The Call

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Drama on 4: The Call

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A teacher is ordered to evacuate his apartment block before it's destroyed by a missile.

A woman caller wakens a college professor just before dawn. He is to evacuate all the neighbours in his block after which it is going to be destroyed by a missile.

The Call by Ron Hutchinson is inspired by, but not based on, a recent story which came out of Gaza.

Ron Hutchinson locates his drama in a non-specific location. A woman caller wakens a college professor just before dawn. She says she works for the Intelligence Services and that he, the teacher, is to stay on the phone as he is to evacuate all the neighbours in his block after which it is going to be destroyed by a missile. 

He is to remain calm and follow instructions - he is assured the missile will not be launched until he has cleared all 40 apartments but that the evacuation will be entirely his responsibility; his neighbours' lives are in his hands. 

What ensues is a terrifying game of cat and mouse, of coercion and intimidation, and yet there may be more to this man than meets the eye - he may not be the benign teacher his close neighbours imagine him to be. Just who is the victim and who the tormentor in this telephone call? This is the question this drama poses and one which only the listener can answer.

Cast - Paul Rhys, Jane Slavin, Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong
Director: Eoin O'Callaghan

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