The Southbury Child

The Southbury Child
1 July to 27 August 2022 at the Bridge Theatre

Saturday, July 24, 2010

White Chameleon



The Saturday play to be broadcast on the 24th of July on Radio 4 at 2.30pm is written by Christopher Hampton and is a witty and sad memory play set in Alexandria in the years up to and during the Suez invasion. (Edit: iplayer link available until Saturday 31st here.)

It is about his father, played by Alex, in Egypt working for Cable and Wireless, his mother, also from a Cable and Wireless family, and Ibrahim, the Egyptian servant who has been running the house for 20 years and who helps 10-year-old Chris, the future playwright, make up dramas for homework.

A Guardian article that touches on the recording of this play and the parlous state of radio drama budgets can be found here.

Narrator ... Christopher Hampton

Father ... Alex Jennings
Ibrahim ... Mido Hamada
Mother ... Amanda Root
Chris ... Harvey O'Neil
Guard/Fouad/Basso/Stockman/Shoes-shine man/Egyptian boy ... Ayman Hamdouchi
Albert ... David Annen
Edward ... Harrison Charles
Paul ... Harry Manton
Schoolboy ... Josef Lindsay

Egyptian singers:
Tony Kandel
Yazid Eid
Robert Hannouch

Pianist: Michael Webborn

Director: Polly Thomas
Producer: Ann Scott
A Greenpoint production for BBC Radio 4.

In other radio news, you can listen to "Speaking for Themselves" The letters of Winston and Clementine Churchill, on Radio 7 at 9.00pm every night this week and then for a week on the iPlayer.