Chris Lee is an award-winning playwright and short story writer. With this weekly podcast he offers tales of comfort and distraction for the lockdown era. Each tale is a unique reflection on the challenges and rewards, the absurdities and horrors of life after 2020. Tales that are funny, sad, ridiculous, provocative, moving and outrageous will entertain you and accompany you on your journey of survival through pandemic and post-pandemic times.
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The podcast Soft Tales for the Hard Apocalypse is created by Chris Lee. The podcast and the artwork on this page are embedded on this page using the public podcast feed (RSS).
This play is dedicated to anyone who has ever suffered from bi-polar affective disorder or been a carer for someone who has.
Jim and John struggle over the years with life, love and happiness. But there is light, there is memory and above all there is water.
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Welcome to a new series. The Thief of Murano is read by Andrew Brown. A love story with tragic consequences and a lot of glass. Venice awaits...
New intro music by James Hibbins.
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Well, there we are, 40 stories. That’s your lot. Many thanks to anyone who managed to get through them all. Time to go. Will my last story be about fluffy bunnies living happily ever after? No, just the usual; mental illness, dysfunctional families and pain. Enjoy.
The Sorrow of Shame
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During lockdown, when all you could do was go for a walk, I noticed that there was a man living in a homemade shelter, where the New River meets Pymmes Brook in North London. He was there for months but then suddenly he and his shelter were gone. I never spoke with him, but this story imagines a possible life.
Under the New River
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The modern workplace is awash with policies, procedures, initiatives and sub-committees. A new language has been born, that promotes optimistic incomprehensibility as the driving force of the new age of the organisation. Get with the jargon or get out. But have you ever thought that office life could prove fatal?
The Disciplinary Process
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Remember the pandemic? No? You’ve forgotten? That’s right, it was all so long ago. Lessons were learned of course. We’d be far better prepared next time. If there is a next time. There won’t be a next time will there?
Contagion
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Perhaps the most disturbing thing about mental health work is the encounter with children who have been flung far into mental distress by their traumatic experience. It can be hard to be hopeful. But by acknowledging the depth of the pain, by refusing to look away, we might begin to get somewhere. This is a tribute to a young person I once met on a psychiatric children’s ward.
Confined Spaces
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Do you have a faith? If you do, how deep is it? Could it, do you think, withstand personal tragedy? To forgive is divine, isn’t it? But when the whole truth is revealed then perhaps the strain shows. Are we all worth a second chance? Ask your God.
Prayers for an Angry God
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A woman looks back on her life, she feels the terror of the present and the loss of her friends. She worries about what is to come and what she has left unfinished. She thinks about her son, she wonders, through the tears, where her life has gone.
Southside 2019
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We can all reminisce once in a while. But the danger might be that we regret what we have become. There were many times, when we might have made other choices. But then again, dwell on that regret and we might not fully appreciate the value of what we did chose. Whatever, we can’t stop reverie.
Such Kisses
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Birth, marriage, parenthood, death. It all goes by in a flash. What is any of it worth, what, if anything, do we learn? And if you want to leave it all behind when the time comes, when you really can’t stand it anymore, then who is anyone to try and stop you? So, roll that all together and you have this story:
The Red Headed Krait
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Life in the fast lane can get you into the odd scrape. Remember The Chemical Brothers’ song ‘Where Do I begin?’ Sunday morning I’m waking up. Can’t even focus on a coffee cup. Don’t even know whose bed I’m in. Where do I start? Where do I begin? Don’t let yourself be trapped. Get out before it’s too late. Oh dear, it’s too late.
A Sweet Disorientation
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How do you feel about atonal classical music? Schoenberg, Berg, Webern and all that came after: Boulez, Stockhausen, Berio, Nono, Ligeti? Schoenberg predicted that grocers’ boys would be whistling serial music on their rounds. Where are those grocers’ boys? Maybe, they were driven to kill.
The Twelve-Tone Murders.
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Street drinkers have their own ethics. And there is a camaraderie in the absolutely downtrodden. This is a story about friendships and survival in the world of the destitute. It’s also a fond tribute to memories of Deptford in London, where I first plied my trade as a social worker.
Frieda and Hamish bury Nigel.
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My grandfather came back from the First World War and sank into alcoholism. He could afford it, at least at first. By the end, although he was living in a nursing home, he still retained a chauffeur and went on a daily pub crawl through South Dublin. I imagine the thoughts that lurked at the bottom of the glass.
An Irish Officer Foresees His Death in the Pubs of Dalkey.
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Today’s story is about guilt and affairs and marriage and the wonderful French city of Grenoble. Maybe it’s also about freedom and choice and even happiness. Must be getting soft.
Snowbound
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The Goldberg Disintegrations. Dementia is cruel, maybe as cruel to those who observe, as to those who suffer. They say music is one of the last skills to be eaten by the disease. I hope that’s true. But what must it be like to fall apart mentally in this way? Today’ story considers the case of a concert pianist playing Bach.
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I’ve started up again. Why not? So here are a few more stories for the next ten weeks or so. Today’s effort is called ‘Brothers Three’, inspired by my work with people who hoard. I worked with a man who hoarded newspapers. And the I learned about his brother who hoarded fruit and vegetables and his other brother who hoarded stationary. Obviously, it’s a tragedy.
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So here we are at the last tale. Thank you for listening. It’s still never too late to add comments or ratings and I can be contacted at [email protected] for castigation and online abuse.
The Assessment is for everyone who works in mental health services. We don’t always get it right, but we keep trying. Someone has to.
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This is the second last of my tales, for now at least. I’m going to try and get them published, so if anyone has any tips or connections, don’t be shy. Also, it’s never too late to add a rating or a comment.
This is a simple father and son story, set in Ireland and in London. I hope you enjoy it.
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Today’s story is called The Pillar Box. Brexit has been so much fun, don’t you think? And it looks as if it will just keep on giving. But really, how bad do you think it could get? If you’re Irish that is. Sit back and let’s see.
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Today’s story is simply called Goodbye. An old man struggles to come to terms with his fading memory. A tragic experience that affects, or will affect so many of us. But what if the memories themselves should be left in the past? What if that older person is a much better human being than the one that memory can no longer reach?
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En liten tjänst av I'm With Friends. Finns även på engelska.