The Fitzrovia Radio Hour

The Fitzrovia Radio Hour are a group of British comedy writer/performers, formed in 2008 and consisting of Jon Edgley Bond, Alix Dunmore, Alex Ratcliffe, Phil Mulryne, Tom Mallaburn and Martin Pengelly.

Contents

Concept

The Fitzrovia Radio Hour conceive, write and perform theatrical radio plays in the 1940s style. The plays are performed in evening dress, behind period microphones and with sound effects produced live. An hour-long show usually contains three stories – typically in genres such as horror, adventure, science fiction and romance – interspersed with advertisements for products such as whisky, cigarettes and stout. Popular characters include Leinigen, a fearless explorer; Squadron Leader Edward Templar, an intrepid RAF pilot; Professor Quested, an investigator of the unusual; and Frank Maskill, a Leeds lathe worker who should have known his place. The Fitzrovia Radio Hour has featured a number of guest actors, including Fiona Sheehan, Laura Carmichael, Esther Biddle, Nick Atkinson, Asa Joel, Chris Gilling, David Oakes and Dan Starkey.

Shows

Series 1-3

The Fitzrovia Radio Hour formed in January 2008. The founding members were Jon Edgley Bond, Alix Dunmore, Alex Ratcliffe and Callum Coates. Phil Mulryne and Tom Mallaburn also appeared in the first series of shows. The first six performances [1] took place at Bourne & Hollingsworth, a cellar bar located in the Fitzrovia area of central London. For these shows original broadcast scripts from the 1940s were sourced and edited. Guest directors included Phoebe Barran and Miles Gregory. A dedicated sound man was often employed for the production of sound effects. In October 2008 the Fitzrovia Radio Hour performed their first show [2] at the Swan, the bar and brasserie at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. It featured ‘Rex Boothroyd: For King & Country’, a spy story by Tom Mallaburn and Martin Pengelly, who subsequently joined the group, and Phil Mulryne’s adaptation of ‘The Suicide Club’, by Robert Louis Stevenson. Top Shelf Jazz provided post-show music. The show remained at the Swan for six free monthly performances. In May 2009 the Fitzrovia Radio Hour performed their first show at the UnderGlobe [3], the 400-capacity space under Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. The show, entitled ‘Tales of Speed & Time’ featured ‘The Man Who Was Ten Minutes Late’, by Tom Mallaburn and Martin Pengelly, ‘The Queen of Nimruth’ by Phil Mulryne and a four-minute adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's ‘Sherlock Holmes & the Adventure of the Norwood Builder’, written by Alex Ratcliffe. Post-show music was supplied by Marmaduke Dando. In 2009 the Fitzrovia Radio Hour performed seven monthly shows at the UnderGlobe, including a Halloween Special in October and finishing with a Christmas Special in December 2009. Top Shelf Jazz, The Correspondents, Trio Manouche and The Jive Aces provided live music.

London Runs

From Saturday 30 January to Saturday 6 March 2010, the Fitzrovia Radio Hour performed a five-week run at the Last Days of Decadence in Shoreditch and the Swan at Shakespeare’s Globe on Bankside. The run consisted of three shows, performed in rotation. From Tuesday 15 June to Thursday 29 July 2010, The Fitzrovia Radio Hour performed a second run of shows at the Last Days of Decadence in Shoreditch. The run consisted of two shows.

Edinburgh Fringe 2010

From Thursday 5 August to Sunday 29 August 2010, The Fitzrovia Radio Hour performed at the Underbelly, as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. They performed in the Belly Dancer venue. The show featured 'The Man Who Was Ten Minutes Late', 'Mudmen from the Thames' (Mulryne) and 'The Four-Minute Mystery' (Edgley Bond) and was sponsored by Roses Carbolic Soap. It starred Alix Dunmore, Fiona Sheehan, Tom Mallaburn, Phil Mulryne and Alex Ratcliffe and it was directed by Jon Edgley Bond. The Edinburgh Fringe show was reviewed by The Daily Telegraph [4], Broadway Baby [5], The Arts Desk [6] and Fringe Review [7] and featured in The Scotsman [8] and on whatsonstage.com [9] [10].

While in Edinburgh, The Fitzrovia Radio Hour performed in the 'Pick of the Fringe' and recorded a performance for the BBC Radio 4 programme 'Curiosity Killed the Cabaret', which was broadcast on Tuesday 24 August. Both shows were hosted by the Pleasance Courtyard. 'Curiosity Killed The Cabaret' also featured Frisky and Mannish, Anil Desai, Oompah Brass and Asher Treleaven and it was presented by Ali McGregor.

In September 2010 The Fitzrovia Radio Hour performed an extended version of their Edinburgh show at Wilton's Music Hall in London, on Friday 10 September, and at the Rose Theatre in Kingston-upon-Thames on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 September. On 8 November 2010 the show was performed at Quarterhouse in Folkestone. This show also featured 'Leinigen and the Pole' (Edgley Bond).

Trafalgar Studios 2011

From Tuesday 11 January to Saturday 5 February 2011, The Fitzrovia Radio Hour performed at Trafalgar Studios, on Whitehall in London, as part of a double bill with Barbershopera. The show featured 'He Should Have Known His Place (Mallaburn/Pengelly), 'Undead Queen of Evil!' (Mulryne) and 'Captain Fasthand and the Rooty Gong' (Mallaburn/Pengelly). It was sponsored by Rathbone's Chemical Cures (Edgley Bond). The show was reviewed widely by the national press and discussed on BBC2, on The Review Show.

Press and Media

The Fitzrovia Radio Hour have made three appearances on BBC Radio London’s Saturday Breakfast, in the third show broadcasting a short excerpt from 'The Man Who Was Ten Minutes Late' [11]. They also recorded a topical sketch for BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday 30 January 2010 [12]. The Fitzrovia Radio Hour has been reviewed by Whatsonstage.com [13], The Guardian [14], Time Out [15], The Times, The Independent [16] and Metro. The Fitzrovia Radio Hour have been named as one of Time Out's ‘Tribes of London’. The Fitzrovia Radio Hour have also featured in The Independent [17][18], The Independent on Sunday [19], The Daily Telegraph [20] [21] [22], The Financial Times [23], The Pink Paper [24], The Stage [25][26] [27], Stylist [28], The Evening Standard [29], the York Press [30] and Whatsonstage.com [31]; [32].

On Saturday 12 June 2010 The Fitzrovia Radio Hour returned to BBC Radio 4's Today programme to perform a second topical sketch.[33] On the same day they performed a short satirical sketch on BBC Radio 4's Loose Ends programme, presented by Clive Anderson.[34]

On Wednesday 4 August 2010 the BBC website published a performance by The Fitzrovia Radio Hour recorded for the BBC arts editor, Will Gompertz. [35]

The future

The Fitzrovia Radio Hour will perform on tour in 2011 and at the Udderbelly Festival on the South Bank in London.

Links

References

  1. ^ Glitterditch review 5 February 2008 http://glitterditch.com/2008/02/fitzrovia-radio-hour.html
  2. ^ Remote Goat review 21 October 2008 http://www.remotegoat.co.uk/review_view.php?uid=2726
  3. ^ Guardian Theatre Blog 14 October 2009 http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2009/oct/14/radio-drama
  4. ^ The Daily Telegraph, Tuesday 24 August 2010 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/edinburgh-festival-reviews/7961869/Fringe-in-brief-Also-on-the-fringe.html
  5. ^ Broadway Baby.com, Saturday 21 August 2010 http://www.broadwaybaby.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=46%3Acurrent-edinburgh-festival&id=6313&Itemid=68
  6. ^ The Arts Desk.com, Monday 23 August 2010 http://www.theartsdesk.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2066%3Aedinburgh-fringe-rob-rouse-daniel-sloss-teenage-riot-mark-nelson-fitzrovia-radio-hour-review&Itemid=27
  7. ^ Fringe Review.com, Sunday 29 August 2010 http://www.fringereview.co.uk/fringeReview/3728.html
  8. ^ The Scotsman, Monday 9 August 2010, http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewblog.aspx?id=18
  9. ^ Whatsonstage.com, Tuesday 20 July 2010 http://www.whatsonstage.com/interviews/theatre/edinburgh/E8831279638190/Five+Reasons+to+See+...+The+Fitzrovia+Radio+Hour.html
  10. ^ Whatsonstage.com, Monday 16 August 2010 http://www.whatsonstage.com/blog/theatre/edinburgh/E8831281997137/The+Fitzrovia+Radio+Hour%27s+Jon+Edgley+Bond+On+Edinburgh+Through+An+iPhone.html
  11. ^ BBC Radio London Saturday Breakfast, Saturday 3 July 2010 http://audioboo.fm/boos/148013-enjoy-some-high-octane-radio-from-the-40s-here-s-the-fitzrovia-radio-hour-from-the-saturday-breakfast-show
  12. ^ Today, Saturday 30 Jan 2010 http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8488000/8488883.stm
  13. ^ Whatsonstage.com, Tuesday 3 August 2009 http://www.whatsonstage.com/reviews/theatre/off-west+end/E8831249319654/The+Fitzrovia+Radio+Hour+Presents+'Against+All+Odds!'.html
  14. ^ Guardian, Sunday 21 Feb 2010 http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2010/feb/21/fitzrovia-radio-hour-review
  15. ^ Time out, March 2010 http://www.timeout.com/london/cabaret/review/842/fitzrovia-radio-hour
  16. ^ Independent, Monday 21 June 2010 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/comedy/reviews/the-fitzrovia-radio-hour-the-last-days-of-decadence-london-2005998.html
  17. ^ Independent, Friday 29 May 2009 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/observations-roaring-forties-blow-into-town-1692292.html
  18. ^ Independent, Friday 16 April 2010 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/here-comes-summer-the-cultural-events-of-the-season-1945758.html
  19. ^ The Independent on Sunday, Sunday 25 July 2010 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/on-the-agenda-fitzrovia-radio-hour-akala-ane-lans-dream-chamber-oakley-gelupo-garden-party-to-make-a-difference-2031892.html
  20. ^ The Daily Telegraph, Friday 20 August 2009 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/thefriday/6048875/Ten-ways-to-retro-socialise.html
  21. ^ Telegraph.co.uk, Friday 9 July 2010 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatpicturegalleries/7876873/Retro-treats-for-returning-expats.html
  22. ^ The Daily Telegraph, Friday 14 January 2011, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/8259240/BarbershoperaThe-Fitzrovia-Radio-Hour-Trafalgar-Studios-review.html
  23. ^ The Financial Times, Friday 14 January 2011 http://cachef.ft.com/cms/s/2/5f0215a6-2004-11e0-a6fb-00144feab49a.html#axzz1I7d7Sa7m
  24. ^ The Pink Paper, Friday 14 January 2011 http://news.pinkpaper.com/Feature.aspx?id=2213
  25. ^ The Stage, Thursday 28 January 2010 http://blogs.thestage.co.uk/inthepaper/2010/01/january-28-roger-ress-carl-barat-and-reviving-las/
  26. ^ The Stage, Monday 5 July 2010 http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/28819/deeds-of-desire-deeds-of-despair-
  27. ^ The Stage, Monday 12 July 2010 http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/28882/rendezvous-with-fear-
  28. ^ Stylist, Thursday 17 June 2010 http://issue.stylist.co.uk/Stylist-style-fashion-beauty-news/1T4c163b29142fb012.cde/page/14
  29. ^ The Evening Standard, Friday 25 June 2010 http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/hottickets/article-23831392-hot-tickets.do
  30. ^ The York Press, Tuesday 22 March 2011 http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/leisure/theatre/8923388.Review__The_Fitzrovia_Radio_Hour__TakeOver_Festival__York_Theatre_Royal/
  31. ^ Whatsonstage.com Tuesday 20 July 2010 http://www.whatsonstage.com/interviews/theatre/edinburgh/E8831279638190/Five+Reasons+to+See+...+The+Fitzrovia+Radio+Hour.html
  32. ^ Whatsonstage.com Sunday 1 August 2010 http://www.whatsonstage.com/blog/theatre/edinburgh/E8831280657610/Taking+a+1940s+Show+to+the+2010+Edinburgh+Fringe.html
  33. ^ Today, Saturday 12 June 2010 http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8736000/8736646.stm
  34. ^ Loose Ends, Saturday 12 June 2010 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qjym
  35. ^ bbc.co.uk, Wednesday 4 August 2010 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-10865708