In 2017, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Logically, the only thing I could do (apart from have chemo & radio therapy, take lots of drugs and have my moob surgically removed) was write about the experience in the form of a short comedy drama for BBC Radio 4.
MAKING PLANS WITH NIGEL, is a semi-autobiographical play based on my experiences. As we were not long into the Brexit experiment, I started to call my cancer Nigel, after former MEP, political pundit and apparent permanent resident of the Question Time studio, Nigel Farage. As you can probably tell, I hold him in the highest esteem. He's in this as well, kind of.
It stars Mark Benton (Shakespeare & Hathaway, Early Doors), Sally Lindsay (Coronation Street, Mount Pleasant) and the vocal talents of Dead Ringers' Lewis MacLeod, who plays the voice of Nigel Farage (look, it will make sense when you listen, trust me). I'm really, really proud of it and want to take a moment to thank producer/director Karen Rose for helping me turn pages of barely-coherent nonsense into actual drama & jokes.
MAKING PLANS WITH NIGEL was broadcast on Radio 4 on Tuesday 16 July 2019 and was quite well received with a positive review in The Lady magazine and by Nick Baker on Pick Of The Week who called it "A coup de theatre".
Stuart....................MARK BENTON
Natalie…..............SALLY LINDSAY
Nigel Farage.......LEWIS MACLEOD
Ben…………...........JOHN RAMM
Fiorentina/Nurse.......BECKY WRIGHT
Mr Kashap…...…PAUL BAZELY
Barbara…….........CHERRELLE SKEETE
Doctor Miller/Miriam…EMMA FIELDING
Jim/Brian…….BEN CROWE
All other parts are played by members of the cast.
Producer: Karen Rose
Sound Design: David Thomas
Broadcast Assistant: Sarah Tombling
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4
page by stuart houghton 2022::@stuarthoughton::@stuarthoughton@mastodon.social