THE DEVIL IN LONDON

Robert Orledge and I are giving a talk about our work on completing Debussy's one act opera THE DEVIL IN THE BELFRY at an international symposium about Debussy at Gresham College, London on Friday 13th April.

This follows the successful premiere of the work in Montreal in February. We will be playing extracts from a recording of one of the performances.

GERONTIUS PUBLISHED

The script of GERONTIUS has now been published and may be bought through Lulu.com by following this link -

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/gerontius/18879384

TINNISWOOD AWARD FOR GERONTIUS

At the BBC Audio Drama Awards on Sunday 29th January, my play Gerontius about Cardinal Newman won the Tinniswood Award for best original drama script broadcast in 2010. This is the second time I have won this award and I feel very honoured.

The judges wrote that the script has "remarkable spiritual depth - sadly all too rare in contemporary drama - and a consistent subtlety of writing that displays both a sure grasp of how dialogue can bring out character and an effortless ease in moving from one type of discourse to another, from this world to the next... Wyatt has already won one Tinniswood Award and we had no doubt that the outstanding fluidity and intelligence of Gerontius, the haunting near-perfection of it, could warrant a second."

Gerontius is being repeated on Radio on Wednesday 8th February at 2.15 pm. A published version of the text is now available.

Link to report in Clare College Newsletter -

http://www.clarealumni.com/s/845/1col.aspx?sid=845&gid=1&pgid=252&cid=2221&ecid=2221&crid=0&calpgid=15&calcid=778

BONNIE READS PARADISE TOWERS

AudioGo will be releasing Bonnie Langford's reading of the novel version of PARADISE TOWERS on June 12th 2012.

GREATEST SHOW IN THE GALAXY

Just learned that the documentary in the upcoming DVD of my Who story GREATEST SHOW IN THE GALAXY will be about  the asbestos crisis which affected its production. Since the commentary sessions were also very much centred on the production time, it means the accompanying material will be almost entirely about the nuts and bolts of the production, not its imaginative centre.

This is particularly a pity as I actually still have the various outlines for GREATEST SHOW as it was developed over quite a long period of time, a very rare event I gather in the history of Dr Who. So naturally I feel both for me - and for Dr Who fans - an opportunity has been missed.

BEWARE OF PITY

The Classic Serial - BEWARE OF PITY by STEFAN ZWEIG

Dramatised for radio by STEPHEN WYATT

(from a stage version by Claire McIntyre)

With PIERS WEHNER, BRYONY HANNAH, RONALD PICKUP,

JASPER BRITTON and MICHAEL JAYSTON

Directed by JANE MORGAN

PART ONE: Sunday 27^th November. 3 pm. Radio 4

Repeated Saturday 3^rd December at 9 pm

PART TWO: Sunday 4^th December. 3 pm. Radio 4

Repeated Saturday 10^th December at 9 pm

I started writing this on 4th October, stepping in as writer at the last minute. It started recording on 7th November. An exciting but rather exhausting process!

LET ENGLAND SHAKE

Further to the interview in the Observer with PJ Harvey on 24th April which revealed that one of the main inspirations for her recent album Let England Shake was my radio play Memorials to the Missing, I am delighted to be Polly's guest at her concert performance of the album on 30th October at the Royal Albert Hall.

The interview can be found on the Observer's website.

STANDARD BEARER IN LA

Following the successful try-out of The Standard Bearer in London, Neil and Julian are taking the show back to Los Angeles for a short run at the Stephanie Feury Studio Theatre from October 19th until November 12th.

The first night was honoured by the presence of the British Consul-General Dame Barbara Hay.

"Noted Brit thesp Julian Sands is helming another noted Brit thesp, Neil Dickson, in noted Brit scripter Stephen Wyatt’s 2001 one-hander, The Standard Bearer, focusing on “a seasoned theater trouper who takes Shakespeare on the road to local communities in Africa and is forced to confront his very existence,” opening Oct 19 at SFS Theatre in Hollywood…"

LA Stage News

Here's a link to a further revealing interview with Julian Sands about the production.

The production can also be followed on Facebook.

The script of The Standard Bearer is published in R.I.P. Maria Callas: Monologues for Stage and Radio.

STRANGERS ON A FILM: REVIEWS

Strangers on a Film received a very good review from Elizabeth Mahoney in The Guardian.

Among other favourable notices, Paul Donovan in a preview in The Times wrote:

Delicious dialogue, authentic accents, cinematic music, artistic conflict and subtle characterisation make this outstanding. The writer, Stephen Wyatt, is one of radio's best.

CHANDLER ON RADIO 4 IN SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER

STRANGERS ON A FILM

By STEPHEN WYATT

With PATRICK STEWART as Raymond Chandler and CLIVE SWIFT as Alfred Hitchcock

Directed by CLAIRE GROVE

BBC Radio Four. Thursday 29^th September at 2.15 pm

THE LONG GOODBYE

By RAYMOND CHANDLER. Dramatised by STEPHEN WYATT

With TOBY STEPHENS as MARLOWE

Directed by CLAIRE GROVE

BBC Radio Four. Saturday 1^st October at 2.30 pm

And

THE LITTLE SISTER

By RAYMOND CHANDLER. Dramatised by STEPHEN WYATT

BBC Radio 4. Saturday 15^th October  at 2.30 pm