In 1926 Mae West wrote, directed, produced and starred in the smash hit Sex on Broadway. When she was arrested on stage the following year for "corrupting the morals of youth", the subsequent court case led to a choice between apologising and paying a fine or going to jail for ten days. #

Mae chose the latter and it secured her legend.

While she was serving her time at Welfare Island she was invited to dinner with the Warden. This drama, based on those real events, imagines that dinner and celebrates the fabulous Mae West and her subsequent glittering career - writing her own lines in her movies, acting with casting approval over all her male co-stars, becoming the number one box office draw and the second richest person in America by 1935. All on her own terms.

She was a trailblazer, a warrior. A woman of power and property. A woman who refused to be silenced or let age diminish her importance. And yet her extraordinary achievements often seem to have been forgotten, despite the icons that followed in her footsteps – Marilyn and Madonna and young Miley naked on her wrecking ball.

Written by Tracy-Ann Oberman with David Spicer

Mae West - Tracy-Ann Oberman
Warden Schleth - Stuart Milligan,
Adolph Zukor - Alistair McGowan
Matron - Lorelei King,
Prosecutor - Matt Addis
Tallulah - Pepter Lunkuse
Kathleen - Jessica Dennis
Lainie - Anoushka Cowan

Producer: Liz Anstee
A CPL production for BBC Radio 4 Show less