The Last Nuns
an audio play
As a proofreader and editor, I'm always on the writer's side because I write too. Inspired by my love of radio drama, I decided to produce an audio play based on one of my own writing projects. I've included a link to the script on this page in case the format I used is helpful to other writers. If you have any comments, have done anything like this yourself, or think you might like to, please get in touch!
It's 2068. King George is on the throne, the NHS is a distant memory, and religious orders have closed down due to dwindling numbers. But in one decaying English convent, three nuns have been left behind ...
Credits
Sister Flo ... TANYA ALEXANDER
Sergeant Bostock ... RUSSELL BILES
Alix/Sister Bronagh ... ELLIE BROOKS
Sister Marnie ... JULIA SAVILL
Sister Candice ... NAOMI UNWIN
​
Sound design by STEVE RAFTER
Written and produced by JO-ANN CHALLIS
Sister Candice and Sister Flo long to join a convent in Ireland, where communities still thrive. But they've been tasked with looking after the acerbic 90-year-old Sister Marnie, who's too ill to leave. She's an ungrateful patient, and life is harsh and lonely for her increasingly reluctant carers.
​
When Sister Marnie drags herself back from death's door for the hundredth time, Sister Candice and Sister Flo's hopes of freedom are dashed. But then a visitor arrives at the convent – someone from an institution as traditional as the church, and as uncertain of its place in the modern world.
Read the script here
If you're wondering how to format your own radio script, have a look at the method I ended up using. As well as numbering each page, number each line of dialogue on each page. It's a bit fiddly, but you'll be rewarded for your efforts during rehearsal and recording.
Julia, Russell, Steve, Ellie, Naomi, Tanya, me