Marcel on Radio
"HE broadcast of the NZBS production of The Funeral Pyre (1YC) was something of an event-the first time, 1 think, that one of Gabriel Marcel’s plays has been presented on New Zealand radio. Marcel, although the first modern French existentialist, and in dramatic interest at least the equal of Sartre and Camus, has never had the vogue of the other two, perhaps because, as Christian existentialism, his drama lacks the acridity and gloom of atheist existentialism, which chimed in with the immediately post-war mood. Yet, as The Funeral Pyre showed. his existentialist theme that real life cannot be reduced to abstract thought, is embodied in arresting terms, implying a deep knowledge of the human heart.. Davina Whitehouse, as Aline Fortier, who, by consecrating her whole life to the memory of her dead son, distorts the personality of his fiancée, Mireille, gave a strong, mature performance, Pacdy Turner as Mireille and Kenneth Firth as André, the weakling she marries, were more than competent. Only Roy Ley-| wood seemed to have too young and vigorous a voice for M. Fortier. I found this most satisfying intellectual drama, marred only by the compression of Cyn-
thia Pugh’s adaptation, which somewhat impaired both the rhythm of the play, and its ending.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19560803.2.46.5
Bibliographic details
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 887, 3 August 1956, Page 23
Word count
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210Marcel on Radio New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 887, 3 August 1956, Page 23
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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.
Copyright in the Denis Glover serial Hot Water Sailor published in 1959 is owned by Pia Glover. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this serial and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the Listener. You can search, browse, and print this serial for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Pia Glover for any other use.
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