Radio drama promotes friendship across the generations

Harborough FM is broadcasting a radio drama by Uppingham-based actor and writer Henry Dawe. The Autumn of My Years can be heard in three instalments on Owen Brooks’ show over the last three Thursdays in November at 7.15pm. After the transmission of the final part on 30 November there will be a discussion between Henry, the leading actress and the director at 8.20pm.

The play aims to show that age difference does not need to be a barrier to friendship; that elderly people should keep getting out and about if they can, as they never know whom they might meet; that their mood and outlook can be improved if young people show an interest in them; and that young people can derive pleasure from befriending the elderly. The story is intended to be touching and poignant but with a strong thread of comic dialogue through the warm humour of the principal characters. 

Henry explains that The Autumn of My Years is based on two true stories. ‘I met a lady in her late fifties queuing for returns at the theatre in 2009 and we became great friends. I also used to visit my neighbour in Uppingham, Ione Roseveare, a former Bletchley Park codebreaker, when she was in her eighties. These two connections – as well as others formed locally over the years – had a profound and lasting effect on me. I was sure that there was a message to convey about inter-generational friendship and tackling loneliness. I felt that a radio play would be a good way of trying to achieve that.’

Henry recorded the play with a professional cast and director in London in July 2022 and took the part of the young man who befriends the elderly lady. The play has since been edited and prepared for broadcast on Harborough FM. Henry adds, ‘I am very grateful to Owen Brooks for accepting the play for broadcast on the station. Having staged my first play Beyond The Pail in 2016 at The Falcon Hotel, Uppingham and six weeks later at the Leicester Comedy Festival, I am very pleased that this second play is also going to have an outing locally. I hope that listeners will enjoy the piece and identify with the messages which it aims to put across.’

How to listen

In the Market Harborough area, listeners can tune in to 102.3FM. Elsewhere, visit www.harboroughfm.co.uk, where you can download a free Harborough FM app.

For more information about Henry, visit his website – here.