, RT
1 Jul Money, Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Satirical comedy, 1840, directed by Samuel West. Recorded at Knebworth House. Music by Endellion Quartet. With Blake Ritson, Laura Rees, Ian McDiarmid, Celia Imrie, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Roger Allam, Bertie Carvel, Richard Cordery, Tom Goodman-Hill, Nicholas Boulton. Producer Amber Barnfather.
24 Jun Singles and Doublets, Martyn Wade, comedy inspired by Wimbledon. The Earl of Oxford and Sir Philip Sidney play a tennis match. Celia Imrie, Alex Jennings, David Troughton, Nicholas Boulton, Thom Tuck, Michael Maloney. Producer Matt Thompson.
17 Jun Courtley Love, Michelene Wandor, story of Lucrezia Borgia and Isabella d'Este, forever pregnant. Nathalie Buscombe, Nicholas Boulton, Clare Corbett, Edward Evans, Grainne Keenan.
10 Jun Henceforward, Alan Ayckbourn. Comedy about a composer who only has his music for company, plus some electronic recording devices and a malfunctioning robot. Jarvis & Ayres production. Jared Harris, Joanne Whalley, Simon Templeman, Sophie Winkleman, Rosa Calcraft.
3 Jun Tenny son & Edison, David Pownall, curious historical play in which Edison, inventor of the first device for making recordings, meets Tennyson. Toby Stephens, Richard Johnson, and Sian Thomas as Queen Victoria.
90m.
27 May, The Comic Illusion, Ranjit Bolt. Reworking of Pierre Corneille's comedy. An old man looks for his estranged son with the help of a wizard. Producer Peter Kavanagh. 90m.
20 May, Chicken Soup with Barley, Arnold Wesker. Royal Court Theatre production. Samantha Spiro, Danny Webb. Producer Simon Godwin.
13 May, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare, producer Celia de Wolff, rpt. Lesley Sharp, Toby Stephens. 90m.
6 May, The Tempest, Shakespeare, producer Jeremy Mortimer, David Warner, Rose Leslie. 115m.
29 Apr, Romeo & Juliet, Shakespeare, producer Jessica Dromgoole, music by Roger Goula. Trystan Gravelle, Vanessa Kirby.
22 Apr, Twelfth Night, Shakespeare. David Tennant, Rosie Cavaliero, producers Sally Avens & Jessica Dromgoole. 120m.
15 Apr, Largo Desolato, Vaclav Havel, 1987 black comedy. English version by Tom Stoppard. Producer Matthew Walters. Richard Briers, Paul Gregory, Jennifer Piercey, Philip Jackson.
8 Apr, Gilead, Marilynne Robinson, ad. Mike Kenny, 100m. Set in the American midwest of the 1950s. A preacher who had a child late in life knows he will never see his son reach adulthood. Roger Allam, Elizabeth McGovern, Nancy Crane, Colin Stinton, Elliot Cowan, Taran Stanzier. Producer Catherine Bailey; director Annie Castledine.
1 Apr, Kafka, the Musical, by Murray Gold, rpt. Franz is dying but he has to play himself in a musical about his own life. Producer Jeremy Mortimer. 90m. David Tennant, David Fleeshsman, Joanna Monro.
25 Mar no drama
18 Mar, Migrant Mother, by Michael Symonds Roberts, rpt. Play based on Dorothea Lange's famous photo of Florence Owens Thompson, set in California during the Depression in 1936. It follows Lange as she observes itinerant workers. Producer Charlotte Riches. 90m.
11 Mar, Chowringhee, by Mani Shankar Mukerji; translated by Aruna Sinha. Comedy set in a Calcutta hotel in the 50s. Adapted for radiio by Roger James Elsgood, who also produced itDirector Willi Richards; recorded on location in Calcutta. A bright but naive young man is given a job behind the counter at the hotel. 90m.
4 Mar, no drama
26 Feb, Wozzeck (Woyzek), Georg Buchner, trans/adap by Gregory Motton. Wozzeck, a lowly soldier, is the father of an illegitimate child. he earns extra money by performing menial tasks for his captain, and takes part in medical experiments conducted by the regimental doctor. Then he is betrayed. Not a barrel of laughs. 90m. Producer Gary Brown; music by Tom Lingard. Cast: Lee Ingleby, Deborah McAndrew, Derek Riddell, Gerard Fletcher, Becky Hindley, Rob Pickavance, Jonathan Keeble, Perveen Hamilton.
19 Feb, Sunset, Doug Lucie. Set in Russia in 1984. Political drama where a prizewinning novelist sees his works banned for expressing an opinion, different to the government's, about its involvement in Afghanistan. 90m. Producer Heather Lamour. With JulianGlover, Stella Gonet, Leo Bill, David Bamber, Nicholas Woodeson, Jason Watkins, Jim Norton, Tracey Wiles.
12 Feb, A Man's World, Adrian Meade. The lives of four violent offenderson a six-month rehabilitation course which will determine whether they receive a jail term or a community sentence. With Siobhan Redmond, Paul McCole, Sean Hay, Chris Connel, Garry Collins, Tom Freeman, Molly Innes, Vicki Lidelle, Mairie Goodall. Producer Turan Ali. 90 min.
5 Feb, My Generation, by Alice Nutter, former rock musician from the 90s group Chumbawamba; family saga covering four decades of protest and countercluture in Leeds. With Jo Hartley, Jason Done, Aimee Leight Foster, Emma Rydall, Harvey Chaisty, Carla Henry, Rachel Austin, Alun Raglan, William Ash, Graeme Hawley, John Catterall; producer Susan Roberts. 120 min.
- Alice Nutter's experience of the underground punk scene. Alice lived in a squat for many years in Leeds, and the play shows how hectic, scary and politically divided life was at that time. (....paraphrased from Scott Bryan's review in RT)
29 Jan, Sea Change, John Fletcher. The battle between the appeasers and anti-appeasers during the buildup to WW2, and the formation of a wartime coalition led by Churchill. Charles Edwards, Kim Wall, John Rowe, Richard Dillane, Carl Prekopp, Adam Billington, Gerard McDermott, James Lailey, Adjoa Andoh, Christopher Webster, Rikki Lawton. Producer Marc Beeby. 90 min.
22 Jan, Things Might Change or Cease, Linda Marshall Griffiths. A woman sees an illusionist on TV and becomes convinced he is her half-brother. She thinks that through him she might trace her father who walked out of her life half a lifetime ago. Julia Ford, Deborah McAndrew, Jo Hartley, Tom Rollinson, Oliver Cotton, Ifan Meredith, Jake Norton, Russell Richardson. Producer Nadia Molinari. 90 min.
15 Jan, The Last Salford Sioux. Anjum Malik. 1800s drama set in Salford. Forgotten people and long-lost secrets. Anthony Forrest, Lorraine Cheshire, Sue Jenkins, Darren Kuppan, Roger Morlidge. Musical director Paul Trimble, Kathleen Hesford (piano), singers from Gemini and Salford community choirs. Producer Polly Thomas.
8 Jan, Living with Princes, rpt, Stephen Wakelam, story set in 1588. Essayist and landowner Michel de Montaigne journeys around france on a mission to reconcile squabbling Catholic and Protestant kings. Producer Jeremy Mortimer. 90m. See Stephen's page.
1 Jan - no drama
2011
25 Dec, The Royal Game, Stefan Zweig, trans. Anthea Bell. A German banker is taken in for questioning by the Gestapo. He steals a book of chess puzzles to keep his mind active. Paul Rhys, Rupert Young, Kevin Trainor, Allan Corduner, Hamish Clark, Sandy Grierson, Madeleine Brolly. Producer Matt Thompson. 90 min.
18 Dec, The Recruiting Officer, George Farquhar, restoration comedy. Uses the same cast as the previous day's linked 'Saturday Play' "Our Country's Good" by Timberlake Wertenbaker. During a lull in the War of the Spanish Succession, a naval captain comes to Shrewsbury to recruit officers into the army. There's some romantic interest as well. Paul Higgins, Lisa Dillon, Ralph Ineson, Adam James, Kate Fleetwood included in the cast. Producer Jessica Dromgoole; 110 min.
11 Dec, Skyvers, Barry Reckord, play first produced by Royal Court in 1963. Some working-class boys at a comprehensive school, preparing to leave and begin their own lives. With Danny Worters, Jason Maza, Abdul Salis, Rikki Lawton, Theo Barklem-Biggs, Joan Iyiola, Shannon Tarbet, Carl Prekopp, Gerard McDermott, Paul Moriarty. Producer Mary Peate. 90 min.
...........We follow an ambitious chancer, an aspiring footballer and a boy on probation as their miserable experiences of 'education' draw to an end. There is bawdy banter between the boys, but to us, the audience, it merely exposes their limited opportunities. Highly relevant today, and probably in most other eras too.
4 Dec, The Plough and the Stars, by Sean O'Casey. Easter Rising, 1916, set in Dublin. Introduced by Kwame Kwei-Armah. New production, with Elaine Cassidy, Padraic Delaney, Gabrielle Reidy, Finbar Lynch. Producer Nadia Molinari; music - Conrad Nelson. 90 min.
27 Nov, The Piano Lesson, August Wilson, an ex-convict and his more respectable sister who argue about whether they should sell a prized family heirloom - an upright piano from the era of slavery. Not an easy listen; realistic dialogue with offensive language. John Earl Jelks, Roslyn Ruff, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Chris Chalk. Pianist Ernie Scott; producer Claire Grove. 90 min.
20 Nov, Cock, Mike Bartlett. 2009 play from the Royal Court Theatre adapted for radio by the author. A gay man falls for a woman causing pain all round. Lots of dialogue but the people spoken to don't seem to take it in. They're better at talking than listening. With Ben Whishaw, Andrew Scott, Katherine Parkinson, Paul Jesson. Producer Mary Peate; director James Macdonald. 90 min.
13 Nov Mincemeat, by Farhana Sheikh and Adrian Jackson. Adapted from a play for "Cardboard Citizens", England's only homeless people's professional theatre company. Deception during WW2. Music by David Baird, sound design by Peter Ringrose; producer Jonquil Panting. Cast: Ifan Meredith, Robert Gillespie, Ester Escolano, Jo Galbraith, Nick Khan, Jake Goode, Neil Boorman, Patrick Onione, Dave Rogers, Ben Smithies, Sylvia Larry.
23 Oct Mogadishu, by Vivienne Franzmann. Explores the consequences of an assault by a black student on a white female teacher. Producer R.J.Elsgood; director Willi Richards. Cast: Candida Benson, Malachi Kirby, Jonathan G Lewis, Shannon Tarbet, Farshid Rokey, Tendayi Jambere, Chereen Buckley, Michael Karim, Ashley Campbell, Darren Saul. 90m.
16 Oct Brand, by Ibsen, producer Peter Kavanagh, music by Nicolai Abrahamsen; with Gerard Murphy, Morven Christie, Jeremy Swift, Ann Mitchell, Karl Prekopp. About a religious zealot who refuses to compromise. 120m.
9 Oct Saint Joan, by Bernard Shaw. Producer Jonquil Panting. With Lyndsey Marshal, Paul Ritter, Sean Baker, Blake Ritson. 130 min.
2 Oct The Unfortunates, by B.S.Johnson; dram. Graham White. A journalist travels to a foreign city to cover a football match, to discover that it is the place where he first met a friend who died of cancer. With Martin Freeman, Patrick Kennedy, Claire Rushbrook, Jacqueline Defferary, Sean Baker. Producer Mary Peate. 90m.
25 Sep The Comic Illusion, by Pierre Corneille, 1636, re-worked by Ranjit Bolt. An old man seeks his estranged son with the help of a wizard. With John Sessions, Richard Johnson, Michael Maloney
11 Sep A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare, producer Celia de Wolff. Lesley Sharp, Toby Stephens. 2 hours.
4 Sep The Light of Darkness, Louis Nowra, a diplomatic posting in a remote part of the Ottaman Empire at the time of the outbreak of WW1. With John Guerrasio, William El Gardi, Jack Klaff, producer Judith Kampfner, 90m.
For THE WIRE 3 Sep 2011 onwards please see separate listing.
13 Aug The Wire: First Domino, rpt, Jonathan Cash, London pub bombing, with Toby Jones & Joseph Kloska, producer Frank Stirling. 45m.
6 Aug: The Wire: Lump Boy Logan, rpt, Chris Wilson, 45m, producer Pauline Harris. A boy and his acne. William Rush, Smug Roberts, Annette Badland, Stephen Hoyle.
31 Jul: The Wire: Why I Don't Hate White People, rpt; 60m, Peter Sissay. Producer Clair Grove.
24 Jul: Between Two Worlds, rpt; Adrian Bean and David Hendy, 90m, play about Oliver Lodge, the inventor of the wireless, who was into seances and other psychic phenomena. With Owen Teale, Amanda Root, Sandy Grierson, Madeleine Worrall, Jim Webster-Stewart, Crawford Logan, Caroline Strong, Madeleine Brolly. Producer Matt Thompson.
17 Jul: The Wire: Rapture Frequency, rpt, Abbie Spallen, tale of an aeroplane's black box, rpt, 60m, producer Heather Lamour. With Richard Dormer, Esther Hall, Shaun Dooley, Philip Jackson, Marty Maguire.
10 Jul: My Heart's a Suitcase, 90m, Clare McIntyre. Two women have a brief holiday on the coast, but they have to deal with a squatter. Charlotte Emmerson, Poppy Miller, Sean Baker, Sylvestra Le Touzel, Sid Mitchell, Paloma Baeza, producer Celia de Wolff.
3 Jul: Widowers' Houses, George B Shaw, broadcast as part of the 'money talks' series. Shaw's first play; satire. With Ian McKellen, Charles Dance, Tim Pigott-Smith, Dan Stevens, Honeysuckle Weeks, Siobhan Hughes, Jon Glover. Director Martin Jarvis; producer Rosalind Ayres. Jarvis & Ayres production for radio 3. 90m.
25 Jun: musical items only; no drama
19 Jun: Money, Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1840) adap. Kate Clanchy. Satirical comedy. Producer A. Barnfather, Director Samuel West (his first play as director), 95m; music by Endellion Quartet. Cast: Blake Ritson, Laura Rees, Ian McDiarmid, Celia Imrie, Roger Allam, Bertie Carvel, Richard Cordery, Tom Goodman-Hill, Nicholas Boulton.
12 Jun: Serious Money, Caryl Churchill, speculation on the stockmarket twenty-five years ago. Dramatised by Emma Harding, with Hattie Morahan, Bertie Carvel, Tobias Menzies, Brian Bowles, Melanie Bond, Jane Whittenshaw, Daniel Rabin, Nyasha Hatendi. Producer Emma Harding. 100m.
5 Jun: Flare Path, Terence Rattigan, WW2 drama (Rattigan centenary), film star has an affair with an actress who is married to a bomber pilot. The title refers to the flares used to light up the runways on airfields enabling planes to take off and land, but also pinpointing their locations to the Germans. Producer Jeremy Herrin, 100 min. Rupert Penry Jones, Ruth Wilson, Rory Kinnear, Monica Dolan, Una Stubbs.
29 May: Dreams and Censorship, David Pownall, rpt. from 1993, set in 1610; concerns the new 'King James' version of the bible, which is nearing completion. Shakespeare doesn't want the dream of St. John including. Hugh Ross, Edward Petherbridge. Producer Eoin O'Callaghan. 90m.
22 May: Giovanni's Room, James Baldwin, rpt, radio production of the writer's novel about an American living in Paris during the 1950s. Dram/produced by Neil Bartlett, 90m.
15 May: Sarah and Ken, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, history of the treatment of mental health, two people fall in love as foster brother/sister. Producer Jessica Dromgoole, 90m.
8 May: La Princesse de Cleves, Mme de Lafayette's 1768 tale of love and intrigue, trans / adap by Jo Clifford. Producer David Jackson Young, dir. Kirsty Williams, 90m.
1 May: I'm Still the Same Paul, Annie Caulfield, Lenny Henry as Paul Robeson, singer and (I didn't know this) political activist. 90m. Producer Claire Grove; rpt.
24 Apr: Kafka the Musical, Murray Gold, Franz is dying but he has to play himself in a musical about his own life. Producer Jeremy Mortimer. 90m. David Tennant, David Fleeshsman, Joanna Monro.
17 Apr: New Mystery Plays: stories from the Old Testament, set in present day London: Creation, set in the mind of a coma victim (Sean Buckley); The Flood, set in a DIY warehouse (Lin Coghlan), Flight of the Israelites, set in an old folk's home (J.Parkes); Samson & Delilah, set in a hairdressing salon (Katie Hims); David and Goliath, set in the world of juvenile gang warfare (Roy Williams). Producer Jessica Dromgoole. Total 90m; average play length 18min.
10 Apr: A Thousand Kisses, Fred Raphael, based on the life of Catullus; more double-entendres than an episode of Round the Horne ... producer Jo Wheeler, director Pete Atkin, music by Clive Bell, 90m.
03 Apr: The Carhullian Army, Sarah Hall, dramatization of novel, science fiction set in the near future; society has gone sour and repressive and is run by a nameless Authority; producer Frank Stirling, director Lawrence Jackson, 90m.
27 Mar: Wuthering Heights, dram. Jonathan Holloway, contains strong language - this play was reported all over the national press for its use of four-letter words; it even got a cartoon in the Daily Telegraph ... a guy going out for the evening and telling his kid not to listen to radio 3 .... producer Tim Dee. I thought it more interesting than the original - but then I'm not keen on novels.......
20 Mar: The Secret Grief, David Eldridge. Tale which begins when a young man meets a couple in a hotel bar. Producer Sally Avens, 90m.
13 Mar: The Chalk Garden, Enid Bagnold, set in 1950s Sussex in a country house. A woman becomes the paid companion of an lady's unruly granddaughter. 105 min, producer Nicholas Soames, director Michael Grandage.
06 Mar: Spring Storm, Tennessee Williams, adap. of 1937 stage play. A well-off young woman has to choose between a respectable suitor and a more handsome wild lover. Producer Jeremy Mortimer. Music by Jon Nicholls. Director Laurie Sansom. 135 min.
05 Mar: 'The Wire', Proud, Natalie Mitchell, 45m, producer Sally Avens. Drama about an unemployed political activist who lost his brother in the Afghanistan conflict.
27 Feb: Helen, by Euripedes, translated by Don Taylor . Producer Ellen Dryden. 90m. Trojan War, Menelaus is shipwrecked.
26 Feb: The Wire, The Wall, Ed Harris , neighbourhood enclosed by a wall, 60m, producer Jonquil Panting.
20 Feb, Woyzeck (Wozzeck), Georg Buchner, soldier, illegitimate child, mistress, betrayal, producer Gary Brown. 90m.
19 Feb, The Wire, Etian, Malcolm McKay, cognitive therapy, rape, Ireland, convent.
13 Feb, Danton's Death, Georg Buchner, ad. Simon Scardifield, Robespierre, St. Just, French Revolution. Producer Jessica Dromgoole. 90m.
12 Feb, The Wire, One Night in Iran, Oliver Emanuel, unmarried sex in Iran, illegal, consequences, producer Lu Kemp.
6 Feb, Massistonia, Colin Teevan. Based on Colin's experiences when directing a play in Macedonia. Political intrigues and behind-the-scenes machinations. 90m. Producer Toby Swift.
30 jan, Dunsinane, David Greig, sequel to macbeth, 90m, producer david ian neville. A normal drama - not in Shakesperian verse. 90m.
23 jan living with princes, stephen wakelam, story set in 1588. essayist and landowner Michel de Montaigne journeys around france on a mission to reconcile squabbling catholic and protestant kings. producer jeremy mortimer. 90m. See Stephen's page.
16 jan charles and mary, carlo gebler, relationship of charles and mary lamb, lia williams and paul rhys, producer roland jacquarello, 90m.
09 jan (opera) - ... idomeneo, re di creta, john eliot gardiner; about 3 hours.
02 jan amadeus, peter shaffer, 135m. repeated from 1983, peter hall's production, produced for radio by david spenser with the original national theatre cast. peter scofield as salieri, simon callow as mozart, felicity kendall as constanze.
2010
26 dec marriage of figaro, beaumarchais, adap david timpson, producer nicolas soames. 120m.
19 dec the royal game, stefan zweig, adap y p-thompson, producer matt thompson. chess madness. 90m.
12 dec gilead, marilynne robinson, adap mike kenny, 100m, set in the american midwest during the late 1950s. a preacher nearing the end of his life regrets that he will never see his son, who was born very late in his life, grow to be a man. with roger allam as the preacher, elizabeth mcgovern as his wife. producer catherine bailey, indep, director annie castledine.
05 dec perpetual light, melissa murray, 90m, wife creates an avatar of her dead husband on the computer, producer marc beeby.
27 nov migrant mother, michael symmons roberts, play based on dorothea lange's famous photo of florence owens thompson, set in california during the depression in 1936, it follows lange as she observes itinerant workers. producer charlotte riches. 90m.
20 nov amazonia, garry lyons, repeat of 7 feb. arthur ransome.
13 nov the twyborn affair, patrick white, london blitz, with julian rhind-tutt, producer alison hindell, 90m. rpt of 27 sep 2009 R3.
06 nov vultures, roy williams, recorded at baltic centre, gateshead. an angry young man hates being regarded as a working class waster, and sets out to change matters. producer kate rowland. 45m.
31 oct say goodbye twice, comedy by oladipo agboluaje, nigerian writer, a british-born person of nigerian descent wishes to move back to nigeria for a taste of the good life with his film producer father. 90m, ellen thomas, tobi bakure; producer jonquil panting.
17 oct the unfortunates, graham white adap. of b.s.johnson novel, 90m, producer mary peate.
16 oct 'the wire', why i don't hate white people, 45m, lemn sissay, racial prejudice and personal history, enlightening monologue, producer claire grove.
10 oct four plays about afghanistan, running time 2 hours, rpt, three directors, producer jeremy mortimer. for details see others10 , 10 October.
09 oct 'the wire', first domino, jonathan cash, 45m. nailbomb inside a gay pub, london, 30 apr 1999. with toby jones, joseph kloska, producer frank stirling. from the 2009 stage version, all based on true events. an exploration of prejudice, extremism and other unpleasant human traits.
03 oct the hairy ape, eugene o'neill, 90m, rpt. of 6 dec 09 (q.v.).
02 oct 'the wire', the first day of the rest of my life, martin jameson, 60m; rpt from 10 oct 2009 (q.v.).
26 sep yerma, by lorca; a woman's desperate yearning for a child. heavy going for me. emma cunliffe, conrad nelson, declan wilson. lots of poetry and music, some of it specially composed (tayo akinbode), producer pauline harris. 90min.
25 sep 'the wire', castlereagh to kandahar, rosemary jenkinson, 60m, set in belfast, producer eoin o'callaghan. music by graeme stewart.
18 sep faust, by goethe, mammoth production, lasts about four hours. samuel west as faust, toby jones as the devil. producer nicolas soames.
17 sep 'the wire', lump boy, chris wilson, the agony of teenage acne, producer pauline harris, 45m. winner of the alfred bradley award for 2009; originally a monologue, this is a re-worked version for full cast. stars annette badland, william rush, smug roberts.
12 sep faith healer, brian friel, 120m, an irish faith healer tours scotland and wales and finally returns home. producer peter kavanagh. owen roe, lia williams, phil daniels.
05 sep giovanni's room, neil bartlett, 90m, passionate love affair between two men in 1954, paris. then the fiancee comes back.... with damian lewis, john lithgow, greta scacchi. producer neil bartlett.
04 sep 'the wire', lucy island, laura lomas, rpt. from 6 mar (q.v.).
28 aug 'the wire' the gold farmer, rpt from 6 feb (q.v.).
21 aug 'the wire', the lady of kingsland waste, j. parkes. producer jessica dromgoole. four inner-city children become involved with a dying woman. shortlisted for the Imison Award (best first radio play script of 2010).
15 aug the white devil, john webster, 1612 transposed to the 1950s, 120m, with patrick kennedy, anna maxwell martin, producer marc beeby.
07 aug 'the wire', life on the edges, nicola wilson, rpt from 20 feb (q.v.).
01 aug the light of darkness, louis nowra, turkey enters the war in 1915, john guerassio, william el gardi, producer judith kampfner, 90m.
31 jul me and cilla, rpt from 24 oct 2009 (q.v.), by lee mattinson. 45m.
24 jul 'the wire', side effects, morna pearson, rpt from 26 sep 2009 (q.v.).
25 jul between two worlds, by adrian bean and david hendy. play about oliver lodge, forgotten inventor of the wireless before marconi, and interested in psychic phenomena, which he documented in detail. owen teale as oliver, amanda root as mary. 90m. `
17 jul no drama (proms)
11 jul sarah and ken, rebecca lenkiewicz, love story, mental health, institutions, 1968, producer jessica dromgoole. 90m.
04 jul alone together, neil mckay, about r.s.thomas, welsh poet, preist and bird watcher. producer melanie harris. 90m.
27 jun anthony & cleopatra, shakespeare, 3 hours, producer mary peate.
20 jun the hybernaculum, rpt from 23 aug 2009 (q.v.), by yolanda pupo-thompson
13 jun no drama (proms)
06 jul no drama (proms)
30 may the researches of herodotus, tom holland, rpt from 11 oct 2009 (q.v).
23 may girlfriend in a coma, douglas coupland, dram. dan rebellato. karen mcneill goes into a coma after a teenage party in 1979; she remains unconscious until 1997. producer polly thomas, 90m.
16 may beckett: two plays: krapp's last tape, producers carrie rooney and polly thomas, and embers, producer stephen cartwright, director stephen rea. total running time 90m.
09 may the government inspector, gogol, trans alistair beaton, 135m, producer sally avens. satire on corruption and sleaze. there's nothing new under the sun.
02 may and so say all of us, dan rebellato, linda mclean, duncan macmillan. Ahead of the general election, a topical new play by Prof. Dan Rebellato of the Department of Drama and Theatre at Royal Holloway, University of London, skewering the absurdities of the general election.
Dan Rebellato: “The election isn’t really generating serious debate. There’s a strange speech act that seems to have overtaken politics. The slogans are getting more and more vacuous." they sound like they might mean something - but what it is - is anyone's guess....
25 apr the pattern of painful adventures, stephen wakelam, 90m, producer jeremy mortimer. drama set in 1607, following shakespeare as his life reaches a turning point. with anthony sher, will keen, stephen critchlow. See Stephen's page.
18 apr the leopard, giuseppi di lampedusa, changes in sicilian society during the unification of italy, 1860. adap. michael hastings. producer nicholasnewton, director lucy bailey, 95m. tried to read the novel once - got nowhere. hope the play is better.
11 apr the carhullan army, sarah hall / dominic power; dystopian fantasy set in the future. britain is run by a sinister Authority, all women have to wear contraceptive devices, but one woman escapes from the commune.... stars anne-marie duff, geraldine james, jane whittenshaw, producer frank stirling, director lawrence jackson, 90m.
03 apr, cyrano de bergerac, john burgess wilson (anthony burgess) translation, 135m, producer nicolas soames, director david timson. superb production; reviewed this a few years ago. adapted for radio by john tydeman.
27 mar the haunted moustache, david bramwell, reading, the disembodied moustache of a man who ran a freak show. producer sara jane hall. 30m. (no drama)
21 mar arms and the man, bernard shaw, 120m, dir david timpson.
13 mar 'the wire', random, debbie tucker green, nadine marshall plays four characters in a family whose day is shattered by disaster. 55m, producer jeremy mortimer, director d.t.g.
14 mar gone, debbie tucker green, 90m, producer mary peate. a young woman who has gone missing is described by several unconnected people whose lives she touched.
07 mar life of thomas paine, play in two parts, 90m plus 90m, trevor griffiths, producer ann scott, director clive brill.
06 mar 'the wire', lucy island, laura lomas, 45m, producer marc beeby. a grieving woman transforms herself and her community.
28 feb la princess de cleves, madamede lafayette, 1768, dram. jo clifford, 90m, producer kirsty williams.
27 feb 'the wire', look closer, michael bhim, producer sasha yevtushenko, 45m.
21 feb i'm still the same paul, annie caulfield, about paul robeson, singer and political activist, apologist for stalin and an agitator for civil rights. 90m, producer claire grove; stars lenny henry, adjoa andoh, corey johnson, joanne monro.
20 feb 'the wire', life on the edges, nicola wilson, producer kirsty williams.
14 feb an ideal husband, oscar wilde, 120m, producer nicolas soames, director david timson
13 feb 'the wire', rapture frequency, abbie spallen, two men listen to the black box recording of an ill-fated flight, 30m, producer heather lamour.
07 feb amazonia, garry lyons, play about arthur ransome, double agent in russia; later a children's writer. producer melanie harris, 90m.
06 feb 'the wire', the gold farmer, alan harris; man living in a fantasy online world whilst being bored and alientated at work as a clerk. producer abigail le fleming, 45m. with rory kinnear.
31 jan the seagull, anton checkhov, adap. stuart paterson, producer dominic hill, 110m. with siobhan redmond, paul higgins.
24 jan the cherry orchard, anton checkhov, 120m. original music by olga thomas-bosovskaya. producer peter kavanagh. with sara miles, nicholas le prevost.
17 jan season of migration to the north, tayeb salih, dram. philip palmer. 90m. a young man returning from europe to his village on a bend in the nile unravels a tale which will lead to murder. with beru tessema, zubin varla. producer jonquil panting.
10 jan fences, august wilson, play about a once-famous baseball player who works as a refuse collector. civil rights are starting up but he doesn't notice. with danny sapani; producer claire grove, 120m.
03 jan two plays by j.m.synge: tinker's wedding and riders to the sea. producer steven canny. total running time 90m.
2009
20 dec a whistle in the dark, tom murphy, reunion of irish family in coventry 1961, prod. roland jaquarello
27 dec your only man, annie caulfield, about flann o'brien /myles na gopaleen, prod. gordon kennedy, 90m
26 dec 'the wire',alex tripped on my fairy, 60m, meredith oakes. prod. mary peate. social comedy. rpt.
13 dec the contingency plan, steve waters, britain faces catastrophic floods whilst politicans argue; prod. peter leslie wild; 'environmental thriller' 120m; names david cameron as the p.m. several months before he was elected....
06 dec the hairy ape, eugene o'neill, american drama, 1921, a stoker's world is shaken when an heiress goes into the engine room of an ocean liner; prod. toby swift.
29 nov the changeling, jacobean classic by middleton and rowley, updated to 1920s and set in spain, prod. jeremy mortimer, 120m.
22 nov don quixote, thomas d'urley (this is not cervantes' version), music by purcell, eccles et. al, first performed 1694, adapted by don taylor, 1995, prod. jeremy mortimer, dir. don taylor.
15 nov in the absence of geoff, charlotte jones, rpt. from 3 jan; businessman fakes memory loss.
08 nov the promise, aleksei arbuzov, trans. ariadne nicolaeff, adap. nick dear, producer sasha yevtushenko, 90m. russians, nazis and the siege of leningrad.
01 nov the lady from the sea, henrik ibsen, adap. frank mcguinness, 110m, producer catherine bailey, indep, director hannah eidinow. plot slim; symbolism heavy. j. anderson, radio times, was not wholly positive about it, but liked it, if only for ibsen's views on freedom for women before the days of feminism.
24 oct 'the wire', me and cilla, lee mattinson, producer katherine beacon. drama about a former club singer with leukaemia. her christmas party looks as if it will be a disaster; her son is preparing to make a public appearance in a miniskirt, and her husband is having an affair with the next-door neighbour. 45m. with charlie hardwick, james baxter, trevor fox.
18 oct threepenny opera, 'play with music' by brecht and weill, 1928. producers nadia molinari, carrie rooney, 180m. the play chronicles peachum's discovery that his daughter has secretly married a gangster 'mac the knife'. with joseph millson, elen rhys.
11 oct the researches of herodotus, by tom holland. 90m, producer tim dee, starring anton lesser. the early greek historian's account of events in the eastern mediterranean, heavily condensed.
10 oct 'the wire', the first day of the rest of my life, martin jameson, set in a call centre. toby has a bad day at work on the phones....when an angry customer pushes him too far, toby lets rip. next morning he wakes up as another person....; stars jonathan keeble, andonis james anthony, armand beasley, sue jenkins. 45m. producer gary brown.
04 oct becket, jean anouilh trans lucienne hill, 120m, producer nicolas soames, director roy mcmillan. 1173, and the king (henry ii) does penance for his murder of thomas becket. with toby stephens, david morrissey, sarah kestelman, adrian lukis, jonathan keeble.
27 sep the twyborn affair, patrick white dram d.j.britton, 90m, producer alison hindell. london blitz, ww2. with julian rhind-tutt, penny downie, hattie morahan.
26 sep 'the wire', by morna pearson (no title in RT), drama based on the mystical transformation of a woman into a tree, about a neglected, abused teenage girl. 45m. producer marilyn imrie. with ashley smith and gary collins.
20 sep slaughterhouse five, kurt vonnegut, adap. dave sheasby, futility of war disguised as science fiction, producer david hunter. see dave sheasby's page .
19 sep 'the wire', people snogging in public places, jack thorne, person with learning disabilities moves in, 60m, producer steven canny. this play was shortlisted for the tinniswood award. see tinniswood 2010.
13 sep edward ii, christopher marlowe, producer jessica dromgoole, 120m.
05 sep the adding machine, elmer rice, the promotion prospects of a 'nobody', expressionist play, 75m, prod. s. canny & a. le fleming
30 aug the time machine, h.g.wells, rpt from 22 feb, producer jeremy mortimer
29 aug tennyson readings
23 aug the hybernaculum, y p-thompson, about gilbert white, naturalist, producer matt thompson, 90m
16 aug proms
09 aug proms
08 aug 'the wire', donation, sean buckley, organ donation, 75m, producer steven canny
02 aug proms
01 aug 'the wire' title nk 45m
29 jul proms
28 jul 'the wire' title nk 45m
12 jul idylls of the king, tennyson, king arthur legends, adap m.s.roberts, producer susan roberts. 120m.
05 jul tartuffe, moliere, adap roger mcgough, producer chris wallis, 105m.
28 jun fall, zinnie harris, thriller about politics in a developing country. 90m.
21 jun darger & the detective, mike walker, 90m. henry darger, realms of the unreal. producer judith kampfner.
14 jun the gambler, dostoyevsky, 90m, prod. guy retallack, adap. gavin maxwell. repeated in 2010 on r4.
13 jun elektra, strauss, musical high drama.
07 jun hyde park on hudson, richard nelson, 100m, producer ned chaillet, president roosevelt, mistress, 1939
01 jun music
24 may scandinavian dreams, steve chambers, 90m, mary wollstonecraft, late 1700s, producers dave sheasby, andy cartwright
17 may hum, laura wade,producer steven canny. noise pollution. 90m.
10 may midsummer night's dream, shakespeare, with mendelssohn's incidental music. 150m.
03 may my brother god and the banyan tree, dusty hughes, producer peter kavanagh. india and the a.n.c. 100m.
26 apr babel's tower, mike walker, music by jon nicholls, producer tim dee. jewish writer,stalin,1939.
19 apr henry viii, shakespeare, adap & prod. jeremy mortimer, 135m.
12 apr a small family business, ayckbourn, producer martin jarvis,120m.a play about honesty and corruption.
05 apr death of socrates, s.baczkiewicz, producers jeremy mortimer, steven canny, 90m.
29 mar the government inspector, gogol, trans. a.beaton, producer sara davies, 135m.
22 mar no info
15 mar the tinker's wedding/riders to the sea,2 plays by j.m.synge,producer steven canny, 90m total
08 mar bring me the head of philip k dick, greg whitehead, sci-fi fantasy, 90m.prod g.w. & mark burman
01 mar feature
28 feb salmonella man on planet porno, y.tsutsui, sci-fi, producer matt thompson, 60m.
22 feb the time machine, h.g.wells, producer jeremy mortimer, 100m. well known sci-fi.
21 feb gulf, mark kotting,producer toby swift, family experiencing meltdown.60m.
15 feb moonlight, followed by voices, both by harold pinter. prod n.chaillet, j.whitaker, p.tagney.95m.
14 feb 'the wire', nina black, melanie harris, producer melanie harris, 45m. attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (adhd)
08 feb the steps, mike bartlett, 75m. see mike bartlett page. producer claire grove.
07 feb 'the wire', sold on ebay, van badham, prod. mary peate. internet selling taken to extremes. 45m.
02 feb 'the wire', the number of the dead, mark lawson, producer eoin o'callaghan. see mark lawson's page.
01 feb the deep blue sea, rattigan. producer nicholas soames. 110m.
25 jan pornography, simon stephens, response to the 7 jul 05 bombings in london, prod. sean holmes 90m.
18 jan echoes of war, gary mitchell, good friday agreement, prod roland jaquarello, 90m.
11 jan home, david storey, producer martin jenkins. social story.
03 jan in the absence of geoff, charlotte jones, businessman fakes memory loss, producer claire grove, 90m.
2008 and earlier
No-one has yet done a complete listing of radio 3 plays 2008 - 1946, but some of them have been listed by Jim, Ontario.....see Jim's Radio 3 List
