I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation Audiobook (Free)

A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Maya Angelou’s poignant, powerful autobiography, starring Adjoa Andoh, Indie Gjesdal and Pippa Bennett-Warner.

Empty by their parents, Maya and her older brother Bailey are delivered to live with their grandmother and uncle in the small Southern town of Stamps in Arkansas. Struggling with rejection, they endure the prejudice of their white neighbours and suffer several racist incidents.

1 day, their father unexpectedly earnings and takes the children to live with about I Know Why the Caged Parrot Sings: A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation their mother in St Louis, Missouri. Aged just eight, Maya can be abused by her mother’s boyfriend, an experience that haunts her for life. Filled up with guilt and pity, she refuses to speak to anyone except Bailey – until she fits Mrs Bertha Blossoms, who motivates her like of books, helping her to discover her tone of voice and regain her own strong spirit.

Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is today’s American basic, beloved worldwide, which recounts a youth filled up with curiosity, wonder, disappointment, frustration, tragedy, and hard-won independence. This radio dramatisation, starring Adjoa Andoh, Indie Gjesdal and Pippa Bennett-Warner, plays out her amazing story with dramatic verve and poetic brilliance.

Cast:

Narrator (Older Maya)…Adjoa Andoh

Maya…Indie Gjedsal/Pippa Bennett-Warner

Bailey…Roshawn Hewitt

Momma…Cecilia Noble

Uncle Willie/Freeman/Daddy…Richard Pepple

Steward/Attorney…John Lightbody

Gal…Francesca Elise

Mother…Ellen Thomas

Bertha Blossoms…Nikki Amuka-Bird

Spanish voices… Maider Jáuregui, Rocío Mesonero, Celia Romo, Julio Villa-García, Hugo Sánchez and Francisco Oda-Ángel @ Instituto Cervantes,Manchester

Receptionist…Lauren Cornelius

Dramatised by Patricia Cumper

Produced by Pauline Harris