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15 Minute Drama: On Kosovo Field

Nico Mirallegro

Michelle Keegan

Jon Lolis

Rosella Doda

Nebli Basani

Nadia Molinari

Fin Kennedy

PJ Harvey

15 Minute Drama: On Kosovo Field: Episode 2: Pity for the Old Road

On Kosovo Field

Episode 2

Episode 2: Pity for the Old Road

Pity for the Old Road

BBC Radio 4 - 15 Minute Drama, On Kosovo Field, Pity for the Old Road

Fin Kennedy's drama inspired by PJ Harvey's Kosovan notebooks, with unreleased song demos.

Following the discovery of a mass grave near their native village, siblings Rebeka and Dardan have returned to Kosovo after 17 years searching for information on their parents.

Fin Kennedy's drama inspired by PJ Harvey's notebooks, poetry and songs from her travels in Kosovo, with her unreleased song demo 'Pity for the Old Road' woven through. 

Siblings Rebeka and Dardan left Kosovo as unaccompanied minors during the conflict in 1999 and were brought up in care in the UK. Following the discovery of a mass grave near their native village they have returned to Kosovo after 17 years searching for information on their parents.


Songs and music composed and performed by PJ Harvey

Sound Design by Steve Brooke.

Directed by Nadia Molinari


PJ Harvey album 'The Hope Six Demolition Project' and her book of poetry 'The Hollow of the Hand' draw from several journeys undertaken by Harvey from 2011-2014; one of those was to Kosovo. The inspiration for the drama came from Harvey's Kosovan notebooks, her poems and her Kosovan song demos. Writer Fin Kennedy undertook extensive research, including travelling to Kosovo with producer Nadia Molinari where they talked to journalists, politicians and human rights activists working on conflict resolution and reconciliation. One of these was Kushtrim Koliqi who was the cultural consultant on the script. 'On Kosovo Field' is the search for an identity via a road trip back through a lost heritage for a young, Kosovan born brother and sister. The story is told in five episodes. The 'play cycle' as an idea takes its inspiration from the traditional song cycles of the Albania/Kosovo region. By the end of the cycle we understand that the siblings are a metaphor for Kosovo itself, the newest country in Europe, poignantly searching for an identity after centuries of conflict.

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Fin Kennedy's drama inspired by PJ Harvey's writings from her travels in Kosovo.

Fin Kennedy's drama inspired by PJ Harvey's notebooks and poetry from her travels in Kosovo, with unreleased demo songs woven through.

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