In 1939, actor and director Val Gielgud – brother of renowned thespian Sir John, and then head of productions at BBC Radio – had a bright idea. In a time of war, he reasoned, an in-house company of actors might prove a useful resource. Thus was born Auntie’s Radio Drama Company (RDC).
On the outbreak of hostilities, Gielgud and assorted actors were evacuated to rural Worcestershire. Now Hannah Khalil’s new drama, produced to celebrate a century of radio plays at the BBC and performed by past and present members of the RDC, imagines what might have happened next. Specifically, just how do you record a play in the draughty stables of a Victorian stately home?
A Wireless War