Drama of the Week

Gwen is recruited to spy on another mum in her local baby group. But how long can she keep up the act?

An Aberystwyth-set thriller, by BAFTA Cymru nominee Fflur Dafydd, with original music by Mercury Prize nominees Gwenno and Rhys Edwards.

CAST

Gwen .... Alexandra Roach

Liz .... Remy Beasley

Owen .... Sacha Dhawan

Geraint .... Matthew Gravelle

Yoga Teacher .... Lisa Zahra

Group Leader .... Nadia Wyn Abouayen

Mums .... Aoife Moss and Bethan Mclean

Ioan .... Liam Donnelly

Theo .... Cai Roberts

Original Music, Gwenno and Rhys Edwards

Sound design, Rhys Morris

Production Co-ordinators, Lindsay Rees and Eleri McAuliffe

Directed by Fay Lomas

Produced by Fay Lomas and John Norton, BBC Audio Drama Wales

In the heart of Glasgow’s “Curry Canyon” during the 2009 recession, aspiring journalist Halima returns home to help at her family’s struggling tandoori restaurant, just as a campaign erupts to crown chicken tikka masala a Scottish national treasure.

While her dad sees opportunity in the publicity, Halima’s exposé on the roots of the dish sparks unintended consequences that could upend everything. A warm-hearted drama exploring family, food, and the price of telling your truth.

This drama is fictional, but is inspired by the real 2009 campaign to recognise Chicken Tikka Masala as a Glaswegian invention.

CAST (in order of appearance)
Halima .... Talia Marwaha
Waseem ..... Shahan Hamza
Zainab ..... Zara Janjua
Usama ..... Archie Lal
Jennifer ..... Aoife Moss
News Reporter/Officer ..... Jason Barnett

Writer ..... maatin
Director ..... Anne Isger
Sound ..... Andy Garrett and Keith Graham
Production Co-ordinator ..... Ben Hollands

A BBC Studios Audio Production

Presented by Paul French
Drama written by Sarah Wooley

Whatever anyone declared categorically about Shura Giraldi, someone else insisted on the exact opposite. Shura was handsome and beautiful; Shura was kind and good, Shura was exploitative and evil. Shura was just another struggling White Russian refugee trying to get by in 1930s China; Shura was the heart and brains of a gang that ran clubs, sex workers, illicit booze and drugs, when not robbing banks and stealing gems to fence in Shanghai. Shura loved ballet and cabaret, creating the Shura Giraldi Dance Troupe that topped the bill at all the best Peking nightclubs.

Shura sometimes presented as male and sometimes as female. When passing as a man Shura bound his breasts tightly and wore a sharp tailored suit; when she was a woman she wore startlingly coloured robes, both Chinese-style cheongsam and Western dresses, letting her raven hair flow loose, said witnesses. Shura had added an incredibly massive layer of confusion and obfuscation to anyone looking by changing gender. Switching for anonymity, for commercial gain or criminal advantage, for love, for a whim.

Paul French is a historian and writer who focuses on China in the first half of the 20th century. He's been on Shura’s trail for 15 years, digging through the paper records and archives in half a dozen countries in an attempt to get to grips with the enigma that was Shura. This story, a product of that tireless research, is full of truths, but like an old jigsaw brought down from the attic after decades, there are many pieces missing. So we're using drama, written by Sarah Wooley, to conjure and join the dots of Shura’s story, and go in search of a lost life and a forgotten world.

The search will take us from a Russian far east in violent revolution, to the chaos of the mass emigration of the White Russians, to the crowded hutongs of Peking; from that city’s nightclubs and cabarets, to the casinos of Shanghai; from a China wracked by rampaging warlordism, invaded by Japan, and then fighting its own civil war that culminated in its own revolution.

Shura saw it all; Shura lived through it all; Shura, in part, explains it all.

Shura . . . . . Maggie Bain
Zaichek . . . . . Leo Wan
Roy . . . . . Daniel York Loh
Leopard . . . . . Chris Lew Kum Hoi
Tatiana . . . . . Charlotte East
Anton . . . . . Luke Nunn
Marie . . . . . Cecilia Appiah
Saxsen . . . . . Ian Dunnett Jnr
The MC . . . . . Roger Ringrose
Anna . . . . . Jane Whittenshaw

Editing and sound design by Peter Ringrose.

Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.

Presented by Paul French
Drama written by Sarah Wooley

Whatever anyone declared categorically about Shura Giraldi, someone else insisted on the exact opposite. Shura was handsome and beautiful; Shura was kind and good, Shura was exploitative and evil. Shura was just another struggling White Russian refugee trying to get by in 1930s China; Shura was the heart and brains of a gang that ran clubs, sex workers, illicit booze and drugs, when not robbing banks and stealing gems to fence in Shanghai. Shura loved ballet and cabaret, creating the Shura Giraldi Dance Troupe that topped the bill at all the best Peking nightclubs.

Shura sometimes presented as male and sometimes as female. When passing as a man Shura bound his breasts tightly and wore a sharp tailored suit; when she was a woman she wore startlingly coloured robes, both Chinese-style cheongsam and Western dresses, letting her raven hair flow loose, said witnesses. Shura had added an incredibly massive layer of confusion and obfuscation to anyone looking by changing gender. Switching for anonymity, for commercial gain or criminal advantage, for love, for a whim.

Paul French is a historian and writer who focuses on China in the first half of the 20th century. He's been on Shura’s trail for 15 years, digging through the paper records and archives in half a dozen countries in an attempt to get to grips with the enigma that was Shura. This story, a product of that tireless research, is full of truths, but like an old jigsaw brought down from the attic after decades, there are many pieces missing. So we're using drama, written by Sarah Wooley, to conjure and join the dots of Shura’s story, and go in search of a lost life and a forgotten world.

The search will take us from a Russian far east in violent revolution, to the chaos of the mass emigration of the White Russians, to the crowded hutongs of Peking; from that city’s nightclubs and cabarets, to the casinos of Shanghai; from a China wracked by rampaging warlordism, invaded by Japan, and then fighting its own civil war that culminated in its own revolution.

Shura saw it all; Shura lived through it all; Shura, in part, explains it all.

Shura . . . . . Maggie Bain
Zaichek . . . . . Leo Wan
Roy . . . . . Daniel York Loh
Leopard . . . . . Chris Lew Kum Hoi
Tatiana . . . . . Charlotte East
Anton . . . . . Luke Nunn
Marie . . . . . Cecilia Appiah
Saxsen . . . . . Ian Dunnett Jnr
The MC . . . . . Roger Ringrose
Anna . . . . . Jane Whittenshaw

Editing and sound design by Peter Ringrose.

Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.

Presented by Paul French
Drama written by Sarah Wooley

Whatever anyone declared categorically about Shura Giraldi, someone else insisted on the exact opposite. Shura was handsome and beautiful; Shura was kind and good, Shura was exploitative and evil. Shura was just another struggling White Russian refugee trying to get by in 1930s China; Shura was the heart and brains of a gang that ran clubs, sex workers, illicit booze and drugs, when not robbing banks and stealing gems to fence in Shanghai. Shura loved ballet and cabaret, creating the Shura Giraldi Dance Troupe that topped the bill at all the best Peking nightclubs.

Shura sometimes presented as male and sometimes as female. When passing as a man Shura bound his breasts tightly and wore a sharp tailored suit; when she was a woman she wore startlingly coloured robes, both Chinese-style cheongsam and Western dresses, letting her raven hair flow loose, said witnesses. Shura had added an incredibly massive layer of confusion and obfuscation to anyone looking by changing gender. Switching for anonymity, for commercial gain or criminal advantage, for love, for a whim.

Paul French is a historian and writer who focuses on China in the first half of the 20th century. He's been on Shura’s trail for 15 years, digging through the paper records and archives in half a dozen countries in an attempt to get to grips with the enigma that was Shura. This story, a product of that tireless research, is full of truths, but like an old jigsaw brought down from the attic after decades, there are many pieces missing. So we're using drama, written by Sarah Wooley, to conjure and join the dots of Shura’s story, and go in search of a lost life and a forgotten world.

The search will take us from a Russian far east in violent revolution, to the chaos of the mass emigration of the White Russians, to the crowded hutongs of Peking; from that city’s nightclubs and cabarets, to the casinos of Shanghai; from a China wracked by rampaging warlordism, invaded by Japan, and then fighting its own civil war that culminated in its own revolution.

Shura saw it all; Shura lived through it all; Shura, in part, explains it all.

Shura . . . . . Maggie Bain
Zaichek . . . . . Leo Wan
Roy . . . . . Daniel York Loh
Leopard . . . . . Chris Lew Kum Hoi
Tatiana . . . . . Charlotte East
Anton . . . . . Luke Nunn
Marie . . . . . Cecilia Appiah
Saxsen . . . . . Ian Dunnett Jnr
The MC . . . . . Roger Ringrose
Anna . . . . . Jane Whittenshaw

Editing and sound design by Peter Ringrose.

Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.