Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Pearl | 20130520 | By Anne Tyler dramatised by Rebecca Lenkiewicz Episode One - Pearl Abandoned by her salesman husband an angry Pearl Tull is left to bring up her three children alone. Director: David Hunter Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant tells the story of two brothers and a sister deserted by their father, raised by their angry mother, moving through the calamities and exultations of their difficult youth into separate strategies for survival, and finally into a shared humanity. The place is Anne Tyler's Baltimore. The story is Pearl's, her short-lived romance and late marriage to 'flamboyant' travelling salesman Beck Tull and her attempt to keep the family together after he leaves. We see her three children pummelled into adulthood through her excesses of maternal energy and spurts of terrifying rage. Cody, wild and incorrigible is driven to cruel domination over his brother Ezra, boyhood practical jokes and taunts culminating in an unforgivable (and yet seemingly forgiven) act, and is ultimately possessed by the lure of power and money. High-spirited, hard-working Jenny becomes a paediatrician, nurturing strangers as she becomes more and more inaccessible to those close to her. Ezra, his mother's favourite (and Anne Tyler's most enduring character) has a dream of a homesick restaurant 'where people come just like to a family dinner' - except that whenever his own family gathers at his restaurant the meal is always left unfinished, appetites dissipated in squabbles and tempests. There are elements of this family tragedy that we all recognise, details that ring sharply true and characters that are both truthful and entertaining. HER NAKED SKIN by Rebecca Lenkiewicz was the first play to be performed on the Olivier stage by a living female playwright. THE NIGHT SEASON won the Critics Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright. SARAH AND KEN (Drama on 3) was awarded a special commendation at the 2012 BBC Audio Drama Awards. Other radio work includes CARAVAN OF DESIRE and BLUE MOON OVER POPLAR. There is a synergy between Rebecca and Anne Tyler - a common precision of language, an understanding of character, a shared angle on the poetry of language and image and a similar sense of fascination with the quirky and the offbeat. Abandoned by her salesman husband, Pearl Tull is left to bring up her three children alone Classic and contemporary original drama and book dramatisations |
| 02 | Teaching The Cat To Yawn | 20130521 | By Anne Tyler dramatised by Rebecca Lenkiewicz Episode Two - Teaching the Cat to Yawn Young Cody's jealousy of his placid younger brother Ezra accelerates. Director: David Hunter Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant tells the story of two brothers and a sister deserted by their father, raised by their angry mother, moving through the calamities and exultations of their difficult youth into separate strategies for survival, and finally into a shared humanity. The place is Anne Tyler's Baltimore. The story is Pearl's, her short-lived romance and late marriage to 'flamboyant' travelling salesman Beck Tull and her attempt to keep the family together after he leaves. We see her three children pummelled into adulthood through her excesses of maternal energy and spurts of terrifying rage. Cody, wild and incorrigible is driven to cruel domination over his brother Ezra and is ultimately possessed by the lure of power and money. High-spirited, hard-working Jenny becomes a paediatrician, nurturing strangers as she becomes more and more inaccessible to those close to her. Ezra, his mother's favourite (and Anne Tyler's most enduring character) has a dream of a homesick restaurant 'where people come just like to a family dinner' - except that whenever his own family gathers at his restaurant the meal is always left unfinished, appetites dissipated in squabbles and tempests. There are elements of this family tragedy that we all recognise, details that ring sharply true and characters that are both truthful and entertaining. HER NAKED SKIN by Rebecca Lenkiewicz was the first play to be performed on the Olivier stage by a living female playwright. THE NIGHT SEASON won the Critics Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright. SARAH AND KEN (Drama on 3) was awarded a special commendation at the 2012 BBC Audio Drama Awards. Other radio work includes CARAVAN OF DESIRE and BLUE MOON OVER POPLAR. There is a synergy between Rebecca and Anne Tyler - a common precision of language, an understanding of character, a shared angle on the poetry of language and image and a similar sense of fascination with the quirky and the offbeat. Classic and contemporary original drama and book dramatisations |
| 03 | Destroyed, By Love | 20130522 | Jenny must deal with the unpredictable Pearl and Ezra's friend Josiah. Classic and contemporary original drama and book dramatisations |
| 04 | Heart Rumours | 20130523 | Ezra has plans to modernise Scarlatti's Restaurant. Classic and contemporary original drama and book dramatisations |
| 05 | The Country Cook | 20130524 | Cody's obsession with his brother Ezra's fiancee, Ruth, becomes a determined campaign. Classic and contemporary original drama and book dramatisations |
| 06 | Beaches On The Moon | 20130527 | Pearl shoulders the blame for the tragedy that has struck her sons. Classic and contemporary original drama and book dramatisations |
| 07 | Dr Tull Is Not A Toy | 20130528 | A vacuum cleaner goes missing, and Dr Jenny Tull finds her domestic niche. Classic and contemporary original drama and book dramatisations |
| 08 | This Really Happened | 20130529 | Cody's son Luke makes the journey to Baltimore and the Homesick Restaurant. Classic and contemporary original drama and book dramatisations |
| 09 | Apple Apple | 20130530 | Glimpses of happiness are found in the youthful diaries of the now blind Pearl. Classic and contemporary original drama and book dramatisations |
| 10 | Dinner | 20130531 | Home truths are aired at the final family dinner. Classic and contemporary original drama and book dramatisations |