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11
. 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 experiences of Porter who was involved in a head on car crash, is so distressing that it is hard to recommend the play wholeheartedly'.

Helen Longworth 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' (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 a integration of poetry within a drama by two writers who a. Bubble dramatises events surrounding the tragic death of poet Andrea Porter's fiance 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. along with actors


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 Andreas poetry and the sheer force of her story. And I, thankfully, didn't cock it up.

Bubble

 

BWM

Click on the Buttons to hear sound clips (5 min duration)

The second play to be broadcast was Breakfast with Mugabe (BWM). 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 expert eye and ear, it was great fun to work on. Adjusting to the much more intimate tones of 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 still so topical!

 

In January of this year (2009), further work of Fraser's was broadcast on the radio: Three of his short stories from his collection of short stories 'Wrestling Angels' (See Fiction). They were featured in Radio 4's 'Book In the Afternoon' slot:

Tues  Jan 20 Once I Was Dead..Read by James Fleet..........................Once I Was Dead

Wed  Jan 21 The Assassin's Mother-in-Law...Read by Noma Dumezweni...Assassin's Mother-in-Law

Thur  Jan 22 The Jewellers Wife...Read by Deborah Findlay..................... The Jeweller's Wife

Press each of the buttons for a five min sound clip. The readings were produced by Karen Rose (at Sweet Talk Productions) and directed by Marilyn Imrie.