91福利社

**** This programme was requested by the following listeners:

*Anne-Marie Callaghan
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Part of 91福利社 Radio 4 Extra鈥檚 All Request Weekend. ****

Spoonface is 7 years old, autistic and terminally ill with cancer.

She's fascinated by opera and by the way her parents behave. With the help of their cleaner, Mrs Spud, she tries to come to terms with her extraordinary life.

Lee Hall's award-winning monologue is performed by Becky Simpson.

First broadcast in 1997, it elicited such an extraordinary response from 91福利社 Radio 4 listeners that a repeat was scheduled within days of the original transmission.

Originally the final part of Hall's quartet of dramas examining the experience of growing up from the perspective of children, Spoonface Steinberg was subsequently adapted for TV and the stage.

Lee Hall went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for his screenplay of Billy Elliot, later turned into a stage musical.

Producer: Kate Rowland

First broadcast on 91福利社 Radio 4 in January 1997.

**** To nominate a programme from the 91福利社 poetry archive that you would like to hear again, please email radio4extra@bbc.co.uk and tell us details of why you'd like to hear it.****

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