''Spoonface Steinberg'' is a play by British playwright Lee Hall, first broadcast as a dramatic monologue on BBC Radio 4 on Monday 27 January 1997. Such was the popular acclaim that the BBC repeated it on Radio 4 the following Saturday afternoon. It began life as the fourth and final play in the ''God's Country'' series of linked radio dramas broadcast in 1997 on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

. However, due to its success (it went on to sell thousands of copies on cassette) it has come to overshadow the other plays in the sequence somewhat, and is commonly thought of as a standalone piece. Spoken by a 7 year old autistic girl who is dying from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

, the original recording was performed by Becky Simpson who won two awards for her performance The play was subsequently published as part of the anthology ''Spoonface Steinberg and Other Plays'' in October 1997. On 30 March 1998 the play was rebroadcast, this time on

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

and with images (including that of Ella Jones as Spoonface) added to the original. A stage version, adapted by Hall himself as well the play's directors Marcello Magni and

Annie Castledine Ann "Annie" Castledine (26 February 1939 – 4 June 2016), was a British theatre director, teacher and dramaturg. Described in ''The Guardian'' as "one of the arts world's best-known secrets" who "shaped some of the most influential players in B ...

, was first performed in 2000. The play featured

Kathryn Hunter Aikaterini Hadjipateras ( el, Αικατερίνη Χατζηπατέρας; born 9 April 1957), known professionally as Kathryn Hunter, is an American-born British actress and theatre director, known for her appearances as Arabella Figg in th ...

, at the time 42 years of age, in the title role. The Scottish professional premiere was produced by Nomad at the

Tron Theatre The Tron Theatre is located in the corner of Trongate and Chisholm Street, in what was formerly the Tron Kirk which had started as the Collegiate Church of Our Lady and St. Anne in the Trongate area of Glasgow, Scotland. The Tron Steeple stil ...

in 2002. Kirstin McLean played Spoonface and Mark Westbrook directed. The play has also been produced by the Nuffield Theatre Southampton, directed by Russ Tunney, starring Julie Rose Smith as Spoonface. Beggars and Kings' production directed by

Michael Fentiman Michael Fentiman (born 1 June 1982 at Harlow, Essex, England) is a British theatre director. Fentiman attended Bretton Hall for three years, where he trained to be an actor, followed by a postgraduate course at Mountview Academy for one year ...

was performed at Theatre Clwyd 26 March 2009, starring Zoe Thorne and toured until 30 April 2009. A production by the Freerange Theatre Company, directed by Hugo Chandor and starring Rebecca Fenwick, toured the north of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and Scotland in 2013, gaining nominations for best production and best actress at the

Buxton Festival The Buxton Festival is an annual summer festival of opera, music and (since 2000) a literary series, held in Buxton, Derbyshire, England since its beginnings in July 1979. The 2020 festival would have run but was cancelled due to the Covid-19 cri ...

fringe. together with a nomination for Best Fringe Performance at the Manchester Theatre Awards.

References

External links

Details and reviews of the original theatre staging at ''Abermarle of London''The TV adaptation at IMDBMark Westbrook - The first director of ''Spoonface in Scotland''Freerange Theatre Company
whose production of ''Spoonface'' toured in 2013 {{Lee Hall British radio dramas 1997 audio plays British television films BBC television dramas Television shows based on plays Plays by Lee Hall (playwright) Autism in the arts