Drama of the Week

By Ben Lewis.

Witty, warm and soulful drama infused with storytelling and song.

Part of the Yeartides series inspired by the myths and rituals surrounding Pagan Celtic festivals.

Claire and her husband David are visiting David’s family farm to celebrate his mum’s 75th birthday.
It’s harvest time. And the impact of seeds sown decades before is about to be felt.

Cast:
Claire … Neve McIntosh
David … Emun Elliot
Lynn … Georgie Glen
Andy … Jack Greenlees

Music performed by Anna Massie
Sound Design by Kris McConnachie

Production Co-ordinator: Rosalind Gibson
Studio Production: Keith Graham

Directed by Kirsty Williams

With thanks for farming consultation to Roger Howison and Willie Young.

Los Angeles, 1935. With nowhere to go and nothing to lose, Robert and Gloria enter a marathon dance on the Santa Monica pier, one of hundreds of couples competing to stay on their feet for weeks at a time for a prize of a thousand dollars. As the days blur into nights and the competition grows merciless, their unlikely bond deepens into something neither of them can name, and a reckoning neither can avoid.

George MacKay (1917, Rose of Nevada) stars as Robert alongside Leah Brotherhead (Hullraisers, RSC's Wolf Hall) as Gloria.

Horace McCoy's 1935 novel is one of the founding texts of American noir, previously adapted as Sydney Pollack's acclaimed 1969 film with Jane Fonda. This is its first ever audio adaptation, brought to radio by adaptor Kerry Shale.

Story of America is a major collection of dramatisations of milestone American titles marking 250 years since the Declaration of Independence and the foundation of the United States.

Robert . . . . . George MacKay
Gloria . . . . . Leah Brotherhead
Rocky . . . . . Kerry Shale
Mrs Layden . . . . . Laurel Lefkow
Pedro . . . . . Joseph Balderama
Rollo . . . . . Ben Crowe
Jim . . . . . David Menkin
Ruby . . . . . Laura Dos Santos

Adapted by Kerry Shale.

Production co-ordinators: Sara Benaim, Jonathan Powell
Technical producers: Keith Graham, Neva Missirian, Kira Golightly
Sound design: Sharon Hughes
Director: Sasha Yevtushenko

A BBC Studios production.