Amnesia

New Zealand Listener, Volume 20, Issue 504, 18 February 1949, Page 9

Amnesia

N The Waters of Lethe, G. Murray Milne has written a neat little radio play about amnesia. Just like Ronald Colman and half-a-dozen other film stars in their time, the hero of this play loses his memory (after a bash on the head — -you guessed it). What places this particular play ahead of others dealing

with the same subject, however, is its careful avoidance of technical details. No schizophrenic tells his troubles toa psychiatrist, nor are there any doctors issuing clinical instructions about how to deal with Case No. 158. All we hear about amnesia comes from the lips of the victim himself, as he mentally searches for a clue as to his identity, and decides that he doesn’t know much about himself, or about amnesia either -except for the name of the malady. As the reader is in the same boat, this is all for the best, and thé author is to be congratulated on continuing his exciting story from that point without further delving into the subconscious. What follows the initial loss of memory is a swift-moving yarn of crooks and police, or baddies and goodies, the dénouement of which I shan’t reveal, for the sake of future listerniers-although it is fairly apparent from the start just what sort of a character the victim of amnesia really possesses, thanks to the acting ability of whoever plays the part. For a slick piece of entertainment, my thanks to the author and to the NZBS unit who produced it. o