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SOOP are quickly gaining a national reputation as an acclaimed touring company, having travelled to Brighton, Uckfield, Buxton, Barnstaple and Birmingham last year, and they are excited to be performing this popular show closer to home.

Finding themselves plunged into a live radio broadcast with acute staff shortages, a radio repertory company are forced to come up with the sound effects for three one-act plays. Can they vocalise a death-defying car chase round the coastal paths of Cornwall? Will they pull off an alien invasion using just the contents of a handbag? Can the sound of a few sandwiches conjure up a terrifying tale of terror? As off-air mishaps collide with on-air drama, you can be sure of only one thing: the Fifties will never sound the same again!

Says director Nathan Chapman, “Radio Soop is a very different evening's entertainment, being both theatre and radio at the same time. We’ve tried to make the experience as authentic as possible, so the cast of five, with their scripts in their hands, will provide not only all the voices for three radio plays, but will also use a vast array of props and bizarre objects to create the sound effects needed in the show. It's clever, chaotic and very funny. The scripts themselves are great, and would probably stand up as genuine radio programmes in their own right. Add in the 'live broadcast element' and you have a recipe for a fantastic night out.”

Radio Soop features three original plays inspired by the heyday of radio, and written specially for the show. Audiences will be treated to affectionate pastiches of classic genres, including a tale of intrigue and espionage, gothic horror and American science fiction. But when peril threatens the perfection of their production, we see the extraordinary lengths they are willing to go to, to keep everything strictly ‘BBC!’

Nathan is surprised and delighted by Radio Soop’s continued popularity. “It’s actually our longest running show. Since we premiered at The Spring in June 2011 we’ve developed three other shows, but venues keep asking for Radio Soop and audiences keep coming. We had a sell out performance at the end of January. There’s clearly an appetite for nostalgia and this show strikes a chord.”

Radio Soop is appearing at The Station Theatre, Hayling Island, on Saturday February 8th, at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £10 and can be booked online or by calling the Box Office on 023 9246 6363 between 10am and noon Monday to Saturday.