THE DIVINE COMEDY: FINANCIAL TIMES

Another very favourable review in The Financial Times from somebody who clearly knows his Dante. Here's a slightly abridged version of what he had to say.

Pick of the Weekend: Martin Hoyle

Stephen Wyatt’s dramatisation of Dante’s Inferno grabs us by the hand in Radio 4’s ebullient production by Emma Harding and Marc Beeby as confidently as Virgil steering Dante through the underworld.

Characterised by vigour, energy and an atmospheric sound-plan (inventive variations on wailing, groaning, crunching ice and diabolical farts) the first part of The Divine Comedy makes a riveting introduction on air as in print... The cast is flawless, young actors and old masters alike.

There are no unintentional laughs in this hell... Quotations are read in perfectly pronounced Italian (a BBC first?). A beautifully incorporated line of T.S.Eliot’s typifies the production’s imaginative approach. Weary and frightened, Dante and his guide make it back for Easter Sunday and the sight of the stars. It has been quite a journey.

****

THE DIVINE COMEDY

Very nice review in The Radio Times:

THE DIVINE COMEDY

Review by:

Jane Anderson

It’s a brave writer who dares to take on Dante’s epic three-part poem The Divine Comedy. Playwright Stephen Wyatt, who has steered a radical course with this version, follows in the footsteps of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Dorothy L Sayers and, most recently, Clive James, who have all written of the difficulties they faced in achieving a decent, scholarly translation.

So, if literary heavyweights like Longfellow, Sayers and James have struggled, how has Wyatt fared in turning it into a listener-friendly piece of radio?

He’s done a remarkable job. Out go the cantos and rigid rhyming structures. In comes a flowing narrative that loses none of the evocative imagery of the original. And it does Wyatt’s case no harm that the three central characters — Dante the younger, Dante the elder and Virgil, his ghostly omnipresent guide through hell, purgatory and paradise — are played by Blake Ritson, John Hurt and David Warner.

THE DREAM

Krazy Kat's version of Midsummer Night's Dream goes into rehearsal in early April.

As always, very much looking forward to working with the company.

Details of performances are on the Krazy Kat website. Here's a link to the performances at Emporium in Brighton.

Update: Krazy Kat has been granted Arts Council of England funding for a new programme of work for 2014/15. Well done, KK!

THE DIVINE COMEDY

THE DIVINE COMEDY by DANTE ALIGHIERI

Dramatised by STEPHEN WYATT

With BLAKE RITSON, JOHN HURT, DAVID WARNER and HATTIE MORAHAN

Directed by MARC BEEBY and EMMA HARDING

Episode One: INFERNO

Sunday 30^th March 3 pm BBC Radio 4

Episode Two: PURGATORIO

Sunday 6^th April 3 pm BBC Radio 4

Episode Three: PARADISO

Sunday 13^th April 3 pm BBC Radio 4

Each episode will be repeated the following Saturday at 9pm and the series will also be available on iPlayer.

BBC WRITERS ROOM

There a short piece from me about working with Claire together with an extract from our radio drama book available now on the BBC Writers Room blog .

THE DEVIL IN THE BELFRY

Here's a link to a recording of the Gottingen performance of The Devil in the Belfry, Rob Orledge's completion of Debussy's short opera based on Poe's story with a libretto by Stephen Wyatt.

See also the post for 3rd December 2013.

CHANDLER REPEATED

Classic Chandler with Toby Stephens as Philip Marlowe, produced by Claire Grove, directed by Claire, Mary Peate and Sasha Yevtushenko and dramatised by Robin Brooks and Stephen Wyatt is being repeated on BBC Radio 4 on the following Saturdays at 2.30 pm -

The Big Sleep – 15^th Feb  (Robin/Claire)

The Lady in the Lake – 22 Feb  (Stephen/Claire)

Farewell My Lovely – I Mar (Robin/Mary)

Playback – 8 Mar  (Stephen/Sasha)

The Long Goodbye – 10 May (Stephen/Claire)

The High Window – 17 May (Robin/Sasha)

The Little Sister – 24 May  (Stephen/Claire)

Poodle Springs – 31 May  (Robin/Sasha)

THE DIVINE COMEDY

My producers, Marc Beeby and Emma Harding, have assembled a wonderful cast for my dramatisation of Dante's The Divine Comedy for Radio 4. It's headed by John Hurt, David Warner, Blake Ritson and Hattie Morahan. The first day of recording was today and I'm delighted with how things are turning out. The transmission dates are late March / early April.

Photo on front page shows Blake, me, John and David during recording.

SO YOU WANT TO WRITE RADIO DRAMA?

A nice review in The Stage from Susan Elkin -

Published Thursday, January 2, 2014

So You Want to Write Radio Drama? By Claire Grove and Stephen Wyatt is a useful new addition to NHB’s eclectic So You Want series.  A radio dramatist and a radio play producer, the authors take you step by step through the process, from defining what radio drama is and how it works, to creating your own and, most importantly, the practicalities of marketing your work. It’s an inspiring book which left me thinking that perhaps during this bright, shiny new year I ought to hone my creative skills and have a go myself.

THE DREAM

Very much looking forward to working with Kinny Gardner and Krazy Kat Theatre on their exciting new version of Midsummer Night's Dream.

Details of the venues and dates for the Spring Tour have just been released.

Update on Saturday, January 11, 2014 at 8:46PM by Stephen Wyatt

Kinny has just described my suggestion for staging the Mechanicals' Play as "genius". Not a word often used in describing my work so wanted to share.