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Drama on 3

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Series of drama performances, ranging from experimental works to the Classics

Drama on 3: Mogadishu

Mogadishu

23/10/2011

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Vivienne Franzmann's play exploring race, abuse and power in a London secondary school.

Vivienne Franzmann's play exploring the consequences of an assault on a white female teacher by a troubled black student and her well-meaning by misguided attempt to protect him.

Vivienne Franzmann's cutting-edge play explores the consequences of an assault on a white female teacher by a troubled black student and her well-meaning but misguided attempt to protect him.

Mogadishu was originally produced at the Manchester Royal Exchange in 2011 and won both the Bruntwood Award for Writing and The George Devine Prize for 'Most Promising Playwright'. The critics called it "A startling debut", "A tough, gripping spectacle", "The play of the year? Quite possibly". 

As the school investigates an allegation of physical and racial abuse, the teacher becomes entangled in a mesh of legal requirements and formal processes that threaten her family stability and her career.

Franzmann - a former teacher herself - has adapted the play for radio and uses multiple perspectives on the incident to show how formal procedure and protocol can override common sense and professional judgement.

Mogadishu unfolds in a series of actions, reversals and counter-reversals with sharp dialogue and fast-pacing. The language of contemporary teenagers is presented with considerable authenticity revealing them to be complex, dysfunctional, funny and vulnerable. 

The play contains the strongest language and some racist insults.

Amanda ..... Candida Benson,
Jason ..... Malachi Kirby,
Chris ..... Jonathan Guy Lewis,
Becky ..... Shannon Tarbett,
Saif ..... Farshid Rokey,
Chuggs ..... Tendayi Jambere,
Dee ..... Chereen Buckley,
Firat ..... Michael Karim,
Peter ..... Ashley Campbell,
Ben ..... Darren Saul.

Sound by Ross Adams.
Directed by Willi Richards.
Produced by Roger James Elsgood.
Mogadishu is an Art and Adventure production for the BBC.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

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