Radio 4 The Archers scriptwriter brings musical to Cornwall

The Shearing Gang is the work of Graham Harvey, who has penned more than 600 episode of the Radio 4’s rural radio drama.

It tells the story of five young people brought together for the summer, working the farms of Cornwall. They travel together, work together and play together, living for the present, all knowing that at the summer’s end, each will go their own way.

Their journey takes them to Bodmin Moor and its mystical stone circles, where past and present become intertwined.

It will premiere at three outdoor venues in Cornwall this July, starting at Sterts, outside Liskeard, on July 9 to 11 and again from July 17 to 19.

The musical then moves to Trebah Garden’s outdoor theatre new Mawnan Smith on July 24 and 25, and Penlee Park near Penzance on July 25 and 27.

It is the result of a collaboration between the Dogwood Productions theatre company and Sterts, using funding from Arts Council England, and brings together a professional cast with two different community companies recruited for the events in east and west Cornwall.

Despite being ‘a townie’ birth, Graham has had a life-long fascination with the countryside and those who live and work within it. In the mid-1980s he joined the scriptwriting team of The Archers whilst continuing to write and campaign on countryside issues.

His other stage plays include The Process, and The Darkness of the Sun, the story of writer Henry Williamson, while he has also written for The Sunday Times, New Scientist, Country Life and for three years the Old Muckspreader column in Private Eye.

His books include We Want Real Food and The Carbon Fields.

Fans even include Minister for Agriculture, Michael Gove, who praised Graham’s latest book, ‘Grass-Fed Nation’, and the way in which he pinpointed the need to be “In tune with what’s good for the environment but also where the demand for food will be”.

For more information email shearinggangcornwall@gmail.com or visit theshearinggang.com.