Our production of No Ordinary Joe, No Ordinary Kennedy by Martyn Wade, commissioned by INK for this year’s Festival is now available to listen to here .

No Ordinary Joe, No Ordinary Kennedy tells the dramatic and tragic story of Joe Kennedy Jnr, the elder brother of JFK, who as a young man seemed destined to become President of the United States – until, that is, the Second World War intervened. The audio play examines Joe’s complex character, and traces events which led Joe to volunteering for a top-secret and highly dangerous mission, in which he was required to fly a Liberator plane packed with explosives and bail out before it crossed the Channel. Tragically his plane exploded over Blythburgh, Suffolk killing him and his co-pilot, Lt. Wilford John Willy (Bud). This play is to honour them both and all those who flew and lost their lives during WW2.

Click here to listen to the audio.

NO ORDINARY JOE, NO ORDINARY KENNEDY

Written by: Martyn Wade

Commissioned by INK and produced by Digital Drama

Cast:

Joe Jr: Charlie Field

Joe Sr: Andrew Wincott

Pat: Molly McGeachin

Bud: William Kempsell

Production:

Director: Kate Valentine

Sound: Lucinda Mason Brown & David Chilton

Associate Producer for Digital Drama: Alison Ramsey

Thanks to National Lottery Heritage Fund, the project will also gather and record local WW2 stories which will be then be presented and stored at The Halesworth Museum and an exhibition displaying parts of the crashed plane curated for the first time from different sources.