This play by Julia Stoneham and produced by Viv Beeby has a great story to tell. It is about Exercise Tiger, a preparation for the D-Day invasion during WW II that goes very badly with a heavy body count from friendly fire. It wasn't a battle at all but a rehearsal for one in England, South Devon.
It is also about Ken Small who years later uncovers what happened there and also discovers
a tank left behind and buried in the water offshore.
All this makes the play well worth listening to since it is a great documentary history lesson.
Unfortunately I think the production is not as good as it might have been given a larger budget and a slightly longer time slot. This is a complex story and script. Many of the actor s are asked to do double, triple, (quadruple?) roles, several of which are in yankee american accents. Some of this does not at all sound authentic or convincing and that gives the whole production a kind of pro-am feel. Shaun Prendergast as Small is definitely the pro end with a fine reading of his role.
Anyway, it's a good story about a horrible incident and the remarkable and driven man, Mr. Small, who is obsessed with it all.
The Afternoon Play The play can be heard through Oct. 30, 2007 by clicking on the Wednesday button.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
An Interlude of Men
An Interlude of Men by Lesley Bruce is a bitter-sweet drama of two women of a certain age. Maybe it is two women in transition. Maybe they are embracing and then resisting transition.
This was played before a year or so ago on BBC Radio 4 The Afternoon Play. I liked it better this time. Perhaps I was in a more receptive mood. But I still don't know how old these women are. I would suppose somewhere in their 50s. This can be a confusing age. Does one carry on or begin moving into retreat? This is Bren's dilemma. Hilly wants her to move to the country, out there with her from London.
The play also contrasts the difference between the urban and rural life, and what each has to offer. This is shown in the types of media devices Hilly has out there in the sticks. She has no TV, or sound system, well, she does have a record player. Bren is a bit shocked at all this. Yet there are, of course, natural attractions to moving out of the city.
But this is mostly about the relationship. A friendship once close, and now not so close. When all the information is not revealed, there is some jealousy.
The play has an 'On Location" feel about the recording. This works nicely except in the scene in the bathroom which had, maybe, too much reverb off the walls. It made the dialogue a little hard to hear, but this could have also been a problem with the compression in the file I heard which was recorded from the BBC Radio 4 Real Player and then re-compressed into an mp3 for a DAP.
Very good performances by Deborah Findlay and Barbara Flynn who carry this two character play. The Afternoon Play The play can be heard through Monday Oct. 29, 2007 by clicking or the Tuesday button.
This was played before a year or so ago on BBC Radio 4 The Afternoon Play. I liked it better this time. Perhaps I was in a more receptive mood. But I still don't know how old these women are. I would suppose somewhere in their 50s. This can be a confusing age. Does one carry on or begin moving into retreat? This is Bren's dilemma. Hilly wants her to move to the country, out there with her from London.
The play also contrasts the difference between the urban and rural life, and what each has to offer. This is shown in the types of media devices Hilly has out there in the sticks. She has no TV, or sound system, well, she does have a record player. Bren is a bit shocked at all this. Yet there are, of course, natural attractions to moving out of the city.
But this is mostly about the relationship. A friendship once close, and now not so close. When all the information is not revealed, there is some jealousy.
The play has an 'On Location" feel about the recording. This works nicely except in the scene in the bathroom which had, maybe, too much reverb off the walls. It made the dialogue a little hard to hear, but this could have also been a problem with the compression in the file I heard which was recorded from the BBC Radio 4 Real Player and then re-compressed into an mp3 for a DAP.
Very good performances by Deborah Findlay and Barbara Flynn who carry this two character play. The Afternoon Play The play can be heard through Monday Oct. 29, 2007 by clicking or the Tuesday button.
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