ROTORUA COMES INTO THE PROGRAMMES

New Zealand Listener, Volume 20, Issue 513, 22 April 1949, Page 20

ROTORUA COMES INTO THE PROGRAMMES

A New Station, and a New Feature

HIS week another new station — 1YZ Rotorua-makes its first appearance in the programme pages and, appropriately, a new BBC feature makes its first appearance in the programmes of 1YZ. .The "Janeites,"’ as Rudyard Kipling once christened lovers of Jane Austen’s books, can now look forward to hearing one of their favourites brought to life'on the air. An adaptation of Emma, originally broadcast as a twelve-part serial to the BBC’s home listeners, has been issued in recordings made at the time of the original production, and it starts from 1YZ at 7.30 p.m. on Thursday, April 28. H. Oldfield Box, who adapted the | hook for radio. describes Emma as a

delicious comedy of errors, a comic satire pure and _ simple, | without a gloomy | page in it, for as in © most of her work, the author deliber- : ately avoided the unpleasant aspects of life. The plot, he goes on to say, though perfectly constructed, is slight- : just enough to keep us wondering, but. no more. Emma Woodhouse — 21, handsome, clever, and rich-is the attractive but spoilt child of a. doting | father. Over-confi- ; dence in her own) judgment involves | her in’ a succession | of awkward situations, but, by the time the story ends, she has learnt her lesson. ; But the real fun, according to Mr. | Box, and what makes it particular- | ly suitable for presentation as a radio serial, lies in the

humour of the individual scenes and in the characters themselves. None of Jane Austen’s novels, he says, has a richer variety of characters, for it is in Emma that we meet the delightful malade imaginaire, Mr. Woodhouse; that simple, lovable, beauty-without-brain, Harriet Smith; that goodnatured bore, Miss Bates; and that vulgar pretentious upstart, Mr. Elton. Its hero, Mr. Knightley, is the most likeable, real and man-like of all Jane Austen’s heroes, and Emma herself, in spite of her faults, and to a considerable extent because of them, never loses our sympathy. In adapting this novel for broadcasting, Mr. Box concluded, he soon realised how much of the fun depended on the author’s own witty asides and penetrating comments. He therefore made Jane Austen herself the narrator, and allowed narration to play a rather larger part than in any of his previous serials.

Rachel Gurney plays the part of Emma, and Joan Clement-Scott takes the role of Jane Austen. Official Opening Ceremony Listeners to 1YZ will be well catered for, judging from the programmes to be broadcast in the first week. The official opening at 8.0 p.m. on Wednesday, April 27, will be made by the Hon, F. Jones, Minister in Charge of Broadcasting, and listeners will hear addresses by other prominent speakers. Following the official opening a musical programme featuring Rotorua artists will be presented, and the station will close down at 10.30 p.m. On Thursday, April 28, following the news and breakfast session there will be a Morning Star session (Nelson

Eddy) at 94 am., the serial Romany Spy starting at 10.0 am. and Music While You Work at 10.45 am. Broadcasts to Schools will be at 1.30 pm, the serial The Todds starts at 2.30 p.m., a Classical HalfHour at 4.0 p.m.,, and the children’s serial Alice in Wonderland at 4.30 p.m. The evening. programme _ will be mainly devoted to popular music and variety "Friday’s programmes will follow much the same pattern as Thursday’s. The first of a series of programmes called Songs of the West will be heard at 10.0 am., Holiday for Song at 11.30 a.m. Goodbye Mr. Chips starts at 2.30 p.m., a Bing Crosby programme at 5.45 p-m., and the BBC’s comedy quiz show

pered Dy Wuiitred Pickles, starts at 7.30 pm. A Gracie Fields programme will be broadcast at 8.15 p.m., following Cinema Organ Time at 8.0 p.m., and at 9.30 p.m. a programme of the Latest Releases will be heard. On Saturday The Silver Horde starts at 10.0 a.m., Hill-billy Quarter Hour at 10.15 a.m., and at 7.30 p.m. the first of Brass Bandstand; featuring British bands, will be heard. Programmes starting on Sunday, May 1, include the BBC’s Melodies from British Films at 2.0 p.m., An American in Britain at 4.0 p.m., The Man Born to be King, by Dorothy Sayers, at 5.30 p.m., and Into the Unknown, the story of Scott in the Antarctic, at 8.0 p.m. Following the weekly news summary in Maori at 9.12 p.m. will be Round About New Zealand, a programme of recordings made by the Mobile Recording Unit of the NZBS.