Home About Fraser Perpetua BWM Frobisher's Gold WKMD? Gifts of War Butterfly Tongues Radio Opera Fiction Addresses News Books Acknowledgments
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FRASER GRACE Online- Radio Productions Two of Fraser's plays have been featured on the radio: Bubble and Breakfast with Mugabe. | |||||||||
Bubble is described in Radio Choice under the Afternoon Play section of Radio Times, 14 October, 1994: 'This play by Fraser Grace is so beautifully written with emotional poetry by Andrea Porter, but its storyline, following the real life experience of Porter who was involved in a head-on car crash, is so distressing that it is hard to recommend the play wholeheartedly.' Helen Long worth plays Her and Jason Hughes plays Him in a drama that unfolds with what the narrator calls 'well-oiled synchronicity' as tiny events conspire to bring two cars together in an unbearably tragic accident.' (Written by Stephanie Billen, page 95) . Bubble is also mentioned on page 125, in the 'Sound Bites section in 'Poetry of Loss'. The play features 'a remarkable integration of poetry within a drama by two writers new to radio. Bubble dramatises events surrounding the tragic death of poet Andrea Porter's fiancé in a car crash and the loss of her unborn twins in 1976. It draws heavily on poems Porter wrote exploring her loss'
Fraser's view When Andrea Porter first sent me the suite of poems recording the tragic events in Bubble , I knew that I had to do everything I could do to get it commissioned and broadcast on radio, and also I didn't want my dramatising to distract from what is a simple, heartbreaking tale. The poems told the story in such an unsparing way, totally devoid of self-pity, I wanted the drama to use the poems to do the same. My first stab at a radio play; the recording time was a blur of wonder at the speed and commitment at which everyone - actors, technicians, director- worked . Several people have since contacted either Andrea or myself, to tell us how they were forced to pull over at the roadside or sit down in the kitchen as the piece wove its spell- great testimony to Anastasia Tolstoy's production, the skill of the actors, the power of Andrea's poetry and the sheer force of her story. And I, thankfully, didn't cock it up.
The second play to be broadcast was Breakfast with Mugabe. Recording the RSC production for radio fell neatly between the end of the play's run at Soho Theatre, and the West End opening at the Duchess Theatre.
Under Producer Marilyn Imrie' s very helpful eye and ear, it was great fun to work on. Adjusting to the much more intimate tones of a radio drama was also a real challenge. Happily, we discovered lots of useful stuff that we could feed back into the stage play-for instance, finding a sound to announce the presence of the ngozi. This oft-repeated radio play still packs quite a punch, and we were all delighted when the production won a gong at the Sony's -but very disappointed to find it is still so topical. Awards Silver Sony Radio Drama Award, 2006, Catherine Bailey Ltd. Citation: "Breakfast with Mugabe used the relationship between Robert Mugabe and a white psychiatrist to explore the motivations and fears of the President of Zimbabwe. This was a complex and layered drama made accessible through the clarity of the narrative and the sustained authenticity of the central performances. Rhythm and pacing, and the music of southern Africa, resulted in a strong sense of place in this memorable production." A Royal Shakespeare Company Production, by Catherine Bailey Ltd for BBC Radio 3.
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