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Press Releases
Resurgence in radio drama from Wales
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91Èȱ¬ Wales's drama department may have captured the headlines for its high-profile television productions like Doctor Who and Torchwood but a quieter, yet
nonetheless significant, revolution has been taking place on the radio
airwaves.
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Nearly a dozen 91Èȱ¬ Wales radio drama productions were aired on 91Èȱ¬ network
radio last year and no fewer than five are due to be broadcast in the space of
the next two months.
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An adaptation of The Clothes In The Wardrobe by the late London Welsh novelist
Alice Thomas Ellis - to be broadcast on 91Èȱ¬ Radio 4 at 3.30pm each day this
week - will be followed by a series of Afternoon Plays on Radio 4 in February
and March.
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The department's TV output has taken in everything from the Cardiff-based sci-fi series Torchwood to the Mancunian retro police drama Life On Mars and the
period romp Casanova - and 91Èȱ¬ Wales's network radio drama productions are
equally diverse.
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The plays range from the first drama by the National Poet of Wales, Gwyneth
Lewis, to the latest work by the Guardian columnist, broadcaster and critic
Mark Lawson.
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Lewis's play is an adaptation of Sunbathing In The Rain, her acclaimed prose
work about how she battled through depression.
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Lawson's offering is the tragi-comedy Expand This, telling the tale of an online journalist who finds his
family secrets appearing on websites all around the world.
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The prolific Snowdonia-born dramatist Meic Povey provides an amusing look at
the soap opera-like goings-on at Owain Glyndwr's mediaeval court in Fire Of The
Dragon and London-based writer Elizabeth Lewis kicks-off the series of 91Èȱ¬
Wales productions on Radio 4 with Heifers And Bulls on Friday 23 February.
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Set in a remote Welsh village, the play centres on a matchmaking service for
lonely hill farmers.
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Last year, 91Èȱ¬ Wales's drama department was responsible for a string of
productions on network radio ranging from the debut radio drama by Cardiff film-maker Ed Talfan to works by established Welsh writers such as Brynteg's Gary
Owen, poets Gillian Clarke from Cardiff and Owen Sheers from Abergavenny, and
Swansea's Stevie Davies.
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The department also produced Radio 4's first Book At Bedtime by a Welsh
author for a decade - Country Dance by Margiad Evans - and six contemporary
Plays For Wales broadcast on 91Èȱ¬ Radio Wales.
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"It is not just the volume of 91Èȱ¬ Wales's radio drama output over the past
12 months that has been so impressive, but also the variety," said Clare
Hudson, Head of English Language Programmes, 91Èȱ¬ Wales.
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"The writers featured
have come from Wrexham to Rhayader and from west Swansea to Western Australia.
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"The themes have encompassed love and hatred, comedy and tragedy, community and
loneliness.
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"Some of the writers have been writing for decades; some are
comparatively new writers whose talents have been developed through the 91Èȱ¬'s
partnership with Ty Newydd, the National Writers' Centre for Wales.
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"The self-confidence in broadcast drama in Wales on both radio and television
has grown and grown over the past two years and 91Èȱ¬ Wales's drama department
has been at the forefront of that renaissance."
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The Clothes In The Wardrobe, Monday 12-Friday 16 February, 91Èȱ¬ Radio 4, 3.30pm
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Heifers And Bulls, Friday 23 February, 91Èȱ¬ Radio 4, 2.15pm
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Fire Of The Dragon, Wednesday 21 March, 91Èȱ¬ Radio 4, 2.15pm
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Sunbathing In The Rain, Friday 23 March, 91Èȱ¬ Radio 4, 2.15pm
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Expand This, Monday 26 March, 91Èȱ¬ Radio 4, 2.15pm.
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91Èȱ¬ Wales Press Office
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