219: Writer Carole Hayman

Carole Hayman is a writer, director and producer best known for creating the long-running Radio 4 comedy Ladies of Letters, and for her work across theatre, film and television.

This conversation explores her fascination with understanding the motivations and actions of women who kill. When she began interviewing psychiatrists and families, a nurse warned her: “It’s a minefield — and no one escapes.”

Material from those interviews became The Hive — an opera born from years of verbatim testimony, a four-screen installation, and, by Carole’s own admission, a slightly wine-soaked rehearsal that turned into something bigger.

The Hive challenges the familiar, sensationalised image of the “female killer,” aiming instead to reconnect with the basic humanity of the people who’ve caused suffering.

The opera premieres at The Tung Auditorium, Liverpool, in partnership with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, on Saturday 8 November at 7.30 pm.

We talk about violence, laughter, and the ethics of turning other people’s pain into art — and about The Hive’s uncomfortable questions: how do we decide who’s guilty, and why do stories of murder fascinate us?