About the event

When radio arrived in the 1920s and 1930s, it provided the first-ever form of home-based mass entertainment. This story is almost always told from the broadcasters’ point of view. But what was it like for the very first listeners as they welcomed this newest of new technologies to their firesides? What did they make of radio and how did it change family life?

Join us as an ensemble of actors and musicians attempt to recreate this key cultural moment. Actors will perform extracts from two unpublished notebooks, recently uncovered by Listen In exhibition curator Beaty Rubens in the Bodleian archives. These contain some of the earliest ever listener research: lively, personal interviews conducted for the BBC by the artist and social reformer Winifred Gill in a working-class area of Bristol.

Composer Emily Levy will provide a specially commissioned score, integrating rare early BBC archive and performed live by two musicians.

This one-off event – including the responses of the audience in Blackwell Hall at the Weston Library – will be recorded and produced by Just Radio and broadcast on BBC Radio Three on Sunday 2 March 2025.  
 

Schedule

• 6.30pm: guests arrive into Blackwell Hall
• 7pm – 8.30pm: show and recording take place
• 8.30pm – 9pm: explore the Listen In exhibition in the Treasury and enjoy drinks and nibbles

 Speakers

• Actors: Alice Lamb, Alison Reid, Andrew McGillan, Zara Ramm
• Musicians: Matthew Bourne and Richard Ormrod
• Composer and Musical Director: Emily Levy
• Writer and Producer: Beaty Rubens

  Tickets and booking information

This event takes place in person at the Weston Library. Once you have booked your place, the ticketing system will send you an automated confirmation.

• General admission: £15
• Students and concessions (including Oxford University staff): £5

The ticket price includes one drink.

Book now

  Location

Blackwell Hall, Weston Library, Broad Street, Oxford, OX1 3BG.

 Wheelchair access

The Weston Library is wheelchair accessible.