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In Memoriam: Conversations on a Bench

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24/08/2014

BBC Radio 4 - In Memoriam: Conversations on a Bench

Anna Scott-Brown hears tales of loss and hope, turned to poetry by Michael Symmons Roberts

Anna Scott-Brown hears tales of love, loss and hope on 'Rosie's Bench'. The lives of strangers and friends, and Rosie's own story, are woven into poetry by Michael Symmons Roberts.

Anna Scott-Brown hears stories of love, loss and hope from the strangers and friends she sits beside on 'Rosie's Bench' in a park in Oxford. The inscription, Rest Awhile and Remember Happy Times Together, draws out reflections and revelations which Michael Symmons Roberts weaves into a poem, specially commissioned for the programme.

Gradually, the story behind the inscription is revealed by Rosie herself as she remembers her husband Chris, whose life the bench commemorates. The experience of others, mixed with her own, turns Rosie's tale into a heartfelt and emotional acknowledgement of the need to stop and communicate with people around us, as life rushes by.

Hidden lives are revealed and common threads recur as Anna Scott-Brown's gentle - but insistent and sometimes extremely direct - questions elicit poignant and profound responses from those sitting on the bench to 'Rest Awhile'.

Producer: Adam Fowler
An Overtone production for BBC Radio 4.

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