The Lion

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News of an escaped lion turns the lives of the residents of an Estonian town upside down.

News of an escaped lion turns the lives of the residents of a small Estonian town upside down. Winner of the Best European Drama award at the Audio Drama Awards 2022.

An English-language production of the Winner of the Best European Drama Award at the Audio Drama Awards 2022.

The Lion tells a compelling and thought-provoking story about a community's response to an escaped lion in a city. A host of characters, including the town's Chief Constable and an Economist, are forced to face the unprecedented crisis. Their differing - often conflicted - responses speak to a nation coming to grips with a new dawn.

This high-octane satire about the restoration of Estonian independence has resonance far beyond Estonia's national events of 1991, and speaks to collective responses to all manner of global and community crises.  

Chief Constable . . . . . Mark Benton
Valter Saarniit . . . . . James Northcote
Commissioner . . . . . Ewan Bailey
Mayor . . . . . Georgie Glen
Heinz . . . . . Samuel James
Heli . . . . . Leah Marks
Secretary . . . . . Kymberley Cochrane
Makishev . . . . . Hasan Dixon
Meelis . . . . . Connor Curren

The drama is based on Martin Algus's short story The Lion. It was adapted for ERR, Estonian Public Radio, by Andres Noormets. Original sound design was by Külli Tüli. This English-language version was translated by Adam Cullen, edited by Peter Ringrose, and directed and produced for BBC Radio 4 by Andres Noormets and Sasha Yevtushenko.

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