Audiobooks Narrated by David Birell

The Last Days of Troy: A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation

"Lily Cole stars as Helen of Troy, ‘the face that launched a thousand ships’, in Simon Armitage’s vivid, visceral adaptation of Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid For ten years, the Greeks have been laying siege to Troy to win back their abducted queen, Helen. But as the war drags on, and the battlefields run scarlet with blood, the opposing forces are entrenched in a bitter stalemate. As Gods and mortals squabble amongst themselves for the spoils of war, the exhausted warriors go to extreme lengths in a desperate grab for victory… Dramatised by multi-award-winning poet and playwright Simon Armitage, The Last Days of Troy was first produced as a stage play at the Manchester Royal Exchange and Shakespeare’s Globe, and this radio version features the original cast. Both a tense action adventure and a powerful commentary on the futility of war, it brings Homer’s ancient myth to dynamic life and explores themes that still resonate today, in a world locked in cycles of conflict and revenge, East versus West and with the same dangerous combination of pride, lies and self-deception that fuelled the Trojan War. ‘Armitage was the real star, with his vivid and muscular dialogue and occasional flashes of humour…The Last Days of Troy was a powerful reflection on the folly of men and the cruelty of war.’ – Independent Cast and credits Agamemnon..................................................................David Birrell Achilles..................................................................Jake Fairbrother Zeus..................................................................Richard Bremmer Odysseus..................................................................Colin Tierney Hera..................................................................Gillian Bevan Andromache/Thetis................................................Claire Calbraith Hector..................................................................Simon Harrison Helen..................................................................Lily Cole Paris..................................................................Tom Stuart Athene/Briseis..................................................................Francesca Zoutewelle Priam..................................................................Garry Cooper Patroclus..................................................................Brendan O’Hea Astyanax..................................................................Luca Rawlinson Original music by Alex Baranowski Directed for radio by Susan Roberts First directed for The Royal Exchange Theatre by Nick Bagnall"

Simon Armitage (Author), Brendan O’hea, Claire Calbraith, Colin Tierney, David Birell, Francesca Zoutewelle, Garry Cooper, Gillian Bevan, Jake Fairbrother, Lily Cole, Luca Rawlinson, Richard Bremmer, Simon Harrison, Tom Stuart (Narrator)

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Falcon And The Hawk, The: A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation

"Helen Macdonald is a falconer and poet. She keeps a goshawk called Mabel. As a child she fell in love with a rare book of intense nature writing, J.A. Baker's The Peregrine, which records a winter watching wild peregrines on the Essex coast. Her new play brings her birds and his together. Baker tramps the bleak coastal marshes scanning the skies for fleeting moments of bloody drama as a peregrine stoops at immense speed after a plover or a pigeon. Helen woos her captive-bred goshawk in her spare bedroom - acclimatising it to human noise and human movement. Baker crouches over a half-dead pigeon and finishes it off for the wild falcon; Helen walks the city street with a goshawk on her fist. Their stories begin to fly closer to one another. Starring David Birrell as J. A. Baker, Gemma Lawrence as Young Helen and Helen Macdonald as herself. Part recorded on location at The Bird of Prey Centre in Newent, Gloucestershire. Producer: Tim Dee."

Helen MacDonald (Author), David Birell, Gemma Lawrence, Helen MacDonald (Narrator)

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