THINGS TO COME

New Zealand Listener, Volume 21, Issue 525, 15 July 1949, Page 26

THINGS TO COME

i The Worm Turns CRITICISM of New Zealand’s system of education seems to have become almost a habit in certain quarters. So long as it is informed criticism there should be no cause for complajnt, for a lively, critical public interest is one of the surest signs of health and vigour, Yet there is the suspicion that some parents find the system and the schools a convenient scapegoat for their own shortcomings in the home. Whatever one thinks about education to-day listeners will. probably benefit by hearing it discussed by three senior Auckland schoolboys (themselves products of the system) in a broadcast from 1YA this Sunday, July 17, at 3.30 p.m. The same_three, in their first appearance before the microphone a few days ago when they dealt with "The Shocker," lost none of the candour of youth, and spoke with a fluency which might well serve to set some of their elders on their mettle, Blind Man’s Buffet [LISTENERS who enjoy a good meaty thriller will find Edward Harding’s No Time For Tea supplies all the ingredients, since it boasts one genuine corpse ("This blood is 12 hours old at least," says the Inspector), a couple of also-starteds, and Mr. Portus, a blind amateur sleuth who is in private life a tea-taster, There is also a strong Black Market odour (no red herring this). Edward ‘Harding's thrillers are always competent, but this should appeal particularly to those who prefer a solution reached by action rather than by armchair rumination. This script is peppered with fringing telephones, miaowing cats, screeching brakes and the roaring protests of the rounded-up, And there is a certain ruthlessness in the dialogue that matches this richness of material. "The only time I see Life is when there’s a good death on," says domestically-occupied Mrs, Portus as she climbs gleefully into the cat. No Time For Tea will be heard from 2YA in the NZBS ‘Playhouse session at 8 -o’clock on Wednesday, July 20, Who is Sylvia? SYLVIA RICHMOND, young (26), beautiful and, what’s more, a brilliant business woman, becomes the. private secretary of Denis Hallington, the managing director of Consolidated Steel. She exerts a strange fascination over Hallington, and when he has a fatal accident his entire fortune goes to her. She is cold, ambitious, and cruel, and her lust for. power makes her one of the most hated women in Britain. She even finances the German armament industry, and soon becomes known to London society of the ’20’s as "the devil’s duchess," a sobriquet originating from the scurrilous tongue of the Polish artist Emile Ludorwski, who has been commissioned to paint her portait. Sylvia’s evil career ends only when war sweeps away the entire foreign interests of the firm, and the a blitz in London destroys her and Hallington’s son, whom she had brought up to be as ruthless as herself. This in

bare outline is the story of The Devil's Duchess, a serial in 104 15-minute episodes which starts from 4YZ at 2.0 p.m. on Wednesday, July 20. For those who like this kind of thing, there it is.

Happy Dreams BS HAD such a queer dream last night -I can see it al] now.’ How many times have you heard a remark like that at the breakfast table? Listeners to’ 1XH Hamilton who can leave the basting of the Sunday joint for half-an-hour will hear a programme called Dreams at 10.0 a.m. on July 24. It is claimed that psychiatrists can give fre-

lief and benefit by studying the dreams of their patients. But how do they go about it? In this BBC pro gramme listeners will hear « how the mod- . ern psychia- | trist. interprets dreams as a

means of bringing a patient back towards health-bodily as well as mental. Presented in dramatic form, it . was written for the BBC by Kenneth Alexander, and produced by Nesta Pain, whose work on documentary features with a mediéal or scientific setting is highly regarded. The parts of the psychiatrist and his patient are taken by Edward Chapman and Ralph Truman.

WAG EVERAL world-famous players were interviewed by John Arlott for the BBC’s broadcast tribute to the memory of the greatest of all English cricketers, W. G. Grace. The Old Man, as the programme was called, was -broadcast in Britain on the occasion of the centenary of Dr. Grace’s birth last year, and recordings made at the time will be heard from 2YA. at 8.0 p.m. on. Friday, July 22. Amongst those giving personal recollections (including one or two rather salty ones) of this most legendary of sporting figures are C. B. Fry, Jack Hobbs, Arthur Paish, and C. J. Kortright. The programme was written, produced, and introduced by John Arlott, whose’ commentaries on the present Test series are proving very popular with listeners, ‘Succulence by Proxy Saturday, July 23, at 7.35 p.m., listeners to 2YA will be offered "oysters stewed in honey, and congereels cooled in snow"’-at second-hand, of course-for the offering will be musical and the donor Chu. Chin Chow. New Zealanders whose memories go back to the theatre season of 1921 will

remember the sensation made by the famous old musical show (book by Oscar Asche, music by Frederic Norton) and how both they and the critics agreed with the advertised description of "the world’s most gorgeous stage spectacle, resplendent with bewitching Eastern charm and Oriental splendour." They will recall, too, the special illumination of the theatres, the incense burning in brass bowls in the foyers and the attendants in Oriental garb. They will probably remember best of all the Cobbler’s Song, but what 2YA will present will be a BBC radio adaptation of Chu Chin Chow lasting for about an hour, so that all the highlights of the show will be included, Jeepers Peepers HE diary of Samuel Pepys, the Restoration diarist whose shorthand . jottings have fascinated a wide reading public ever since they were first deciphered in. 1825, has’ endured various forms of popularisation, including cartoon strips, and radio serials, Unfortunately for later generations, however, "that curious fellow" (as a mildly shocked Sir Walter Scott called him after reading part of the diary) suffered from a curious and rather unpronounceable name. But although the "peppis," "peps," and "peeps" fans are almost equal in number, the last are’ probably right, for it was in this way that the name was pronounced in the 17th Century, and it has always been so pros nounced by the family. The latest. Pepys production, which starts from 3YA at’ 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 24, is a series of four musical programmes. written around his life,*the first -being called "In His House." The artists ate Myra Thomson (soprano), John Scott (tenor), Trevor Hutton (flute), and Althea Harley-Slack (piano). The series is entitled Peeps at Pepys.