Dara E Healy
I WAS thrilled to hear about the success of Julien Neaves winning the 2023 BBC World Service British Council International Radio Playwriting Competition. In a world fascinated by global media networks, social media and dazzling visual effects, I was surprised to learn that hundreds of radio scripts were submitted from around the world.
What is it about this genre of communication that continues to appeal to playwrights and listeners? In our nation where radio serves many different communities, beliefs and musical tastes, is there a place for the radio drama in helping us to address complex social issues?
Radio broadcasts in TT started during the 1920s, mirroring a global obsession with the medium. Radio was quick and relatively inexpensive to produce; eventually radio became wireless and portable as well.
Radio dramas are described as “the fusion of theatre and radio as a means of communication.” In the late 1920s, the demand for radio dramas increased when broadcasting companies recognised that narrative or theatrically-based entertainment was growing in popularity. Storylines varied from Westerns to romance, detective stories or horror.
Larger audiences meant greater commercial success. This motivated a quest for stories that were more shocking, occasionally more vulgar and definitely more dramatic. In 1926, a BBC radio drama created considerable panic when it broadcast a "12-minute report of a murderous riot in central London." The realism of the programme was deepened with special effects like explosions and screaming crowds.
In 1938, Orson Welles adapted The War of the Worlds by HG Wells into a radio drama. War in Europe was looming and there was a global economic depression. Understandably the world was on edge.
The radio drama brilliantly incorporated "breaking news" techniques into a rather sedate show about music. Each time the programme was interrupted, the breaking news bulletins increased in intensity. As part of the drama, the reporter provided live updates and interviewed people on the streets for eyewitness accounts. Listeners who missed the announcement that this was a play believed that an invasion from Mars was taking place.
With the advent of television and increasingly sophisticated motion pictures, the demand for radio dramas declined. Fortunately, the format found relevance in other ways. In more modern times, radio dramas have been used around the world to communicate difficult messages about sensitive issues.
In Tanzania, a radio drama on forced marriage of underage girls helped to bring perspective on issues related to rights of the child, gender equality and other sensitive subjects. This form of storytelling was used in Bangladesh to discuss ideas around peace. And from 2009 to 2014, the BBC collaborated with radio stations in Nigeria to produce radio programmes as part of information and outreach on HIV/AIDS. The partnership included training of radio producers, as well as wider engagement with other creative industries in Nigeria.
These global examples
