Glitterbitch meets: Callum Coates from Fitzrovia Radio Hour

Who are you guys?

Fitzrovia Radio Hour Presents are Callum Coates, Alix Dunmore, Jon Edgley Bond and Alex Ratcliffe as the core artistic/production team with Phoebe Barran and Miles Gregory as associate directors and, so far, Chris Gilling and Phil Mulryne as associate actors. We’re all theatre professionals who just want to do something different.

How did it get started?

Actor Tony Austin, Alix Dunmore and I had been doing some readings from 1940’s books by Julian MacLaren Ross, Patrick Hamilton, Gerald Kersh, James Curtis and works by Paul Willetts. I’d adapted them to be more like scripts, dividing the passages between the actors and we noticed they were becoming like radio plays. John Edgley Bond and I were talking about this and he suggested we did actual radio scripts from the 40’s and 50’s.

Why the 40s and 50s? That’s just my thing. I’m into the music, the fashions, the dancing and just about everything to do with the retro scene, but film and radio of that time just has a wonderful quality that we wanted to pay homage to.

Why Bourne and Hollingsworth?

Jon and Alex Ratcliffe had been on tour in the Far East with Peter Pan and on their return Alex was moonlighting as bar manager at B&H. Jon phoned me and said “you’ve got to come to this brilliant cocktail bar, it’s right up your street, could be a great venue for the radio shows and my mate makes a mean martini.” Alex is also a bit of a retro boy and after several journeys through his mixocological skills he suggested we did the radio shows in the bar. We all agreed, then fell off our stools. Four weeks later we were The Fitzrovia Radio Hour.

Besides, it’s just perfect – a faux 1940’s living room full of beautiful drunks.

Why radio plays? Why not just a normal play?

We earn our living doing normal plays, so this is a bit different for us, but also there’s a great deal to be said for letting the audience have control over what they see in their minds eye. Imagination is a powerful thing which as adults we don’t often get in touch with.

We wear dinner suits because it amuses me that the BBC insisted that their radio announcers wore dinner suits in the evening and it brings a sense of period to it all. We are also having great fun creating sound effects from whatever we can lay our hands on.

What else have you got planned?

This is our first series and we plan to play on the first Monday of each month for six months. We started with Sherlock Holmes, this time we are doing short pieces that are very much like the Twilight Zone and in the future we will do some comedy, true crime stories, ghost stories, more sci-fi and more Victoriana and great classics too. They are all original scripts but I am also interested in adapting books, plays or comics in this style but that will have to be done quite carefully.

Where else would you like to perform?

The Pigalle Club would work, or Café de Paris. It’s meant to be a night out, so we ideally need a venue with a decent bar and a dance floor but a stage would be great. I think Jon is talking to The Bethnal Green Working Mens Club for an end of season omnibus. Obviously if the BBC said they wanted to get involved the we would be open to negotiation too….

What's your favourite bar in London? What do you drink when you're there?

I had a soft spot for the Atlantic Bar (partially because my grandmother went there when it was still new) but that sunk years ago (It's now The Astor - Ed). So now my favourite bar is actually Bourne and Hollingsworth. I usually have a very dry Martini but they make a fine cocktail with Burbon, Drambuie, lemon juice and a slice of apple. Waterstones in Piccadilly make the best frozen Martinis in London and the best bar snacks.

Last time you got drunk and fell over?

I have far too much respect for my clothes to allow myself to fall over, although I did fall asleep on the last train home a few months ago and ended up in Chingford – which is lovely at 2 in the morning when I’d never been there before.

Favourite London restaurant?

Priya. A South Indian restaurant in Walthamstow. I lived in India for a while and Priya serves exactly what we used to eat there without pandering to the Tikka Masala brigade. Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese is great for real English food too.

Best thing about London?

Whenever I go away for any significant time the thing that I love about coming back to London is its openness, in all sorts of ways. Its multiculturalism, its acceptance of peoples differences and just the stunning variety of what is on offer in London.

Worst thing about London?

Service. Doesn’t anyone take pride in their jobs? Oh and bendy buses - death traps and a total waste of public money.

If you've got two hours in London free, where would you go? what would you do?

Oh to have two hours free! It seems a long time since I had time to just do stuff for me, but when I did I could easily have spent several hours at Camden Market. That’s been totally ruined by commercialism now. All the great vintage shops have either gone out of business or had to put up their prices so much there’s not a bargain to be had.

One of my great pleasures though, particularly at weekends when no one is around, is just to take random walks through the City of London. No plan at all. Just random lefts and rights to see what I come across. I love the City.

Fitzrovia Radio Hour is at Bourne and Hollingsworth at Rathbone Place tonight. It's so popular that there are two shows. One at 7.30 and another at 8.45. It'll cost you just £3.50. Get there early and have a drink first, otherwise you might not get in at all.