Diplomat's Drama
_ | HE idea of Those in Favour came to its autha@, Christopher Mayhew, at Lake Success during an unusually tedious meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. A delegate from behind the "iron curtain" was explaining with skill and vigour how true freedom was to be found only in communist countries. Mayhew who was attending the conference in his capacity as Britain’s Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, suddenly remembered he had invited this delegate to lunch and that he had refused, pleading pressure _of work. Both knew the excuse was fa'se. and Mayhew knew, tod, that the other would have accepted gladly. but for a lively fear of his superiors’ disapproval. The contrast between the delegate’s impassioned oration on freedon’ and his refusal of the lunch invitation provided the germ of the plot which Mayhew used first for a television play, and later for the BBC radio play which* will be heard in New Zealand shortly. . In an article on his play, Mayhew has written: "I must hasten to state that Volodarsky, the Soviet delegate in the play, bears no resemblance whatever to any of the Soviet delegates I ever met at UN, and that Winter, his British opposite number, bears no resemblance to myself. Moreover, no Soviet delegate, to the best of my knowledge, has ever been murdered by members of his own delegation in the car park at Lake Success. In the characters of Volodarsky and Winter I have tried to suggest how two opposed philosophies can affect two
people of roughly approximate charm and talent. Those who deny God and follow man-made ideals can achieve great damage before their powers are spent. Men of conscience dissipate their energies in doubting, and are a hesitant breed; but they have their great moments, and because they can renew their powers and can learn from experience and adapt themselves, they keep going longest. So do their civilisations." Those in Favour wil] be heard from 1XN, at 9.45 pm. on Wednesday, October 14, and from other National stations during the next few months. ©
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 29, Issue 743, 9 October 1953, Page 14
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345Diplomat's Drama New Zealand Listener, Volume 29, Issue 743, 9 October 1953, Page 14
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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.
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