Writing
90′ BBC R3
Adaptation of Georg Büchner’s classic French Revolution drama.
45′ BBC R4
Original play on the death of a little-known Caucasian language
90′ BBC R4
Adaptation of the first part of Aeschylus’s trilogy
90′ BBC R4
Adaptation of Arthur Koestler’s critique of Stalinist Russia
90′ BBC R4
Co-written with Andrew Day
“Ambitious, clever and funny” ***** The Independent on Also Sprach Zarathustra
4 x 60′ BBC R4
Awarded Judges’ Commendation in Best Adaptation category, BBC Audio Drama Awards
“Write to the Director General. It’s that good” – David Aaronovitch in The Independent
“A genuinely astonishing piece of work” – Radio Times
5 x 15′ BBC R3
A take on Maupassant’s stories and life.
5 x 30′ BBC R4
Co-written with Andrew Day
Nominated, Best Audio Fiction, Prix Europa 2o23
3 x 45′ BBC R4
Co-written with Andrew Day
60′ BBC R3
Georg Kaiser’s Expressionist powder-keg. Produced in collaboration with Almost Tangible. I translated, adapted and directed.
The Girls of Slender Means
60′ adaptation of Muriel Spark’s novel, BBC R4
45′ BBC R4
A true-crime caper from 90’s Berlin: the German public doesn’t know whether to be terrified or amused by the antics of an extortionist bomber with an infantile nom de guerre. Who is the infamous Scrooge McDuck?
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.
“Simon Scardifield’s script hits all the right notes” – Daily Telegraph.
The Power of Myth
I was commissioned by Cartier to create a piece of theatre, a two-hander, about the deep history of jewels and jewellery making, but also embracing elements of the founding myths of Cartier itself – in particular, the affair between Louis Cartier and its eventual Creative Director, Jeanne Toussaint. I was writing to a tight and very specific brief, intertwining several different story strands, for an audience I was not familiar with. The result went down well, was performed again in Paris at the Théâtre des Variétés, and in 2023 I will be re-writing it for an audience outside Cartier.
Shakespeare, Where Are You?
This was a piece commissioned by the Globe and put together with Jamie Askill who I also directed in it. The idea was for a biographical piece, but facts about Shakespeare’s life are famously thin on the ground, so we had to be inventive. And theatrically daring, And use a lot of paper.
Bottom’s Dream
A collaboration between Shakespeare’s Globe and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The brief was to tell the story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream for young people, with the full orchestra playing interludes and involved in the action. All on the stage of the Royal Festival Hall. Puck bent a trumpet over her knee and the conductor was at the edge of his comfort zone. It was a blast.
DeBeers
For Autumn 2025 Debeers have an audio-visual exhibit at Frieze for which I produced the text.