The series that takes a look at books, plays and stories and how they work. John Yorke examines Porgy by Edwin DuBose Heyward.

Published in 1925, Porgy was an immediate hit and was later adapted both for the stage and the blockbuster musical Porgy and Bess.

In this first of two episodes about Porgy, John looks at the story at the heart of the original novel and the background of the remarkable man who wrote it. How and why did Edwin DuBose Heyward, the epitome of the intellectual, Southern, white, gentleman write this best-selling classic about a love story set within a poor, African American community in the deep South?

John Yorke has worked in television and radio for nearly 30 years, and he shares his experience with Radio 4 listeners as he unpacks the themes and impact of the books, plays and stories that are being dramatised in BBC Radio 4’s Sunday Drama series.

From EastEnders to the Archers, Life on Mars to Shameless, he has been obsessed with telling big popular stories. He has spent years analysing not just how stories work but why they resonate with audiences around the globe and has brought together his experience in his bestselling book Into the Woods. As former Head of Channel Four Drama, Controller of BBC Drama Production and MD of Company Pictures, John has tested his theories during an extensive production career working on some of the world’s most lucrative, widely viewed and critically acclaimed TV drama. As founder of the hugely successful BBC Writers Academy John has trained a generation of screenwriters - his students have had 17 green-lights in the last two years alone.

Contributors:
Dr Kendra Hamilton, Professor of American Literature at Presbyterian College
James M. Hutchisson , biographer of Dubose Heyward.

Produced by Alison Vernon-Smith
Executive Producer: Sara Davies
Sound: Sean Kerwin
Researcher: Nina Semple
Production Manager: Sarah Wright

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4 Show less