A House Called Insanity

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Anne-Marie Duff stars as Elsy Borders, the working-class heroine whose remarkable true story deserves to be far better known. Even though she became a national figure in the late 1930s, no play celebrating her achievements has ever been written - until now. The wife of a South London cabby (played by Karl Davies), Elsy did something a working-class woman was not supposed to do. She broke the rules and conventions of acceptable behaviour. Determined to expose the poor quality of workmanship in house-building which continues to resonate today with scandals such as Grenfell Tower, she took the unprecedented step of refusing to pay her mortgage owing to the dire state of their new, but poorly-built, house on an estate in Kent. When the building society responded by suing for repossession of the house which the family had by now christened Insanity, Elsy counter-claimed for damages. The fight was on… With contributions from Stella Etheridge, Jeremy Tagg and Phillipa Tagg who are current residents of the Coney Hall Estate where Elsy lived. Cast: Elsy Borders....................Anne-Marie Duff Jim Borders.....................Karl Davies Roxburgh.........................Sam Dale Librarian...........................Jenny Funnell Judge.................................Nigel Anthony Agent................................Andrew Branch Michael............................Harry Myers Pamela ............................Betsy Horsfall Written by Stephen Wyatt Directed by Martin Jenkins Sound Design by David Thomas Production Co-ordinator: Sarah Tombling Production Manager: Sarah Wright A Pier production for BBC Radio 4