A series of five explosive 25-minute audio dramas, THE WAVES will be broadcast on Maidstone Radio from 19 January 2022. The 5 dramas explore our age of so-called ‘culture war’ through the lens of the legacy of the British empire. The Waves have been created by the leading theatre company Tamasha who have joined forces with the acclaimed audio drama production company Holy Mountain to present “THE WAVES”.
“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!“
Boz Temple-Morris, founder of Holy Mountain
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. 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.
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 a network of Community Radio stations around the UK (see below), their stories will be embedded in their communities and reflect their hopes, questions and concerns as well as entertaining them.
You can hear ‘The Waves’ on Maidstone Radio from Wednesday 19 January at 6pm on The Home Time Show (repeated on Sundays from 7pm and Tuesday’s from 11am).
You can listen to Maidstone Radio online, on your smart speaker or via your smart phone, tablet or television.
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The Stories
QUEENS by Erinn Dhesi (Leamington Spa) – Wed 19 January 6pm
QUEENS 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.
GROSVENOR ROAD by Corinne Walker (Bristol) – Wed 26 January 6pm
GROSVENOR ROAD 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 70’s and 80’s. 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.
WE SEE NO COLOUR by Danielle Fahiya (Cardiff) – Wed 2 February 6pm
WE SEE NO COLOUR follows two non-identical twin sisters of dual/multiple heritage, and different skin tones, as they enter a beauty pageant in Butetown, Cardiff.
BABY MAMA by Stefanie Reynolds (Manchester) – 9 February 6pm
BABY MAMA 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.
GLORY, GLORY AN EDINBURGH STORY by Kamala Santos (Edinburgh) – 16 February 6pm
GLORY, GLORY AN EDINBURGH STORY 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 Scotland Highlands during World War Two.
SERIES CREDITS
THE WAVES is a Holy Mountain Production in association with Tamasha Theatre Company and supported by The Audio Content Fund
Sound design: Alisdair McGregor
Music: Michael Somerset Ward
Production Coordinator: Tina Temple-Morris
Artwork: Brighten the Corners
Dramaturg: Fin Kennedy
Producer: Boz Temple-Morris
THE WAVES is created by Fin Kennedy and Boz Temple-Morris
