It says a lot about Alan Howard's status as an actor, especially his numerous starring roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company, that Tom Stoppard, Julian Barnes, Marina Warner, Helen Simpson and Nina Raine all agreed to write a story for him to read this week. My favourite is Tuesday's tale, Marriage Lines, written by Julian Barnes. It's the story of a widower who returns to a Scottish island where he and his wife shared happy holidays, only to discover the full force of the grief that will be with him for years.
Jane Anderson
Radio Times, 13 - 19 October 2007
Writing for a particular actor's voice
To commemorate Alan Howard's 70th birthday, Tom Stoppard, Julian Barnes, Helen Simpson, Marina Warner and Nina Raine have each written a story for him to read on the radio. In tonight's Front Row, Julian Barnes and Helen Simpson discuss what it's like to create something with a particular actor in mind: how the knowledge of that performer's strengths affect the storyline, whether any character-requirements are carefully included - or left out, and to what extent the friendship between author and actor colours the finished work.
Alan Howard Reads is on Radio 4, every weekday afternoon at 3.30 pm beginning on Monday 15th October
Front Row. BBC R4. 10.10.07
