RNIB Connect Radio’s Toby Davey is joined again by Vidar Hjardeng MBE, Inclusion and Diversity Consultant for ITV News across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands for the next in his regular Connect Radio theatre reviews.

This week Vidar was reviewing the reimagining for the stage of Mark Ravenhill’s 2013 radio play’ Ben and Imo’ at the Swan Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon with description by Professional Audio Describers Emily Magdij and Carolyn Smith.

About Ben and Imo:

This is the true story of the passionate partnership between Benjamin Britten and Imogen Holst. The 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II is fast approaching. To mark the occasion, Benjamin Britten has just nine months to write a new opera about her predecessor Elizabeth I. Into the world of the disheartened composer enters the exuberant and passionate Imogen Holst, daughter of Gustav and an accomplished musician in her own right. Her candid and can-do attitude proves to be the perfect foil for the capricious and often maddening Britten, and what begins as an arrangement of practical support turns into a bond that not only sees Gloriana to its premiere but endures throughout the rest of their lives.

Originally written to mark the centenary of Britten’s birth and performed on BBC Radio 3 in 2013, Mark Ravenhill’s Ben and Imo is a powerful new play, reimagined for 2024 that explores the brilliant yet often turbulent working relationship of two of the 20th Century’s greatest musical minds.

For more about access at the Royal Shakespeare Company including details of audio described performances of their productions do visit the access pages of their website - https://www.rsc.org.uk/your-visit/access

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