Multi-platinum singer, song-writer and actor, Sting returns to BBC Radio 4 audio drama in I Must Have Loved You, a play he has co-created with writer Michael Chaplin. The story follows Jess Doyle [Fran McNamee], a young singer compelled to leave Newcastle, to escape an overbearing blues singing father [Sting] and to find her own voice. Yet somewhere inside Fran knows that success may be the unmaking of her and all of those who love her. The play explores a theme both Chaplin and Sting continue to mine in their work; what do you win and what do you lose when you turn your back on the things that made you?
Sting has appeared on Broadway stages, in iconic films such as Quadrophenia and Dune, and in previous Radio 4 adaptations of Mervyn Peak’s novels Titus Groan and Gormenghast. I Must Have Loved You features music by Sting, he will also play the role of Vince, the father of the family.
Writer Michael Chaplin says: “It’s been a deeply rewarding pleasure to work with Sting in fashioning a song-strewn story about a musical family in Newcastle. The play travels as far as the Grand Canyon, but is rooted in the city where we grew up and which remains an inspiration.”
Alison Hindell, Radio 4 Commissioning Editor for Drama and Fiction adds: “I’m delighted that Sting and Michael have brought us such a powerful story, and one which is informed by first-hand observations of the music industry. It’s fantastic to hear it so firmly rooted in the North East of England, with the largely local cast adding to its authenticity, and the whole production is enriched by Sting’s evocative songs and music.”
I Must Have Loved You will be broadcast on Radio 4 and available on BBC Sounds from 14:45, Saturday 19 March 2022.
Also available - viewers can watch BBC Radio 2’s Dermot O’Leary in conversation with Sting in Sting: Reel Stories on BBC iPlayer now. The programme sees Dermot and Sting settle down in a cinema to relive some of Sting’s most famous performances and interviews from over the years.
