Well Jelled

New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 456, 19 March 1948, Page 29

Well Jelled

FAREWELL, HELEN, by C. Gordon Glover, was one of these radio plays that leave the listener in an emotional jelly and the critic with scarcely a word to say for himself. Fortunately or unfortunately they don’t hit the air very often -fortunately perhaps, since frequent listening would result in over-stimula-tion, and to listen on three consecutive nights would be the emotional equivalent of a three-day jag. No, much better to exist on a wholesome dramatic diet of easily-digested murders and reinforced romance. Mr. Glover has the knack of involving numbers. of his listeners in his emotional wringer, since his themes are (generally speaking) universal ones, but manages to render the wringing process rather less painful by diverting his hearers with the brightness of his conversation. (Imagine your dentist has the wit of a Wilde.) It is of course possible to pick flaws in Farewell, Helen (no woman who liked bijou flats with chromium furniture would hang "The Garden of Innocence" on her wall), but this is mere quibbling. Most other radio playwrights win my admiration by presenting me with a novel plot and a surprise ending. I feel there is even more to admire in Mr. Glover’s uncanny ability to make me feel emotionally and artistically satisfied without what I had always regarded as the necessary coup de grace of a conclusion.