Plays in Contrast
HEN two radio plays come on the air within a few minutes of each other, in the words of Mrs. Malaprop, caparisons are odorous. 4ZB’s offering, in the series "Short Short Stories," was the
most puerile, if possible, of all the plays I have ever listened to. It concerned a millionaire’s daughter who was about to marry a "foreigner" who spoke the hammiest broken English, was obviously a cad of the first water and a fortunehunter to boot. Nevertheless, the heroine is madly in love and it requires the machinations of a stagey butler and a friendly crook to reveal the lover in his true colours, and a ridiculous "curtain" finds daughter in papa’s ever-loving arms to the accompaniment (if listeners’ reactions were audible) of hisses all round. On the contrary, "Flood," in 4YA’s "Play of the Week" series, was a wellconstructed, well-acted thriller with not a few deft macabre touches. When one play is so good, why must another be so very very bad indeed? Is it the fault of the station which chooses to broadcast it, the actors who play it, the writer who concocted it, or the listeners who let | it get by without protest?
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19450803.2.22.3
Bibliographic details
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 13, Issue 319, 3 August 1945, Page 10
Word count
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201Plays in Contrast New Zealand Listener, Volume 13, Issue 319, 3 August 1945, Page 10
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
Copyright in the Denis Glover serial Hot Water Sailor published in 1959 is owned by Pia Glover. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this serial and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the Listener. You can search, browse, and print this serial for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Pia Glover for any other use.
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