sustained theatre

By Pervaiz Khan

Pat Cumper , artistic director of Talawa Theatre Company and writer.

Pat Cumper won the silver Sony Award at this year’s prestigious Sony Academy Radio Award for her adaptation of Alice Walker’s “The Colour Purple” on BBC Radio 4. “Mr Larkin's Awkward Day” was the Gold winner in the Drama Award category.

Here is what the judges said:

"Although it has already existed as a novel and a film, this audio production added new dimensions and fresh insights to a familiar story. An unsentimental script hit home time and again without preaching or lapsing into sentimentality; the skill and subtlety of the performances made the judges forget they were listening to actors; the masterly atmospherics and the subtle use of period music were all fused into a brilliant production which argued that radio was, all along, the natural home for this story."

Recently Pat Cumper spoke to Pervaiz Khan, Sustained Theatre's International Broker, about how her passion for theatre started,Talawa Theatre Company and working with young people.