Storytelling partnership reaching out to new audiences
AS THE saying goes, the pictures are better in radio. It’s why ,a new collaboration between the Leeds Playhouse and BBC Radio Leeds will be such a treat for audiences this week when four radio plays are brought to life on stage at the Leeds College of Music.
The pictures you will hear at are varied and wonderful. was born from the success of the first collaboration between Leeds Playhouse and BBC Radio Leeds, two cultural behemoths of the city that had hitherto never worked together. That first collaboration, in September 2017 was my own play
Once that first collaboration had happened, it felt like a no-brainer. The world-class BBC sits literally behind the Leeds Playhouse. Both organisations are concerned with telling stories; the only question was why had it taken so long for them to see the benefits of working with their neighbour.
After ironic that a story of division brought these two together, the people who run BBC Radio Leeds, managing editor Sanjiv Buttoo and his deputy Layla Painter, knew they wanted to continue the relationship, as did the team at Leeds Playhouse.
A plan was hatched. As part of the BBC remit to educate, inform and entertain, the team wanted to reach out to audiences it might not normally speak to. An open call was put out, asking writers from West Yorkshire to apply. It was a way to find new talent, but also to find new stories. The wide parameter set by BBC Radio Leeds and Leeds Playhouse was for stories that spoke of migration – whatever that might mean. It has led to a mixed bag of 15 minute-long plays that tell the story of migration in a hugely varied way.
Chris O’Connor imagines a future when the crisis of refugees is brought to the doorstep of an Irish family. In Emma Barnes’s ,a Polish cleaner living in contemporary Britain hears a song of home while Bradford’s Kamal Kaan reflects on his bi-lingual upbringing in a British Bangladeshi household with
Gemma Bedeau, writing for the stage for the first time, brings a Caribbean flavour to with a story of West Indian true home cooking.
Watching a run-through of the four plays last week (I will be hosting the event all this week at Leeds College of Music), I was surprised all over again at the power of radio to transport its audience. The audience at Leeds College of Music all this week will be able to see the actors on stage, standing in front of their microphones delivering the scripts, but the addition of live foley (sound effects) will take the audience into a British West Indian kitchen alive with boiling pots and music in one moment and a quiet, tranquil home in the Caribbean in a moment.
Sanjiv Buttoo says: “We feel it’s important to find new artistic voices in the media and arts and we hope this project will unearth the writers of tomorrow who will go on to work for both radio and the stage. I hope it encourages those who feel they have a story in them to come forward and give it a go.”
Playhouse artistic director James Brining says: “At the heart of the
partnership is a commitment to empower people to tell their story regardless of their background or experience. We’re delighted to present the very best new writing in Yorkshire and can’t wait for audiences to experience the thrill of watching radio drama performed live on stage.”
That is the key magical element in this project: radio coming alive in front of an audience. Rubber gloves turning into a flapping pigeon? Ordinarily it might look odd. In the magical world of radio, it sounds like quite a picture.