Jenny Hunt and Holly Darton talk about their show Radio Local – Nine Elms

Returning with their hyper local radio show Radio Local; creatives Jenny Hunt and Holly Darton stop off at Nine Elms to bring listeners a mixture of gameshows, song requests, news bulletins, interviews with influential residents and more – ‘celebrating the joys and necessity of local radio and community.’ Ahead of their Nine Elms visit, Jenny and Holly tell us more about the show!

Hi Jenny and Holly, your hyper radio show Radio Local stops at Nine Elms from the 7th to the 13th September. How are you feeling ahead of the show?

We are really excited. Not only does it feel really important to have found a way to work in the current climate but we can’t wait for all the people who have been involved and will be involved from Nine Elms come together as the show rolls out. It all seems quite disparate until it begins, this bit here, that there and the programme we create rhythmically puts it all together to curate voice truly reflective of the area.

The Nine Elms edition will see you talk to President of the Royal College of Midwives Caroline Flint, Founder of the Your Cakes Initiative in Battersea Flora Yu, Youth Leader Kafui Brese and influential Campaigner, pioneer of the Tideway Village residential houseboat community David Waterhouse. How did you approach organising the radio line up?

We work with our partners Wandsworth Council and Battersea Arts Centre to collect invaluable contacts from the relationships they have forged over the years with the community and those they want to reach out to. We breakdown the show into different segments from Local Legends to players of our game Making Words or groups that will participate in our workshops and then join forces to fill it with everyone who wants to get involved. This is a celebration of where they live and entertainment to boot!

Your radio show uses the hyper local approach, what is it about the format that appeals to you both?

Radio is a superpower! Especially during lockdown, reaching people in their homes and bringing us together at such a difficult time. We think radio is such an appealing format it entices people in and this makes all of our jobs a little easier to connect. We want to encourage people back to their community radio stations – we are collaborating with Riverside Radio for Radio Local Nine Elms –  to tune into local voice instead of global and join in community activity through this powerful medium.

With the theatre industry having to adapt to new restrictions, how have you found creating work during this time?

We are constantly re-modelling. We are lucky that the way we work is responsive so this equipped us to do just that when the virus hit. It’s been hard work but incredibly rewarding. We have a lot to be proud of, our partners and team have worked in very odd circumstances to produce work that is complex at the best of times as it’s trying to connect and give authorship to communities. We’ve gone completely digital and also created a hybrid version where we have a presence on the high street particularly to reach those less inclined or without access to the internet to still get involved.

Radio Local has seen you tour various locations such as Cambridge, Manchester and Peterborough. How have your shows evolved throughout the years and how have audiences responded?

We have honed in what the show is exactly becoming clearer and clearer about its potential but also provided helpful limits with our programming and ideas for what the show will be. It’s always reflected of where we are doing it so always different in content rather than structure and therefore there’s always lovely surprises and moments beyond our expectations that make it such a rewarding project to deliver each time.

What are your future plans for the radio show post your visit of Nine Elms?

We are talking to a few more towns and cities across the UK and even have international dreams with co-hosts and Artists from those countries collaborating alongside us. We always say – how many places can we be local with Radio Local?

We are working toward our first podcast series too and all the shows are being made into highlight shows available to listen again on our website radiolocal.co.uk.

What can audiences expect from the radio show?

A charming and entertaining magazine style radio show hosted by Hunt & Darton and created by the curated participation of as many people we can meet to truly and hyper-locally reflect the location we are in.

Questions by Lucy Basaba.

Radio Local will take place in Nine Elms from Monday 7th until Sunday 13th September. To find out more and listen to the daily show, visit here…

You can also listen on the Battersea Arts Centre’s website here…

Written by Theatrefullstop