Double Choice
HAVING often sacrificed a couple of hours to a radio play, only to be subjected to the equivalent of those nice little jobs which are performed by unadventurous drama societies, I have something of a weakness for Double Bill programmes, For out of two half-hour plays one, at least, is likely to be acceptable. And, in fact, in most Double Bills I have heard, both pieces have been diverting | listening. Last Friday’s pair (1YA) contrasted the BBC presentation of Evan John’s very fine Prelude to Massacre (of Glencoe), with an NZBS version of M. R. James's ghost story, The Man in the Black Cloak. Both were capably done, even if the James story seemed rather oldfashioned now that Kafka has introduced us to a world more dreadful than the James-Machen-Blackwood one of old documents, revenants and faceless fiends. Yet I find it surprising that so few original New Zealand plays are heard nowadays, Surely Double Bill would ‘offer a fitting niche for some of the original pieces which the Drama League Competition calls forth each year. I’ve seen at least two plays there recently which should suit the air as well as adapted short stories. Does the NZBS need, perhaps, one or two talent scouts?
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19560914.2.48.1
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 893, 14 September 1956, Page 24
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207Double Choice New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 893, 14 September 1956, Page 24
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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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