Leicester Emergent Arts Radio (Radio Lear) is a creative and experimental community radio project that blends live performance, audio drama, and storytelling with contemporary digital broadcasting. The project takes its inspiration from Shakespeare’s King Lear, who according to myth is buried beneath the River Soar in Leicester.
At its heart, Radio Lear is about pushing the boundaries of radio as an artistic medium. It is designed as a space for collaboration between artists, writers, musicians, and community participants, offering a platform for experimental sound-based storytelling. Unlike conventional radio, which often relies on linear formats, Radio Lear embraces the fragmented and immersive potential of digital media, inviting audiences to engage with narrative in new and unexpected ways.
The project is also deeply tied to the ethos of participatory and community-focused media. It provides opportunities for emerging creatives to develop skills in radio production, performance, and digital storytelling. It is not just about broadcasting to people—it is about broadcasting with people, drawing on lived experiences and local voices to craft meaningful audio work.
How Does Radio Lear Fit Within the Emergent Arts Scene in Leicester?
Leicester’s emergent arts scene is characterised by its cross-disciplinary approach, blending theatre, digital media, performance art, and community engagement. Radio Lear fits into this landscape as an experimental initiative that straddles multiple artistic domains:
- Digital Performance & Audio Experimentation: Leicester has a strong tradition of experimental arts, with venues like Phoenix, Attenborough Arts Centre, and independent collectives fostering innovative approaches to storytelling. Radio Lear contributes to this by creating a hybrid space between theatre and radio, exploring how soundscapes, live performances, and interactive elements can redefine the listening experience.
- Community Participation & Collaborative Arts: Leicester’s arts scene thrives on collaboration, particularly in socially engaged and community-driven projects. Radio Lear aligns with this by offering an open, participatory framework where artists and non-artists alike can contribute, share their stories, and shape the creative process.
- Place-Based Identity & Cultural Narratives: Leicester’s cultural diversity makes it a fertile ground for new forms of storytelling. Radio Lear draws on local voices and experiences, reflecting themes that resonate with the city’s social fabric—migration, belonging, power structures, and identity.
By embedding itself within Leicester’s creative networks, Radio Lear is not just another arts project—it is an evolving conversation about the role of audio storytelling in contemporary culture. It provides a testing ground for new ways of engaging audiences while staying rooted in the city’s rich traditions of performance and community expression.
This is an opportunity to be part of something that values collaboration, experiment, and the unexpected. Whether you are drawn to storytelling, performance, sound design, or creative production, Radio Lear is a space to explore new ways of working together and to discover how radio can be a site of shared imagination.