Five Kinds of Silence by Shelgah Stephenson started its life as an award-winning radio play that first aired in 1997. She then adapted it for the stage, and in May 2000 it had its debut at the Lyric Hammersmith in London. The cast included Gina McKee, Lizzy McInnery, Linda Bassett, Dione Inman, Gary Whitaker and the wonderfully immortal Tim Pigott-Smith in the cast. The tone of the piece is often lyrical, particularly from the revenant ‘animal Billy’ ('the tarmac road made my dog teeth tingle")