Rutland actor Henry Dawe creates a radio play to break down age barriers
A writer hopes to break down the age barrier between different generations with the release of a new radio play.
Henry Dawe penned The Autumn of My Years after striking up friendships with two older ladies.
He hopes the play will prove that age doesn’t need to be a barrier to friendship and will encourage older people to get out and about as much as they can.
Henry, who lives in Uppingham, said: “I met a lady in her late 50s while queuing for returns at the theatre in 2009 and we became great friends.
“I also used to visit my neighbour in Uppingham, a former Bletchley Park codebreaker, when she was in 80s. These two connections – as well as others formed locally over the years – had a profound and lasting effect on me. I was sure that there was a message to convey about inter-generational friendship and tackling loneliness and felt that a radio play would be a good way of trying to achieve that.”
Henry recorded the play with a professional cast and director in London last summer, taking on the role of the young man who befriends an elderly woman. It has now been edited and wil be boradcast on Harborough FM throughout this month.
The play is intended to be touching and poignant with a thread of humour running through.
Henry added: “I am very grateful to Owen Brooks for accepting the play for broadcast on the station. Having staged my first play Beyond The Pail in 2016 at The Falcon Hotel, Uppingham and six weeks later at the Leicester Comedy Festival, I am very pleased that this second play is also going to have an outing locally.
“I hope that listeners will enjoy the piece and identify with the messages it aims to put across.”
The Autumn of My Years will be broadcast over three Thursday evenings, starting on November 16 at 7.15pm. The final part on Thursday, November 30 will be followed by a discussion between Henry, his co-star and the director.
Listeners can tune in via 102.3FM in the Market Harborough area, online at www.harboroughfm.co.uk or by downloading the Harborough FM app.
