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A selection of interviews, extracts and radio plays by Lucy Caldwell. Videos require Flash plugin. Radio plays and audio files will open in a new window.

"Maiden, Mother, Spinster, Saint"

Lucy Caldwell's "Maiden, Mother, Spinster, Saint" was commissioned as part of the BBC Radio 4's I was there, too! a series of readings depicting pivotal moments of history from the point of view of the forgotten, those people inevitably written out of the history books. Lucy, together with Heidi Regan and Jessica Ransom, take us behind the scenes for an alternative look at some great historical moments through the eyes of some unexpected - and, until now - overlooked witnesses who were there too! It's history - but not quite as we know it!

Extract from the French production of "Leaves"

 

"Girl from Mars"

“I came home because they found a body. It was two weeks before my twenty-first birthday and a month before my final exam results were out. Which meant I was almost exactly as old as she was. As she was.”

Five years ago, almost to the day, Eleanor’s big sister Amy disappeared. At about 3pm on a Saturday afternoon she walked out of the house and no-one ever heard from her again. They never found out what happened to her, either. Until now…

Girl from Mars won the Imison Award which perpetuates the memory of Richard Imison who devoted his entire career to radio drama and to developing new talent. Of "Girl from Mars" the judges said:

"This is a gripping and powerful depiction of the effect on a family when one sibling goes missing. The beautifully-told story begins when a body is found and the remaining daughter returns to be with her family while they await identification. Girl From Mars is moving and emotionally taut. It veers away from sentimentality and felt personal and believable. The structure is complex - combining three different timescales - and uses radio to its full potential, using many techniques including voice-overs, dialogue, text messages, and voice mail. The story has a shades-of-grey resolution about the way a person's life can tragically stop short - and this is echoed in he subtle way the writer ends her own play too."

"Girl from Mars" also won the Irish Writers' Guild Award, for Best Radio Script. The award is known as a "ZeBBie", named in honour of O. Z. Whitehead, to acknowledge the best script(s) written by Irish playwrights and screenwriters during the previous year.

 

 

A profile of Lucy Caldwell

The Fairy's Curse (BBC Radio 3)

As part of the BBC Radio 3 series Twenty Minutes, Lucy Caldwell delved into the fantasy world of fairy tales in a progamme titled The Fairy's Curse broadcast on August 10, to coincide with the performance of Igor Stravinsky's The Fairy's Kiss at the 2009 BBC Proms.

 

"Avenues of Eternal Peace" (Radio 4)

Lucy Caldwell's "Avenues of Eternal Peace" - the Afternoon Play on BBC Radio 4, on 4 June 2009 - focussed on the horrific events in Tiananmen Square twenty years ago. Student couple Kai-Liang and Chang Li join the Tiananmen Square protests, where their passions and ideas are put to the ultimate test.