9. Hope

Available for 326 days

by Winsome Pinnock Hope ..... Danielle Vitalis Jim ..... Martins Imhangbe Ishbel ..... Ayesha Antoine Extra ..... Justice Ritchie Directed by Sally Avens The history of post-war Britain is told through the lives of Hope Kiffin, Eunice Lamming and Gloria de Soto, bound forever by one moment in 1946. Seven years later Hope is still struggling with the loss of her baby and her best friend. A loss that is putting pressure on both her faith and her marriage. NOTES Radio 4 has commissioned Faith Hope and Glory an ambitious new series telling brilliant intimate domestic stories that together illuminate the emergence of modern Britain. Series 2 is set in 1953 the year of the Coronation, the publication of the Kinsey Report on female sexual behaviour and the sinking of the Princess Victoria passenger ferry with the loss of 133 lives. In Series 1 we met Hope and Eunice friends from Antigua who came over to London, following Hope's husband Jim. In 1946, Hope and Jim had a baby that they named after Eunice, but when Jim was unable to hold down a job, and Hope had to work full time, they asked Eunice who was not enjoying life in Britain, to take the baby back to Antigua to Hope's family. At Tilbury Docks Eunice was tempted into a bar when she heard music and left the pram outside, when she returned the baby was gone. After a futile search for the baby, and too ashamed to admit what she had done, Eunice fled to Cardiff where she changed her name to Faith and started a new life with Trevor a dockworker and musician. Hope and Jim believe both the baby and Eunice to be dead as the boat they were to sail on was lost at sea. In fact the baby was found by Gloria and Clement, a childless celibate couple, who decided to bypass any adoption procedures, raise her as their own and call her Joy. Joy’s life spans the entire series, up to the present day. Winsome Pinnock has written the series of five 15’ plays to kick off, which is shortly followed by three 45’ plays – Hope and Jim by Roy Williams, Gloria and Clement by Rex Obano and Faith and Trevor by Winsome Pinnock. The cast includes Shiloh Coke as Faith, Danielle Vitalis as Hope, and Pippa Bennett Warner as Gloria, together with Gary Beadle as Trevor, Martins Imhangbe as Jim and Stefan Adegbola as Clement.