The ±«Óãtv Radio 3 programme The Verb is a weekly "Cabaret of the Word", featuring the best poetry, new writing and performance, presented by Ian McMillan. The programme has regularly collaborated with us at the ±«Óãtv Writersroom, offering the opportunity for writers from our Drama Room development group to gain a short audio drama commission and the chance to appear as a guest.
Having been selected, the writers underwent a swift but thorough development process with a ±«Óãtv Audio Drama North Producer. Below you can read their experiences of the process and listen to their produced audio dramas.
Listen to Adulting written by Georgia Affonso and performed by Chloë Sommer, Jenny McIntyre and Jason Done.
"When ADULTING was picked for The Verb it was a real sense of achievement for me. I’d pitched an idea a few years ago that hadn’t gone through, this was totally fair enough (I reread it recently and it was dull as dishwater) but you don’t feel super hopeful at the time. This was a moment for me to say to myself, look – you’ve got better!
We were limited to less than 10 minutes, and I am someone who can ramble. This is where working with a fabulous producer like Lorna Newman, who directed and produced my piece, is invaluable. Lorna focussed my ideas; we talked a lot about weight and food and culture and trips to the doctors and she made sure she knew what I was trying to get across – a pro!
Getting to sit in the recording was a dream. One of the best bits of script-writing is when you get to hear brilliant actors like Chloë Sommer, Jenny McIntyre and Jason Done bring your piece to life.
I’m looking forward to pitching more ideas to Audio Drama in the future."
- Georgia Affonso
Listen to Cramond Island written by Tim Barrow and performed by Jason Done and Emma Laidlaw.
"I loved writing for radio. I haven’t before. My eyes and ears were opened to the possibility by an opportunity presented as part of the ±«Óãtv Writersroom Drama Room 2022 cohort. I was dead chuffed to have my pitch chosen.
If a radio audience can be transported anywhere I wanted to take them to a windswept island in the Firth of Forth and back in time, deep into nostalgia and old dreams. 10 minutes seemed too brief a stay, but actually allowed plenty to space to explore these characters and tell their tales. Producer Jess Mitic was brilliant – she got the story, the tone, the world and all its swirling undercurrents, and saw in the script possibilities I hadn’t explored. I love and admire the respect she has for radio audiences. Her notes were easy and exciting to address and always helped enrich the story or heighten the drama. She also noted stuff she liked!
Most of my work is in theatre and I was delighted to find how beautifully the worlds of theatre and radio correlate. I like working with silence and physical action – storytelling without dialogue – and happily learned that these are entirely possible in radio. I learned that actors can invest hugely in radio dramas, and am so pleased and proud of these performances. And I learnt that the audio FX team are truly wonderful – they created an astonishing soundscape, which truly captures the world of Cramond Island."
- Tim Barrow
Listen to Floater written by Alex Riddle and performed by Jonathan Keeble and Emily Pithon.
"The miracle of radio drama is that you can do just about anything with it: go back in time, into outer space, bring untold stories into people’s headphones. So I wasn’t entirely certain how my low-key romance set in your local Specsavers would be received. Getting the email to say that the piece had been commissioned was one of the highlights of my year.
Over a couple of Zoom sessions, I worked with my brilliant producer Vicky Moseley to add clarity to some of the more obscure references, punch up the jokes, and make sure the piece didn’t fall foul of the ±«Óãtv’s editorial standards… I was more than happy to make a few required tweaks, but retaining the phrase ‘d*ck pics’ was apparently the hill I was willing to die on. I punched the air when the email came through saying that it had been cleared for broadcast.
Heading up to Manchester for the recording, I was full of excitement and the unique terror of a writer wondering what their lines will sound like in the mouths of others (“…but will they empathise the half rhyme of the penultimate monologue. The whole piece will fall apart otherwise….”). But, sat down with a cup a tea at the read through, any lingering nerves melted away as I listened to Emily Pithon and Jonathan Keeble, these two wonderful actors, work their magic and watched as Vicky and the team brought Floater to life. Just a lovely day."
- Alex Riddle