Ed Reardon: A Writer's Burden

BBC Radio 4 sitcom character Ed Reardon, a disillusioned writer, has won himself many fans through his world-weary cracks as his career touches the giddy heights of Hollywood and then plummetsback down to earth with a bump in Berkhamstead. However, this page-to-stage venture suffers from pace problems and feels like it's still at a blocking stage.

It features a character who has few reasons to be animated. But, even so, there is a distinct lack of lifeblood running through the production—an ink flow problem, if you like—although the show was seen early in its run.

One problem is that the production would be better suited to an in-the-round venue to give it intimacy and engender some empathy towards quite a prickly character who has a limited emotional range. Moreover, Ed Reardon's life has little inherent jeopardy and so turning it into a theatrical spectacle demands that certain aspects of his back story are spiced up, his Hollywood experience being a case in point. Whatever elements he chose to draw out, Reardon should have had licence to enjoy a more elastic persona as he traced his own up and downs.

If you are a fan of Ed Reardon's Week, you'll be understandably curious about seeing your favourite grumpy scribe in the flesh. If satisfying your curiosity is enough of a boon, then A Writer's Burden will not be too much of a trial for you to undergo.