WAITING FOR THE BOATMAN
Waiting for the Boatman was broadcast on BBC Radio Four on March 16, 2012 at 2:15 pm as part of the Afternoon Drama series.
The 45 minute play was written by Stephen Wakelam and produced and directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.
Synopsis: The painter Mario Minniti has travelled to Naples to seek out his old friend and former mentor Caravaggio. But on arrival, the great painter is nowhere to be found. (He was in Rome, playing a sort of early tennis (pallacorda) when he stabbed his opponent and fled to Naples.) In a bid to find him, Mario retraces Caravaggio's last known movements. His search reveals a life lived dangerously. - BBC
'Here's something worth tuning in for at the end of the week..'
The Times - March 16, 2012 - Sarah Vine
"Dramatically it’s a little static, but enlivened by David Tennant as Mannit..." - Radio Times - Jack Sealei
Listed as Radio Choice pick by The Independent and The Daily Mail ,Pick of the Day in the Daily Telegraph and the Radio pick from the Staying in . . . Going Out column in The Times.
Here is an excerpt from the author's blog about the play below, you can click here to read the full post:
'It is hard to imagine an actor more on top of his game than David Tennant. To hear him and another distinguished Hamlet, Anton Lesser, was thrilling.
We were well served by the actors. I couldn’t come in for the last stages of the edit – I had ’flu – so received the finished version in CD form. When I played it to a friend, watching her reactions quietly, she said at the end, ‘Was this the play you said you had difficulties with?’ ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘it was trickier than most.’ ‘Not that you’d notice,’ she said.'
CAST
Studio Managers: Colin Guthrie, Keith Graham, Alison Craig
Production Coordinator: Nicole Fitzpatrick.
David Tennant - Mario Minnitti
Anton Lesser* - Piero
Joe Dempsie* - Cecco
Peter Hamilton Dyer - Abraham Vinck
Tracy Wiles - Marchesa
Harry Livingstone - The Youth
*appeared in Einstein and Eddington with David
*played Cline in the Doctor Who episode The Doctor's Daughter