CBS PLAYWRITING CONTEST

New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 85, 7 February 1941, Page 7

CBS PLAYWRITING CONTEST

Auckland Girl Placed First

HE playwriting contest on the subject "There'll Always be an England" recently conducted by the Commercial Broadcasting Service, has been won by Marie Conlan, of 5 Sharpe Road, Epsom, Auckland, who will receive the first prize of 25 guineas. The second prize of ten guineas

was won by Miss P. McDonagh of Wellington, and the third prize (five guineas) by F. Baird of Auckland. There are ten consolation prizes of one guinea each. A satisfactory number of entries was received but it was obvious that many contestants suffered from lack of knowledge of the requirements of radio technique. However, there were many usable scripts. Only the subject of the contest was specified, entrants for the rest being given wide scope. Some wrote a pro-

gramme complete in one quarter-hour episode; some submitted programmes of 13 episodes. The judges were C. G. Scrimgeour, controller of the CBS, W. Elliott, who is in charge of production, Bryan O’Brien, assistant production supervisor, and O. N. Gillespie. They had little difficulty in awarding the first prize to Miss Conlan. Miss Conlan did not make the mistake of "larding’" her 13-episode play with patriotic sentiment to the point of spoiling it for radio entertainment, Her theme was the part played by many bloodless and peaceful revolutions in English history. The episodes are: "The Story of Caractacus the King," "Alfred the Great,’ "Simon de Montfort," "When Elizabeth was Queen," "Oliver Cromwell," "The Story of St. Paul’s," "The Story of Edward Jenner," "Elizabeth Fry," "The Tolpuddle Martyrs," "The Story of Ali Singh," "The Story of Captain Oates," "The Unknown Soldier," and "The Story of Our Time." Miss McDonagh’s play, also of 13 episodes, is mainly concerned with the imperialist development of the British people. Mr. Baird’s 15-minute play was refreshingly original, consisting of a Socratic dialogue between voices representing the characters Reason, Cynic, Pessimist, Bewildered, Patriot and another voice which plays the part of a Greek chorus. One of the main points stressed by the judges is that entrants generally had far too little knowledge of the requirements of radio presentation. Writers who intend trying their hand at radio serials should, they suggest, listen carefully to established successes such as "Easy Aces," "The Lost Empire," "Cavalcade of Drama," and "It’s a Great Life." One obvious point to remember was that as soon as the cast grew to more than four or five people it was difficult both to follow the story and to distinguish the speakers, Miss Conlan’s entry will probably be heard over the air in the near future.