Category: Radio Devon
Date: 16.12.2005
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In a unique partnership between the 91Èȱ¬ and Plymouth Theatre Royal's educational centre, TR2, 12 radio dramas have been written and produced for airing on 91Èȱ¬ Radio Devon in the run-up to Christmas.
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They transmit each day from 13 to 24 December 2005 during the breakfast programmes and Good Evening Devon.
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The daunting challenge was taken up by the Theatre Royal's Youth Theatre Director, Olly Jones, who has written all but two of the 12 short plays.
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Olly co-wrote another with Daniel Hallissey and the other story was written by Tom Cuthbertson. Both Daniel and Tom are members of the Young Company.
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The first challenge was to come up with 12 modern tales with a local flavour which led to a series of brainstorming sessions with members of the Theatre Royal's Young Company to devise the stories.
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Olly then practically hid himself away for a fortnight to write them, based on the ideas which came out of the sessions.
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"It's been incredibly challenging," admitted Olly.
"I don't think I understood the scale of the project. I wasn't sure we could even do it, it's such a difficult project.
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"First of all, people had to get to know each other. Then we had the devising stage, honing ideas and stories. And then going off and writing 12 plays.
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"By the end, I was starting to run out of ideas. I wish there had only been six days of Christmas!
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"But I'm overwhelmed by the results. The acting is brilliant and the production is fantastic."
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Olly explains the thinking behind the 12 stories, most of which are around five minutes long.
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He says: "There is definitely not a religious context, although it was really fascinating to us to find their Catholic origins.
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"We wanted to make a wide variety, so there are fairy tales, poems and mini-dramas. Most of them are very funny and light-hearted.
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"Two of the stories are more serious and hard hitting, showing that it's not all fun out there at Christmas time."
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A group of 18 members from the Young Company recorded the plays in the Radio Devon studios in Plymouth, giving up their evenings for a week.
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Their ages range from 12 to 20, and Olly says they've loved the experience: "They've had a whale of a time. No-one has ever done anything like it. You should see the looks on their faces when they're in the studio.
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"They've loved working with the 91Èȱ¬, with a professional producer. When they first go into the studio they are very nervous and quiet, but they quickly relax and really enjoy it."
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For Tom Cuthbertson, who is 15 and wants to pursue a career in acting, it's been hard work but rewarding.
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He says: "It's a lot more complicated that I thought it would be. Doing 12 plays was very ambitious, but it has been great fun.
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"I think it has worked out very well, and it's very satisfying seeing it finished. I've never done radio or sound based work before so it was something interesting and new."
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The plays are produced by Sarah Solftley, Assistant Editor of 91Èȱ¬ Radio Devon.
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She says: "When Oliver first approached me with the idea, I thought it was wonderful but wondered if it was possible.
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"It's taken a lot of effort from Olly and the TR2 team to pull it off. The young people have been a delight to work with, and they have been very professional, we couldn't have asked any more from them.
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"The 91Èȱ¬ is always keen to give time to new talent and involve the local community in broadcasting projects. I hope this is the first of many drama partnership projects."
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JR
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