Bill Ash Radio Plays
William Ash, now a resident of London, was born in Dallas, Texas. He received a B.A. degree from the University of Texas.
Shortly after the outbreak of World War II he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and served as a fighter pilot in Britain. Shot down over France in 1942, he was a prisoner for three years and was awarded the M.B.E. (military division) for his escapes and his membership of the Escape Committee.
After the war he studied Modern Greats at Balliol College, Oxford, and received an M.A. degree. He joined the BBC's External Services and was BBC Representative in India and Pakistan. Transferring to Domestic Services, he was Script Editor of the Radio Drama Department. His book, THE WAY TO WRITE RADIO DRAMA, is considered authoritative. He has lectured widely on the subject and has run many workshops.
He has been Literary Manager of the Soho Poly Theatre and Chairman of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain.
His novels (1961-98): The Lotus in the Sky, Choice of Arms, The Longest Way Round, Ride a paper Tiger, Take-Off, Incorporated, Right Side Up, She?, Bold Riot, What's the Big Idea, But My Fist is Free, Rise Like Lions.
Non-Fiction (1964-97): Marxism and Moral Concepts, Pickaxe and Rifle-The story of the Albanian people, Morals and Politics- The Ethics of Revolution, A Red Square- The Autobiography of an Unconventional Revolutionary, The Way to Write Radio Drama, Marxist Morality.
BBC Radio Broadcasts:
Original Radio Plays
Write to Strike, 90m
The Broughton Butcher, 90m
Sting Like a Bee, 60m
Ride a Paper Tiger, 6 x 60m
Dramatisations
The Idiot (Dostoievsky) 2 x 90m
Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte) 4 x 60m
The Golden Bowl (Henry James) 6 x 60m
The Spoils of Poynton (Henry James) 90m
The Blithedale Romance (Nathaniel Hawthorne) 90m
Farewell My Friend (Rabinranath Tagore) 90m
Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe) 90m
The Great Feast (Manu Bhandari) 60m
The Gadfly (E.L.Voynich) 90m
Anthills of the Savannah (Achebe) 90m
The Man-Eater of Malgudi* (Narayan) 90m
Asterisked items known to exist in VRPCC collections.
NOTES: PLAYS
Ride A Paper Tiger....1968
R2, 7.10.1968 to 24.10.1968; with Michael Spice/Liane Aukin/Edward
Bishop.
The Broughton Butcher....1989
R4, 2 December 1989,19:45, snt; with Nigel Anthony/Simon Treves
DRAMATISATIONS
The Spoils Of Poynton....1980
By Henry James; R4, snt, 15 March 1980, 20:30;
with Maxine Audley/Maureen O'Brien/Gordon Dulieu
The Blithedale Romance....1980
By Nathaniel Hawthorne, R4, snt, 31/6/1980, 20:30;
with Jonathan Newth/Sarah Badel/James Laurenson
Anthills Of The Savannah....1989
By Chinua Achebe, R4, snt, 2 September 1995, 19:50;
with Jude Akuwudike/Ben Onwukwe/Jospeh Marcell
The Gadfly....1989
By Ethel Voynich, R4, snt, 4 February 1989, 19:45;
with Dominic Rickhards/Jill Lidstone/John Moffatt
The Man-Eater of Malgudi....1991
R.K.Naryan's greatest novel: it tells the story of
Nataraj, owner of a small printing press, and his house guest
Vasu, who moves into Nataraj's attic with a menagerie of dead
animals. R4, 4 Nov 91, 90m. Regrettably, I can't give names of
the cast although I have the recording; can't spell any of
the names.
snt=Saturday Night Theatre
List of plays kindly supplied by Bill Ash.
Nigel Deacon / Diversity Website
