ECHOES FROM THE EAST

• Website: http://www.menagerietheatre.co.uk/writer-development/radio-plays-recorded-by-the-bbc/

ECHOES FROM THE EAST is a series of twelve short audio dramas written and performed by the Menagerie Theatre Company and broadcast on BBC Radio. Each audio drama takes place in the eastern portion of England.

Menagerie and BBC East have developed a unique collaboration to create 12 new plays for radio. As part of our Arts Council-funded 2010-11 project to bring new writers into the company alongside Menagerie 'veterans', we commissioned the 12 to pen a short play for radio with one stipulation: it had to be located somewhere in the East of England. Patrick and Paul worked alongside each writer, helping to refine the pieces for recording. The final dramaturgical input came from BBC producer Faith Collingwood, who directed all 12 plays in the BBC Voices Studio in Norwich. The plays were recorded by Menagerie Ensemble actors and have now been broadcast on the BBC network along with writer interviews.

A story of remembering and betrayal, set on a Summer's day in Colchester.

A young convicted murderer and his lawyer share a final conversation, on the way to court, before sentencing.

A gentle comedy which pokes fun at lovers and crop-circle hoaxers in a barley field in East Cambridgeshire.

She's got a knife and she needs his money. Now. It's late, outside a nightclub in Norwich and fear is in the air.

A brief encounter on the Cambridge to Kings Lynn train, with a devilish twist in its tale.

Town and Gown fight it out during the fireworks of Cambridge University's 800th anniversary celebrations.

Set in 1835, in the west tower of Ely Cathedral, this captures the final battle of wills between the architect Basevi, and the then Dean of Ely, Peacock. A watery end to one of their lives…

Lorne's been walking his donkeys up and down Lowestoft Beach for over 40 years. His life, his love, his dreams mix in with the crashing waves. Time passes.

A wistful, romantic comedy of hi-tech manners, set in the Grand Arcade car park, Cambridge.

==== Brian and Colin ==== A student and a local man try to work their way around a 'once-in-a-lifetime' difficulty outside the gates of Kings College in Cambridge.

An isolated cottage at night. Jenny's hearing voices again. Next door, Sheryl's just trying to finish her play, but her kid's playing up. Somewhere, there's a connection.

A drama about welcoming new faces and fearing strangers, set in rural Cambridgeshire. Compassion and mob rule in medieval and modern England.