Dan Rebellato - Negative Signs Of Progress


Negative Signs of Progress is a trilogy of radio plays which tell one unfolding story set against the background of the Arab Spring. A junior NGO strategy team is thrown into training for kidnap crisis negotiation. Episode One: Here An aid worker goes missing and her husband discovers he doesn't really know her. Here is set in Britain, where a husband is visited by a police officer who has a few questions about the man’s wife. What begins as a few routine questions builds into an international thriller. Over the course of the interview, the man comes to question everything he thought he knew about his relationship and the woman he loves. PC.............Willa King Episode Two: There A junior NGO strategy team is thrown into training for kidnap crisis negotiation. There is set in a NGO in Europe. A group of strategists react to the news that one of their field workers has disappeared and may have been kidnapped. Despite their near-total inexperience, they are forced to role play scenarios in which they negotiate with the unknown kidnapper, struggling to separate truth from fiction, Aleppo from Hollywood. Starring Fenella Woolgar as Carla, Joseph Kloska as Jeremy and Steffan Rhodri as Frank. Episode Three: Somewhere A Syrian library, its owner and an aid worker - sharp debate about identity and politics. Somewhere is set somewhere in the Arab World. A frightened western hostage finds herself in a beautiful library, the unwilling guest of a man of impeccable civility. The play asks how far the west and the east can understand each other, whether the Arab Spring is a projection of western liberal wish-fulfillment and – when the work of Debussy can become an act of prisoner abuse – explores how easily civilization can be a vehicle for brutality. Starring Mido Hamada as Hussein al-Zawiya and Frances Grey as Eleanor Director/Polly Thomas for the BBC Three episodes: Afternoon Drama: Negative Signs of Progress First broadcast: Monday 25th February 2013, 14:15 on BBC Radio 4 FM === The first of three Afternoon Dramas, 'Here' is an international thriller about a British aid worker who goes missing and her husband's attempts to track her down. His search reveals how little he really knew about her as her disappearance starts to have repercussions far beyond their domestic life. Here
Danny is woken in the middle of the night by Paul, a security official, who tells him that his wife, Ellie, an aid worker, has disappeared. Initially upset, he is disturbed by questions which suggest that his wife is not who he thought she was. She's not in the country she said she was in. In fact she is in Syria. She has been seen in the company of an ex lover, with murky business connections. Although angry, the evidence raises doubts in Danny's mind. What does he really know about the woman he loves? And are the competing mindsets of the first, second and third worlds irreconcilable? == The second of three Afternoon Dramas, 'There' is a bold take on one aspect of a kidnapping, set in the head office of an NGO in Europe. A group of junior strategists grapple with the fictional situation that one of their field workers has disappeared and may have been kidnapped. Despite their near-total inexperience, they have to role play scenarios in which they negotiate with the unknown kidnapper, struggling to separate truth from fiction, Aleppo from Hollywood. But when they finally get to grips with the issues, and gain some understanding of the complexities of the situation, the phone rings.. === The last of three Afternoon Dramas, 'Somewhere' is about the mysterious disappearance of a British aid worker and its impact on the individuals involved. In this final play, set in the autumn of 2012, the complex ways in which the first and third worlds view each other are played out in a dramatic scenario. Somewhere A frightened western hostage finds herself in a beautiful library, the unwilling guest of a man of impeccable civility. An extraordinary conversation unfolds as the play asks how far the west and the east can understand each other; whether the Arab Spring is a projection of western liberal wish-fulfilment; and, when the music of Debussy is used as an act of prisoner abuse, how easily civilization can become a vehicle for brutality. Identities, politics, borders and boundaries blend and shift in a perpetual hall of mirrors. By the end, there are no answers, just a display of genuine compassion and yet more questions. ===

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.