The Writers’ Guild Radio Drama Roadshows took place during the autumn of 2017 and 2018 and featured guest speakers and panellists, including award-winning writers, actors, producers, directors, sound engineers and academics.
They gave an insight into the craft of writing for radio and the technical processes involved, plus opportunities for participants to ask questions, network and get involved.
Topics covered included how radio dramas are created, what they require, and the challenges and rewards and current trends in radio playmaking.
The Roadshows were run by the WGGB Radio Committee who co-hosted them with universities around the UK. The events were supported by the BBC – the UK’s main broadcaster of audio drama – which provided production and technical support.
WGGB Radio Co-Chair Nicholas McInerny said:
“We were delighted to co-host the Radio Drama Roadshows this autumn. For too long radio has been seen as the ‘poor cousin’ of other mediums, but with 180 hours of comedy and 600 hours of original and adapted drama commissioned and produced for radio each year, we believe it offers fantastic opportunities for writers new, old and in between.”
View the WGGB guide Why write radio drama?
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Bookmark this page for updates on Radio Drama Roadshows in the future.
The Radio Drama Roadshows visited Nottingham Trent University in Autumn 2018 (read more).
WGGB Radio Drama Roadshows schedule, autumn 2017:
The Sunderland Roadshow took place on Saturday 4 November 2017 at the University of Sunderland.
Participants had the chance to have a go in the studio, play around with sound effects and mixing and have a one-to-one script-workshop with a producer/commissioning editor. There was also the opportunity to listen to the ‘Theatre of the Mind’ in a darkened cinema.
Speakers included:
Award-winning writers Lisa Holdsworth, Steve Chambers and Phil Nodding; former BBC Radio 4 commissioning editor and independent producer Caroline Raphael; radio actor Felicity Finch (Ruth Archer); Andy Cartwright, executive producer, Soundscape Productions; and sound design/studio manager John Scott from SparkLab and Somethin’ Else.
The Chichester roadshow took place on Saturday 21 October at University of Chichester.
The Aberystwyth roadshow took place on Wednesday 27 September 2017 at Aberystwyth University. It featured the following talks and Q&As: Behind the microphone, Radio as an art form? and An actor’s view.
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