A HOUSE CALLED INSANITY

First BBC Press Release -

A House Called Insanity

27 July, 3pm - 4pm

Anne-Marie Duff stars as Elsy Borders, the working-class heroine whose remarkable true story deserves to be far better known. Even though she became a national figure in the late 1930s, no play celebrating her achievements has ever been written - until now.

The wife of a South London cabby (played by Karl Davies), Elsy did something a working-class woman was not supposed to do, breaking the rules and conventions of acceptable behaviour. Determined to expose the poor quality of workmanship in house-building which continues to resonate today with scandals such as Grenfell Tower, she took the unprecedented step of refusing to pay her mortgage, owing to the dire state of their new, but poorly-built, house on an estate in Kent. When the building society responded by suing for repossession of the house which the family had by now christened Insanity, Elsy counter-claimed for damages.

The fight was on…

With contributions from Stella Etheridge, Jeremy Tagg and Phillipa Tagg who are current residents of the Coney Hall Estate where Elsy lived.

Stephen Wyatt is an award-winning dramatist with many audio dramas to his name. He also now lives close to the house which the Borders family named Insanity, so knows the area and the history well. He brings Elsy vividly to life.

Martin Jenkins has directed many of Stephen’s plays and dramatisations over many years. He has been directing radio plays for more than 55 years.