''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 The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

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. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. 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 Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...

girl who is dying from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

, the original recording was performed by Becky Simpson (then aged 10) 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 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, was first performed in 2000. The play featured Kathryn Hunter, 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 Glasgow, Scotland. The theatre was formerly known as the Tron Kirk. It began as the Collegiate Church of Our Lady and St. Anne. The Tron Theatre building is home to the Tron Theatre Company and serves as a prod ...

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