"The Flowers are not for You to Pick"

Radio Record, Volume VI, Issue 2, 22 July 1932, Page 3

"The Flowers are not for You to Pick"

Tyrone Guthrie's Radio Drama from 2YA

T is said that the whole life of a drowning man passes before him, and upon this theme this gemarkable play has been developed. It ¥egins with the splash as a young curate, bound for China, falls overboard, and closes with the lapping of the waves as he sinks for the last time. It is a play of many scenes, some short, others longer, with the lapping of the waves to show the passage of time between them. Each scene stood out in the life of the drowning man; some are trivial, some piquant, some dramatic and at least one beautiful. It is an unusual story that projects the listener into the mind of the subject, an angle of presentation that is entirely new to drama. In one scene, the young curate faints on learning that the girl he hopelessly loves has been married. The news is quite casually conveyed in the middle of a game of Bridge:

Mrs. Dolan: Ach, to be sure . . . now, then, Mr. i:dward. e . Why, look at him. Father: Steady, old man. Fanny: He’s going to faint . . . water, father, get some water. . Father: Right. Fanny: And some brandy. Mrs. D.: The poor boy, it’s something he must have eaten. Fanny: Loosen his collar, quick. Mrs, D.: Something he must have eaten. Fanny: Loosen his collar, quick. Mrs. D.: Something he must have eaten. Fanny : Loosen his collar, Y

quick. _ Mrs. D.: Something he nfiist have Vanessa (the girl). Fanny: Loosen his Birmingham (the girl was married in Birmingham).

Mrs. D.: Birmingham married Vanessa. Fanny: Loosen his Birmingham, quick. Mrs. D,: Edward can’t marry Vanessa. Fanny: Birmingham, Birmingham, quick. Mrs. D.: Edward can’t marry Vanessa. Edward can’t marry Vanessa. . (Repeated ad lib and fade out.) Such masterful technique which projects the listeners into the mind of the subject could be portrayed only by the microphone. But this is only one flash that passes before the drowning man. And in all the others is portrayed some phase of his life. Throughout the ‘play: one. sees.his, character, feels. his. weaknesses, and is .with him

as he struggles to overcome the limitations with which Nature has handicapped him. It is learned that he is a squat, ugly boy, who in his early childhood was forced to wear thick spectacles and henceforth was always conscious of them. . Scene XI-Child: Edward, don’t be. so stupid. Fanny: Isn’t he a little stupid? Child: It is the way he blinks at one through those thick spectacles. Scene XIUI-Edward: You see, I'd meant to go on for 20 minutes but, unfortunately, my watch stopped and I was wearing my shortsight glasses, and I hardly liked to stop and put on my longsight glasses to look at the:clock at the other end of the church. Scene XV-Edward: Does he wear glasses? Rector : Oh, dear no. Final scene-There go. my _ spectacles.

T knew I’d shed them off at last. NOTHER side of his character. revealed. Scene I-Nurse: Give it up, Edward, give it up at once. Edward: No. Mother: You know quite well that the flowers are not for you to pick. Give it up at once. Edward: No. Scene II1I-Boy: Here, young Goggles, just you give up my bunji. Edward: No. Boy: Right. . . . Are you going to give it up now? Ed.: Ow ... You

are hurting my arm. Boy: Give it up .. giveitup . . . give it up. Ed (loudly, through agonised tears) : No. Scene VIIJ-Vanessa! The

idea . «4 « OF ws. love for me? Ed.: Yes. . . . Love for you. Vanessa: Give it up, Edward. . . . Oh, Edward, give it up. Ed. (his challenge to the universe) : No. SceneX-Father : But I wish you to take the cheque. Ed.: N-no, father . . . but . . . thank you. Scene XV-Vanessa: Would you like me to write? Ed: No. And so the scenes follow one another, each a cameo of some characteristic of the man. The whole play is written almost like a symphony with the waves of emotion rising and falling like the (Continued on page 13.)

"The Flowers Are Not for You to Pick," to be produced from 2YA by Victor Lloyd on Thursday, July 21, was specially written for broadcasting by Tyrone-Guthrie. It has been thrice broadcast by the B.B.C., and has since been produced in other countries. The play calls for a high degree of dramatic art, and the producer has no hesitation in saying it is one of the most difficult he has done. He is being assisted by a brilliant cast, including Mary Cooley, who played "Joan" in "Joan of Arc" from 2YA; Ina Allen, who took the same part when "Joan" was broadcast from 1YA; and Elsie Lloyd. There are 11 characters, Mr. Lloyd himself portraying Edward.

The World at Large is blind and deaf. But broadcasting is bigger than the public, bigger than B.B.C.... it is a spontaneous expression of present day civilisation that, like Topsy has just growed.

TYRONE

GUTHRIE

Flowers Are Not for | You to Pick 7 (Continued from page 3.) waves in which Edward is struggling. The scenes rise out ef and sink into a rhythmic sound of the splashing, moving sea. The sound is complex yet’ symphonic, suggesting not merely the waters in which Edward is engulfed, but the beating of a heart, the tumult: of fear, the immutable laws and irresistible strength of nature compared with. our r puny and inconsistent selves, The setting of the play is mainly Irish and is immédiately apparent in the accent of the performers. The punctuation is unusual and departs from the strictly grammatical in order to achieve rhythm and ‘purpose. The Author 'T'YRONE GUTHRIB is, as to be expected: from his work, an unusual figure. y Appearing at first nights in flannels, red: jumper, top hat and sandals, he settles his huge frame (he is six feet five inches) down in the most unconventional manner, not infrequently hanging his feet over the balustrade. : His only comments are, "Oh, ‘very teasing," and "Oh, delicious." He has written two dramas specially for broadcasting-"The | Squirrel’s Cage" and "The Flowers Are Not for You to Pick." In.a preface to those ‘plays he justifies radio drama, pointing out that the microphone ‘play has pos‘sibilities possessed neither by the film "sor the stage "... since the audience is dependent upon one sense only it follows that the impression they receive. though limited, is highly concentrated in quality.

"In opera the impression, instead of being concentrated, is diffuse and multiplex. Appeal is made both to hearing and.to sight. The mind endeavours to grapple ‘with the simultaneous impressions of acting, singing, orchestral playing, costumes, lighting, and mise en scene. The voice of reason is drowned:-in the blare of trombones, smothered in ruby velvet. The broadcastplay, on the other hand, is depriyed Of all these, but the mind of the listener is more free to create its own illusions. . A sequence of hints is thrown out, tiny clues, and suggestions, and the mind of the listener collects, shapes and expands these to pictures. Admittedly it ‘is difficult, but it can be. and has been, aehieved. ‘ "The microphone play lacks the glamour of the physical magnetism of the stage, but lacks also the too, too solid flesh, bgzause as the pictures are solely for the\mind, they are less substantial | but more real than the cardboard grottos, the calico rosebuds, and the dusty grandeur of the stage; less substantially vivid, because not apprehended visually; more real because the impression is partly created by the listener himself. . "Prom the author comes. clues, and the listener collects his material and mbodies them in a picture of his own It is therefore an expression of his own experience whether physical or psychological, and therefore more real to him than the readymade picture of the stage designed. For example, the author suggests 2 moonlight night. . The stage picture would express the designer’s idea of a moonlight night, but a listener’s picture, derived from his own experience,

Saas expresses his own particular brand of moonshine. I do not deny that the stage picture will probably be more academically correct, but it remains, none the less, no more than a translation, an interpretation of someone else’s experience. "The impressions of the microphone play are more intimate than those of the stage, because neither the writing nor the plays needs to be pitched high enough to carry to the back of the pit or gallery. "Shey are more subtle ‘pecatse they are received by each listener privately in his own home, and not coarsened by being flung into an auditorium where individuals are clustered together in one mass, which becomes a single crowd personality, easily swayed to laughter or tears, and incapable of minute pulsations of feeling, the delicate graduations of thought which each member of the crowd experiences when alone." In "The Wlowers Are Not For You to Pick" the author has tried to exploit the peculiar intimacy that the microphone makes possible, and it treats | both the dialogue and the characterisation rather more obliquely and economically than is usual on_the stage. He has taken pains in the more important things to provide the listener with the material to gauge his decor. For the boat scene, for instance, he has indicated that it is evening, and that there are trees on the little island, a grassy lake, shadows, reflections of trees, birds, and the sunset, two people in a little rowing boat, the first star. The detail of this picture is complete, colouring, the stress laid on this feature and on that, becomes a matter for individual selection.