Past Events
THE RADIUS FESTIVAL OF DRAMA 2024
Hints and Revelations
An enthusiastic audience packed St Mark’s on Saturday 12 October, when it hosted the second Radius Drama Festival. They were treated to a directing masterclass, a performance of the poetry of John Betjeman and an expert panel discussion on faith and the theatre.
Fans of The Archers on BBC Radio 4 had the chance to witness the talents of Emerald O’Hanrahan, the actor currently starring as Emma Grundy in the long running everyday story of country folk, as she and her husband Martin Delaney led the masterclass. Based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest, readings, role plays and lots of audience participation enabled everyone to have a better understanding of dramatic text and how to make it come alive.
A short awards presentation then followed to Kit Walkham, winner of the 2024 Radius playwriting competition for her play Holly and Lichen. She described how her original idea for the play had come to her over a decade ago but she’d put it on her “To do sometime” pile. She urged the audience to visit their pile if they have a similar one, as she did during lockdown, because inspiration can strike at any time and can bring unexpected rewards.
After a delicious and convivial lunch, served by Sue Wagner and her team of catering stars, there was a performance of Rex Walford’s dramatisation of the poetry of one of Britain’s best loved 20th century poets, John Betjeman. Produced and directed by Tricia Peroni and Wendy Walford, “A Hint of the Unknown God” explores Betjeman’s fascination with religion, the hopes and fears of the human spirit and takes a critical look at the Church as an institution. Highlights included a church mouse popping up out of the pulpit and the opportunity to drop in on the goings-on at a PCC meeting.
The festival concluded with a lively panel debate and Q&A with the audience, chaired by Dr Sean Lang, historian, playwright and master of ceremonies for the day. On the panel were the Right Reverend Rob Gillion, a former professional actor and now the Church of England’s Bishop for the Arts and newly appointed President of Radius; professional actor Amanda Root who has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, in the West End and on
Broadway; and Jane Bower, associate lecturer, vocal coach, playwright and performer. Themes discussed were the portrayal of faith and holy people on screen and on stage, a plea for religion to be depicted in real and authentic ways and the trend for “hot” priests in TV dramas!
Grateful thanks go to the unstinting work of Wendy Walford and the Festival Steering Committee of Wendy, Romilly Janes and Nick Warburton in putting on the Festival; and to the St Mark’s Arts and Events Committee.
Radius Annual General Meeting 2024
Travel to the AGM at the Crown Court Church, Covent Garden was disrupted by the global internet outage the previous day, but in spite of that we had a good day. Bishop Rob’s Presidential Address was an inspiring launch to his presidency of the society and will be printed in the summer magazine.
Nick Warburton gave a fascinating workshop on directing plays in two contrasting spaces. A Cold Supper Behind Harrods by David Morley is a story of espionage, and Nick had used an L-shaped auditorium where half the audience couldn’t see the other half to reinforce the atmosphere of deception and uncertainty. We divided into groups to discuss some of the challenges.
We were small in number but it was generally agreed that meeting face to face has its rewards. Human interaction is what drama is all about, after all.
Drama Residential & AGM Weekend
Holy Rood House, 22 to 24 September 2023
Radius Festival of New Drama
St Mark’s Newnham, 15 October 2022
St Mark’s seemed an ideal venue for the Radius Festival of Drama and thanks must go to every member of the church who welcomed us warmly and who quietly and efficiently ensured that the day went smoothy and was enjoyed by everyone. Special mention should be made of the catering team who kept us supplied with coffee, tea and provided a tasty lunch. Continuing the food theme, we were presented with a feast of new drama. The entrée was three short plays, specially commissioned for the event and dealing with biblical themes whilst the main course consisted of staged readings of the two one-act plays which had been chosen from the recent Radius Call for Plays. In contrast to the morning’s presentations, these had no obvious religious content but, as with many Radius scripts, dealt with important issues and raised interesting questions. All five plays were well presented and acted and congratulations must go to writers, directors and casts. The day ended with a Q & A session chaired by Sean Lang who had acted as host throughout the event.
Commissioned plays:
Ruth by Sean Lang
Canaanite Woman by Jane Bower
Counting by Nick Warburton
Winners in the Radius Call for Plays
Sphinx by Annie Fox
Last Orders by Joe Laredo
Congratulations to everyone involved for a tremendously enjoyable day, with plenty of food for thought and dramatic inspiration.
Radius Festival of New Drama 2022
Radius Annual General Meeting and Drama Workshop 2022
Radius AGM was held on Saturday 9 July in Crown Court Church, Covent Garden. We were small in number but there was plenty of laughter and catching up with news, in some cases from people we hadn’t seen for several years. The meeting heard reports from the Council and all its sub-committees (Executive, Publications, Festival, Communications), the Treasurer, membership secretary and the people responsible for IT, social media and the Playreading Group. Two new trustees were elected. The President, Bishop Stephen Platten, gave us an address which was a call to action, particularly in the area of recruitment.
After the meeting our Vice-President Bishop Rob Gillion, formerly a professional actor, led us in a mime workshop and we rounded off the event with a late lunch of sandwiches from Waitrose. Anna Wheeler writes: “To watch Rob in action reminded me of a piece of music full of different textures – the best legato is most effective with the best staccato, and vice versa. He reminded me that mime can tell the most effective story where each moment has a meaning.” For Anna’s full report, see the Summer issue of Radius Performing.
Radius AGM and First Kathleen Hall Lecture 2021
AGM 2019 at St Mark’s Sheffield
Council Chair Nick Warburton gives an overview of the year
The John Piper window.
Actor and director Peter Moreton leads a workshop on the Parable of the Banquet.
Recent events and performances
Radius hosts a regular series of workshops in association with local groups round the country.
Recent workshops have included Voice with Yvonne Morley, Acting with Will Featherstone (pictured) and film-making with Matt Harris.
In association with the Friends of St Mary’s, North Stoke, Radius helped to mount a Julian of Norwich festival in 2016, including performances of Cell Talk by Dana Bagshaw, and in 2017, again at St Mary’s, we staged extracts from plays on the Faustus theme as part of an illustrated talk. In 2018 and 2020 Radius held playwriting competitions in association with the Finborough Theatre.
