New Audio Dramas Explore Impact of Colonialism
Leading theatre company Tamasha, celebrated for telling stories from the global majority, joins forces with acclaimed audio drama production company Holy Mountain to present The Waves. A series of five explosive 25-minute audio dramas, The Waves explores our age of so-called ‘culture war’ through the lens of the legacy of the British empire.
The five dramas tell local stories from Cardiff, Bristol, Manchester, Leamington Spa and Edinburgh. Taken together, they create a national picture of contemporary Britain, and how it has been shaped by its colonial past. From the terraces of a Hibs football match to a beauty pageant in Cardiff Bay, these stories take us inside modern British life with the authenticity of lived experience.
Each drama is by a writer whose family heritage was affected by British colonialism, and who lives in the place their story is set. Raising fundamental questions about how we live today, The Waves is a series of the finest original audio drama by a new generation of writers, directors and actors from the global majority.
Boz Temple-Morris, founder of Holy Mountain said: ‘Great storytellers make positive contributions to our national conversations. That’s what this is about. With Tamasha and its former Artistic Director Fin Kennedy, we’ve developed five incredible teams so that each project has its roots in the communities in which it is set. We are not bashing anyone for what happened in the past – but asking how our colonial past influences normal life today. The result is extraordinary – tune in!’
Valerie Synmoie, CEO of Tamasha said: ‘We are delighted to be partnering with Holy Mountain on The Waves, bringing to life new stories from some of the finest writers in the country. The Waves explores how our colonial past never leaves us – but still resonates and impacts on life in the UK today, with stories located in places from Edinburgh to Leamington Spa. Broadcast on local radio stations, The Waves is a fantastic opportunity for Tamasha and Holy Mountain to reach new audiences, by bringing exciting and relevant stories to living rooms across the country.
The five writers were chosen following a national call out. They all live in the areas in which the stories are set and are from the communities they depict. Broadcast on Tring Radio and a network of other Community Radio stations around the UK, their stories will be embedded in their communities and reflect their hopes, questions and concerns as well as entertaining them. The series will be released as a Podcast later in 2022.
At the helm of the series are Boz Temple-Morris, founder of Holy Mountain, and Fin Kennedy, award winning playwright and until recently the Artistic Director of Tamasha. Fin and Boz have been regular collaborators making audio drama for Radio 4 and mentoring writers for radio through Tamasha’s Developing Artists programme.
The Waves has outstanding production values; these dramas are mostly recorded on location, on the streets and in houses rather than studios, and with performances, direction, sound editing and original music that transports the audience into the heart of the story.
The Waves is made possible by the support of The Audio Content Fund; financed by the UK Government to fund independent producers making high quality, public service content for UK commercial and community radio, The Audio Content Fund has so far supported 128 projects distributing over £2.6m in the sector.
The Stories
We See No Colour by Danielle Fahiya (Cardiff) follows two non-identical twin sisters of dual/multiple heritage, and different skin tones, as they enter a beauty pageant in Butetown, Cardiff.
Grosvenor Road by Corinne Walker (Bristol) uses split time periods to look at the fate of a former slum building which was a focus of Caribbean anti-racist resistance in the 1960s. Sixty years later, it has been regenerated into expensive flats attractive to a white London couple, who are being shown around by a young, black estate agent.
Baby Mama by Stefanie Reynolds (Manchester) catches up with mixed middle-class couple, Renee and James, on the day they move into an expensive flat within a former cotton factory in Ancoats, Manchester. With Renee heavily pregnant with their first child, workaholic James hires the apartment block’s cleaner to help Renee unpack, starting off an unlikely friendship between two black women of very different backgrounds and life experience.
Queens by Erinn Dhesi (Leamington Spa) uses the imposing statue of Queen Victoria in the town centre as a magical realist portal into the past for grandmother Surinder and her recalcitrant granddaughter Simran. When Surinder is diagnosed with dementia, she seeks Simran’s help to recover some disturbing memories from her past, not quite sure what she’ll find.
Glory, Glory An Edinburgh Story by Kamala Santos (Edinburgh) locates its action at a Hibs football match, where Eric, an elderly Honduran Scottish former lumberjack, spots his estranged granddaughter Jade taking part in racist behaviour towards black players. His ensuing intervention opens up a journey of discovery about Jade’s roots, telling a little-known story about a significant Caribbean presence in the Scottish Highlands during World War Two.
The series will premiere across Tring Radio and 25 other radio stations across the UK from Wednesday 19 January 2022.