Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Put My Name in Lights | 20210507 | 20210508 (R4) | Gloria Grayson is 85 and due to make her West End comeback after 20 years in the wilderness. The play is a peach - could have been written for her. A new, young director who has great ideas is in place. Rehearsals have been hard but satisfying and now they are in the theatre - Dressing Room 1 again. Previews - she almost got a standing ovation. Have to work on that. Then, suddenly, closure. Pandemic. Bereft. Loss. Too much time to reflect on her life. What has she achieved? Will the theatre open again? Will she ever get that opening night? Read by Deborah Findlay Written by Lolita Chakrabarti Directed by Celia de Wolff A Pier production for BBC Radio 4 An elderly actress is due to make her West End comeback, but the pandemic prevents that. Short stories from the best writers Gloria Grayson is 85 and due to make her West End comeback after 20 years in the wilderness. The play is a peach - could have been written for her. A new, young director who has great ideas is in place. Rehearsals have been hard but satisfying and now they are in the theatre - Dressing Room 1 again. Previews - she almost got a standing ovation. Have to work on that. Then, suddenly, closure. Pandemic. Bereft. Loss. Too much time to reflect on her life. What has she achieved? Will the theatre open again? Will she ever get that opening night? Read by Deborah Findlay Written by Lolita Chakrabarti Directed by Celia de Wolff A Pier production for BBC Radio 4 An elderly actress is due to make her West End comeback, but the pandemic prevents that. Short stories from the best writers |
| 02 | My Palace | 20210514 | 20210515 (R4) | A series of stories written about people finding themselves, for various reasons, in theatres that have been forced to close due to the Pandemic. Tanika Gupta tells the story of a young refugee, having fled from his war torn homeland, finds safety from the rough streets of London, under the stage of a London theatre. Read by Shervin Alenabi Short stories from the best writers. Short stories from the best writers A series of stories written about people finding themselves, for various reasons, in theatres that have been forced to close due to the Pandemic. Tanika Gupta tells the story of a young refugee, having fled from his war torn homeland, finds safety from the rough streets of London, under the stage of a London theatre. Read by Shervin Alenabi Short stories from the best writers. Short stories from the best writers |
| 03 | Madison Chorus | 20210521 | 20210522 (R4) | When drama graduate and part-time usher Madison is laid off during the pandemic by the famous London theatre where she works, she joins a skeleton team of night cleaners - all of them young actors - on a temporary contract to check and clean the building overnight. Working in rotation, each of them alone, they take turns to sweep and polish the empty stage, sometimes spontaneously performing to the vacant auditorium. On Madison's shift, she reflects on her difficult journey into acting and speculates about her uncertain future. Must she abandon her dreams and return to Yorkshire? Is she deluding herself she could ever succeed? Standing under the ghostlight - the lightbulb which illuminates an otherwise dark stage - Madison experiences a life-changing revelation. Read by Lisa McGrillis A drama graduate finds herself alone on a stage in a theatre closed by the pandemic. Short stories from the best writers When drama graduate and part-time usher Madison is laid off during the pandemic by the famous London theatre where she works, she joins a skeleton team of night cleaners - all of them young actors - on a temporary contract to check and clean the building overnight. Working in rotation, each of them alone, they take turns to sweep and polish the empty stage, sometimes spontaneously performing to the vacant auditorium. On Madison's shift, she reflects on her difficult journey into acting and speculates about her uncertain future. Must she abandon her dreams and return to Yorkshire? Is she deluding herself she could ever succeed? Standing under the ghostlight - the lightbulb which illuminates an otherwise dark stage - Madison experiences a life-changing revelation. Read by Lisa McGrillis A drama graduate finds herself alone on a stage in a theatre closed by the pandemic. Short stories from the best writers |