Radio drama 1

Radio drama

Recording a radio play in the Netherlands (1949), SpaarnestadPhoto

Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radioplay,[1] radio theater) is a dramatized, purely acousticperformance, broadcast on radio or published on audiomedia, such as tape or CD. With no visual component,radio drama depends on dialogue, music and soundeffects to help the listener imagine the characters andstory: It is auditory in the physical dimension but equallypowerful as a visual force in the psychologicaldimension.[2]

Radio drama achieved widespread popularity within adecade of its initial development in the 1920s. By the1940s, it was a leading international popularentertainment. With the advent of television in the 1950s,however, radio drama lost some of its popularity, and insome countries has never regained large audiences. However, recordings of OTR (old-time radio) survive today inthe audio archives of collectors and museums, as well as several online sites such as Internet Archive.

As of 2011, radio drama has a minimal presence on terrestrial radio in the United States. Much of American radiodrama is restricted to rebroadcasts or podcasts of programs from previous decades. However, other nations still havethriving traditions of radio drama. In the United Kingdom, for example, the BBC produces and broadcasts hundredsof new radio plays each year on Radio 3, Radio 4, and Radio 4 Extra. Podcasting has also offered the means ofcreating new radio dramas, in addition to the distribution of vintage programs.The terms "audio drama"[3] or "audio theatre" are sometimes used synonymously with "radio drama" with onenotable distinction: audio drama or audio theatre is not intended specifically for broadcast on radio.[citation needed]

Audio drama, whether newly produced or OTR classics, can be found on CDs, cassette tapes, podcasts, webcasts andconventional broadcast radio.Thanks to advances in digital recording and internet distribution, radio drama is experiencing a revival.[]

HistoryThe Roman playwright Seneca has been claimed as a forerunner of radio drama because his plays were performedby readers as sound plays, not by actors as stage plays; but in this respect Seneca had no significant successors until20th-century technology made possible the widespread dissemination of sound plays.[4]

1880-1930: Early yearsRadio drama traces its roots back to the 1880s: In 1881 French engineer Clement Ader had filed a patent forimprovements of Telephone Equipment in Theatres (Thtrophone).[5] English-language radio drama seems tohave started in the United States.[6] A Rural Line on Education, a brief sketch specifically written for radio, aired onPittsburgh's KDKA in 1921, according to historian Bill Jaker.[7] Newspaper accounts of the era report on a numberof other drama experiments by America's commercial radio stations: KYW broadcast a season of complete operasfrom Chicago starting in November 1921.[8] In February 1922, entire Broadway musical comedies with the originalcasts aired from WJZ's Newark studios.[9] Actors Grace George and Herbert Hayes performed an entire play from aSan Francisco station in the summer of 1922.[10]

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An important turning point in radio drama came when Schenectady, New York's WGY, after a successful tryout onAugust 3, 1922, began weekly studio broadcasts of full-length stage plays in September 1922,[11] using music, soundeffects and a regular troupe of actors, The WGY Players. Aware of this series, the director of Cincinnati's WLWbegan regularly broadcasting one-acts (as well as excerpts from longer works) in November.[12] The success of theseprojects led to imitators at other stations. By the spring of 1923, original dramatic pieces written specially for radiowere airing on stations in Cincinnati (When Love Wakens by WLW's Fred Smith),[13] Philadelphia (The Secret Waveby Clyde A. Criswell)[14] and Los Angeles (At Home over KHJ).[15] That same year, WLW (in May) and WGY (inSeptember) sponsored scripting contests, inviting listeners to create original plays to be performed by those stations'dramatic troupes.[16]

Listings in The New York Times[17] and other sources for May 1923 reveal at least 20 dramatic offerings werescheduled (including one-acts, excerpts from longer dramas, complete three- and four-act plays, operettas and aMolire adaptation), either as in-studio productions or by remote broadcast from local theaters and opera houses. Anearly British drama broadcast was of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream on 2LO on 25 July 1923 [18]

Serious study of American radio drama of the 1920s and early 1930s is, at best, very limited. Unsung pioneers of theart include: WLW's Fred Smith; Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll (who popularized the dramatic serial); TheEveready Hour creative team (which began with one-act plays but was soon experimenting with hour-longcombinations of drama and music on its weekly variety program); the various acting troupes at stations like WLW,WGY, KGO and a number of others, frequently run by women like Helen Schuster Martin and Wilda WilsonChurch; early network continuity writers like Henry Fisk Carlton, William Ford Manley and Don Clark; producersand directors like Clarence Menser and Gerald Stopp; and a long list of others who were credited at the time withany number of innovations but who are largely forgotten or undiscussed today. Elizabeth McLeod's 2005 book onGosden and Correll's early work[19] is a major exception, as is Richard J. Hand's 2006 study of horror radio, whichexamines some programs from the late 1920s and early 1930s.[20]

Another notable early radio drama, one of the first specially written for the medium in the UK, was A Comedy ofDanger by Richard Hughes, broadcast by the BBC on January 15, 1924, about a group of people trapped in a Welshcoal mine.[21] One of the earliest and most influential French radio plays was the prize-winning "Marmoto"("Seaquake"), by Gabriel Germinet and Pierre Cusy, which presents a realistic account of a sinking ship beforerevealing that the characters are actually actors rehearsing for a broadcast. Translated and broadcast in Germany andEngland by 1925, the play was originally scheduled by Radio-Paris to air on October 23, 1924, but was insteadbanned from French radio until 1937 because the government feared that the dramatic SOS messages would bemistaken for genuine distress signals.[22]

In 1951, American writer and producer Arch Oboler suggested that Wyllis Cooper's Lights Out (193447) was thefirst true radio drama to make use of the unique qualities of radio:

Radio drama (as distinguished from theatre plays boiled down to kilocycle size) began at midnight, in themiddle thirties, on one of the upper floors of Chicago's Merchandise Mart. The pappy was a rotund writer bythe name of Wyllis Cooper.[23]

Though the series is often remembered solely for its gruesome stories and sound effects, Cooper's scripts for LightsOut were well-written and offered innovations seldom heard in early radio dramas, including multiple first personnarrators, stream of consciousness monologues and scripts that contrasted a duplicitious character's internalmonologue and his spoken words.The question of who was the first to write stream-of-consciousness drama for radio is a difficult one to answer. By 1930, Tyrone Guthrie had written plays for the BBC like Matrimonial News (which consists entirely of the thoughts of a shopgirl awaiting a blind date) and The Flowers Are Not for You to Pick (which takes place inside the mind of a drowning man). After they were published in 1931, Guthrie's plays aired on the American networks. Around the same time, Guthrie himself also worked for the Canadian National Railway radio network, producing plays written by Merrill Denison that used similar techniques. A 1940 article in Variety credited a 1932 NBC play, Drink Deep by

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Don Johnson, as the first stream-of-consciousness play written for American radio. The climax of LawrenceHolcomb's 1931 NBC play Skyscraper also uses a variation of the technique (so that the listener can hear the finalthoughts and relived memories of a man falling to his death from the title building).There were probably earlier examples of stream-of-consciousness drama on the radio. For example, in December1924, actor Paul Robeson, then appearing in a revival of Eugene O'Neill's The Emperor Jones, performed a scenefrom the play over New York's WGBS to critical acclaim. Some of the many storytellers and monologists on early1920s American radio might be able to claim even earlier dates.

1930-1960s: Widespread popularityPerhaps America's most famous radio drama broadcast is Orson Welles' The War of the Worlds, a 1938 version ofthe H. G. Wells novel, which convinced large numbers of listeners that an actual invasion from Mars was takingplace.[24] By the late 1930s, radio drama was widely popular in the United States (and also in other parts of theworld). There were dozens of programs in many different genres, from mysteries and thrillers, to soap operas andcomedies. Among American playwrights, screenwriters and novelists who got their start in radio drama are RodSerling and Irwin Shaw.

Radio program written and performed in Phoenix, Arizona bychildren of Junior Artists Club (Federal Arts Program, 1935).

In Britain, however, during the 1930s BBC programming,tended to be more high brow, including the works ofShakespeare, Classical Greek drama, as well as the worksof major modern playwrights, such as Checkov, Ibsen,Strindberg, and so forth. Novels and short stories werealso frequently dramatised.[25] In addition the plays ofcontemporary writers and original plays were produced,with, for example, a broadcast of T. S. Eliot's famousverse play Murder in the Cathedral in 1936.[26] By 1930the BBC was producing "twice as many plays asLondon's West End" and were producing over 400 plays ayear by the mid-1940s.[27]

Producers of radio drama soon became aware thatadapting stage plays for radio did not always work, andthat there was a need for plays that were specifically written for radio, and which recognized its potential as adistinct, and different medium, from the theatre. George Bernard Shaw's plays, for example, were seen as readilyadaptable.[28] However, In a lead article in the BBC literary journal The Listener, of 14 August 1929, whichdiscussed the broadcasting of twelve great plays, it was suggested that while the theatrical literature of the pastshould not be neglected the future lay mainly with plays written specifically for the microphone.

Initially the BBC resisted American-style 'soap opera', but eventually highly popular serials, like Dick Barton,Special Agent (194651), Mrs Dale's Diary (194869) and The Archers (1950- ), were produced. The Archers is stillrunning (December 2012), and is the world's longest-running soap opera with a total of over 16,800 episodes.[29]

There had been some earlier serialized drama including, the six episode The Shadow of the Swastika (1939), DorothyL. Sayers's The Man Born To Be King, in twelve episodes (1941), and Front Line Family (194148), which wasbroadcast to America as part of the effort to encourage the USA to enter the war. The show's storylines depicted thetrials and tribulations of a British family, the Robinsons, living through the war. This featured plots about rationing,family members missing in action and the Blitz. After the war in 1946 it was moved to the BBC's LightProgramme.[30]

The BBC continued producing various kinds of drama, including docu-drama throughout World War Two and amongst the writers they employed was the novelist James Hanley[31] and poet Louis MacNeice, who in 1941 became an employee of the BBC. MacNeice's work for the BBC initially involved writing and producing radio

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programmes intended to build support for the USA, and later Russia through cultural programmes emphasising linksbetween the countries rather than outright propaganda. By the end of the war MacNeice had written well over sixtyscripts for the BBC, including Christopher Columbus (1942), which starred Laurence Olivier, The Dark Tower(1946), and a six-part radio adaptation of Goethe's Faust (1949).[32]

After World War Two the BBC introduced to new stations, in addition to the National or BBC Home Service, theBBC Light Programme from 29 July 1945 and the BBC Third Programme from 29 September 1946. After the BBCThird Programme began broadcasting, non-topical talk programmes and heavier drama were transferred to the newstation. The Third became one of the leading cultural and intellectual forces in Britain, playing a crucial role indisseminating the arts. The Light Programme, was principally devoted to light entertainment and music, though it didbroadcast some drama, including serials.The high-water mark for BBC radio drama was the 1950s and 1960s, and during this period many major Britishplaywrights either effectively began their careers with the BBC, or had works adapted for radio. Most of playwrightCaryl Churchill's early experiences with professional drama production were as a radio playwright and, starting in1962 with The Ants, there were nine productions with BBC radio drama up until 1973 when her stage work began tobe recognised at the Royal Court Theatre.[33] Joe Orton's dramatic debut in 1963 was the radio play The Ruffian onthe Stair, which was broadcast on 31 August 1964.[34] Tom Stoppard's "first professional production was in thefifteen-minute Just Before Midnight programme on BBC Radio, which showcased new dramatists".[34] JohnMortimer made his radio debut as a dramatist in 1955, with his adaptation of his own novel Like Men Betrayed forthe BBC Light Programme. But he made his debut as an original playwright with The Dock Brief, starring MichaelHordern as a hapless barrister, first broadcast in 1957 on BBC Radio's Third Programme, later televised with thesame cast, and subsequently presented in a double bill with What Shall We Tell Caroline? at the Lyric Hammersmithin April 1958, before transferring to the Garrick Theatre. Mortimer is most famous for Rumpole of the Bailey aBritish television series which starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an aging London barrister who defends anyand all clients. It has been spun off into a series of short stories, novels, and radio programmes.[35] Giles Cooper wasa pioneer in writing for radio, becoming prolific in both radio and television drama. His early successes includedradio dramatisations of Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist, William Golding's Lord of the Flies[36] and John Wyndham'sclassic science fiction novel Day of the Triffids.[37] He was also successful in the theatre. The first of his radio playsto make his reputation was Mathry Beacon (1956), which is about a small detachment of men and women stillguarding a Top Secret "missile deflector" somewhere in Wales, years after the war has ended.[38] Bill Naughton'srado play Alfie Elkins and his Little Life (1962) was first broadcast on the BBC Third Programme on 7 January 1962.In it Alfie, "[w]ith sublime amorality ... swaggers and philosophises his way through" life.[39] The action spans abouttwo decades, from the beginning of World War II to the late 1950s. In 1964 Bill Naughton turned it into a stage playwhich was put on at London's Mermaid Theatre. Later he wrote the screenplay for a film version, "Alfie", whichstarred Michael Caine. Other notable radio dramatists included Henry Reed, Brendan Behan, Rhys Adrian, AlanPlater; Anthony Minghella, Alan Bleasdale and novelist Angela Carter. Novelist Susan Hill also wrote for BBCradio, from the early 1970s.[40] Henry Reed was especially successful with the Hilda Tablet plays. Irish playwrightBrendan Behan, author of The Quare Fellow (1954), was commissioned by the BBC to write a radio play The BigHouse (1956); prior to this he had written two plays Moving Outand A Garden Party for Irish radio.[41]

Among the most famous works created for radio, are Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood (1954), Samuel Beckett'sAll That Fall (1957), Harold Pinter's A Slight Ache (1959) and Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons (1954).[42]

Samuel Beckett wrote a number of short radio plays in the 1950s and 1960s, and later for television. Beckett's radioplay Embers was first broadcast on the BBC Third Programme on 24 June 1959, and won the RAI prize at the PrixItalia awards later that year.[43] Robert Bolt's writing career began with scripts for Children's Hour.[44] A Man for AllSeasons was subsequently produced on television in 1957. Then in 1960 there was a highly successful stageproduction in London's West End and on New York's Broadway from late 1961. In addition there have been two filmversions: in 1966 starring Paul Scofield and 1988 for television starring Charlton Heston.[45]

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While Alan Ayckbourn did not write for radio many of his stage plays were subsequently adapted for radio. Othersignificant adaptations included, dramatised readings of poet David Jones's In Parenthesis in 1946, and TheAnathemata in 1953, for the BBC Third Programme,[46] and novelist Wyndham Lewis's The Human Age (1955).[47]

Among contemporary novels that were dramatised was Stan Barstow's A Kind of Loving (1960) in 1964; there hadbeen a film in 1962.[48]

In Australia, as in most other developed countries, from the early years of the medium almost every radio networkand station featured drama, serials and soap operas as staples of their programming and during the so-called "GoldenYears" of radio, these were hugely popular. Many Australian serials and soapies were copies of American originals(e.g. the popular soap Portia Faces Life or the adventure series "Superman", which featured future Australian TVstar Leonard Teale in the title role), although these were typically locally produced and performed live to air, sincethe technology of the time did not permit high-quality pre-recording or duplication of programs for import or export.In this period radio drama, serials and soap operas provided a fertile training ground and a steady source ofemployment for many actors, and this was particularly important because at this time the Australian theatre scenewas in its infancy and opportunities were very limited. Many who trained in this medium (e.g. Peter Finch)subsequently became prominent both in Australia and overseas. It has been noted that the producers of the popular1960s Gerry Anderson TV series Thunderbirds were greatly impressed by the versatility of UK-based Australianactor Ray Barrett, who voiced many roles in Anderson's TV productions. Thanks to his early experience onAustralian live radio (where he often played English and American roles), Barrett was considered better than hisEnglish counterparts at providing a convincing "transatlantic" accent, and he could perform a wide range of charactervoices; he also impressed the Anderson team with his ability to quickly and easily switch from one voice/accent toanother without the sound engineers having to stop the recording.[49]

The effect of the introduction of television there in the late 1950s had the devastating same effect as it did in theUSA and many other markets, and by the early 1960s Australian commercial radio had totally abandoned radiodrama and related programming (including soapies, variety and comedy) in favour of music-based formats (e.g. Top40) or talkback, and the once-flourishing Australia radio production industry vanished within a few years. One of thefew companies to survive was the Melbourne-based Crawford Productions, which was able to make the successfultransition into TV production.Despite the complete abandonment of drama and related programming by the commercial radio sector, thegovernment-funded Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) maintained a long history of producing radiodrama. One of its most famous and popular series was the daily 15-minute afternoon soap opera Blue Hills, whichwas written for its entire production history by dramatist Gwen Meredith. It featured many well-known Australianactresses and actors, ran continuously for 27 years, from 28 February 1949 to 30 September 1976, with a total of5,795 episodes broadcast, and was at one time the world's longest-running radio serial. It was proceeded by an earlierMeredith serial The Lawsons, which featured many of the same themes and characters, and which itself ran for 1299episodes. From the 1960s on, the ABC continued to produce many original Australian radio dramas, as well as worksadapted from other media. In recent years original radio dramas and adapted works were commissioned from localdramatists and produced for the ABC's Radio National network program Airplay, which ran from the late 1990s untilearly 2013. In late 2012 ABC management imposed budget cuts and axed a number of long-running arts programs,thereby ending the national broadcaster's decades-long history of producing radio drama (as well as its equally longhistory of providing daily serialised book readings).

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1960-2000: Decline in the United StatesAfter the advent of television, radio drama never recovered its popularity in the United States. Most remaining CBSand NBC radio dramas were cancelled in 1960.[50] The last network radio dramas to originate during Americanradios Golden Age, Suspense and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, ended on September 30, 1962.[51]

There have been some efforts at radio drama since then. In the 1960s, Dick Orkin created the popular syndicatedcomic adventure series Chicken Man. ABC Radio aired a daily dramatic anthology program, Theater Five, in1964-65. Inspired by The Goon Show, the four or five crazy guys of the Firesign Theatre built a large followingwith their satirical plays on recordings exploring the dramatic possibilities inherent in stereo. A brief resurgence ofproduction beginning in the early 1970s yielded the Mutual Broadcasting System's The Zero Hour (hosted by RodSerling), National Public Radio's Earplay, and veteran Himan Brown's CBS Radio Mystery Theater and GeneralMills Radio Adventure Theater, later followed by the Sears/Mutual Radio Theater, The National Radio Theater ofChicago, NPR Playhouse, a newly produced episode of the former 1950s series X Minus One, and works by a newgeneration of dramatists, notably Yuri Rasovsky, Thomas Lopez of ZBS and the dramatic sketches heard onhumorist Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion. Thanks in large part to the National Endowments for theArts and Humanities, public radio continued to air a smattering of audio drama until the mid-1980s. From 1986 to2002, NPR's most consistent producer of radio drama was the idiosyncratic Joe Frank, working out of KCRW inSanta Monica. The Sci Fi Channel presented an audio drama series, Seeing Ear Theatre, on its website from 1997 to2001. Also, the dramatic serial It's Your World aired twice daily on the nationally syndicated Tom Joyner MorningShow from 1994 to 2008, continuing online through 2010.

2000-present: Radio drama todayRadio drama remains popular in much of the world, though most material is now available through internetdownload rather than heard over terrestrial or satellite radio [] . Stations producing radio drama often commission alarge number of scripts. The relatively low cost of producing a radio play enables them to take chances with worksby unknown writers. Radio can be a good training ground for beginning drama writers as the words written form amuch greater part of the finished product; bad lines cannot be obscured with stage business.Because of the external circumstances in postwar Germany, in which most of the theaters were destroyed, radiodrama boomed. Between 1945 and 1960 it have been played more than 500 radio plays every year. The Germanworld for radio drama is 'Hrspiel,' and German Hrspiel today remains one of the most popularly consumed typesof content.[52]

On the BBC there are two ongoing radio soap operas: The Archers on BBC Radio 4 and Silver Street on the AsianNetwork. A third soap, Westway on the World Service, ended in October 2005.[53]

In September, 2010 Radio New Zealand began airing its first ongoing soap opera: You Me Now which won the BestNew Drama Award in the 2011 New Zealand Radio Awards.

On KDVS radio in Davis, California there are two radio theater shows, Evening Shadows [54], a horror/fantasy showpaying ode to classic old time radio horror, and KDVS Radio Theater which commonly features dramas about socialand political themes.The audio drama format exists side-by-side with books presented on radio, read by actors or by the author. In Britainand other countries there is also a quite a bit of radio comedy (both stand-up and sitcom). Together, these programsprovide entertainment where television is either not wanted or would be distracting (such as while driving oroperating machinery).The lack of visuals also enable fantastical settings and effects to be used in radio plays where the cost would beprohibitive for movies or television. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was first produced as radio drama, andwas not adapted for television until much later, when its popularity would ensure an appropriate return for the highcost of the futuristic setting.

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On occasion television series can be revived as radio series. For example, a long-running but no longer populartelevision series can be continued as a radio series because the reduced production costs make it cost-effective with amuch smaller audience. When an organization owns both television and radio channels, such as the BBC, the factthat no royalties have to be paid makes this even more attractive. Radio revivals can also use actors reprising theirtelevision roles even after decades as they still sound roughly the same. Series that have had this treatment includeDoctor Who, Dad's Army, ThunderbirdsWikipedia:Disputed statement and The Tomorrow People. In 2013 BBCRadio 4 released a radio adaptation of Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, featuring a cast of well known television andfilm actors.[55] Neil Gaiman has said he was excited about the radio drama adaptation as it allowed the work to bepresented with a greater deal of special effects than was possible on television.[56]

Regular broadcasts of radio drama in English can be heard on the BBC's Radio 3, Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra(formerly Radio 7), on Radio 1 from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and on RT Radio 1 in Ireland. BBCRadio 4 in particular is noted for its radio drama, broadcasting hundreds of new, one-off plays per year in strandssuch as The Afternoon Play, in addition to serials and soap operas. Radio 4 Extra broadcast a variety of radio playsfrom the BBC`s vast archives and a few extended versions of Radio 4 programs. The British commercial stationOneword, though broadcasting mostly book readings, also transmitted a number of radio plays in installments until itclosed in 2008.In the United States, contemporary radio drama can be found on broadcasters including ACB radio [57], produced bythe American Council of the Blind; on the Sirius XM Book Radio channel from Sirius XM Satellite Radio(previously Sonic Theater on XM); and occasionally in syndication, as with Jim French's production ImaginationTheater. Several community radio stations carry weekly radio drama programs including KFAI, WMPG and WFHB.A growing number of religious radio stations air daily or weekly programs usually geared to younger audiences,such as Adventures in Odyssey (1,700+ syndicated stations), or Unshackled! (1,800 syndicated stations - the longestrunning radio drama of all time), which is geared to adults. The networks sometime sell transcripts of their shows oncassette tapes or CDs or make the shows available for listening or downloading over the Internet. Transcriptionrecordings of many pre-television shows have been preserved. They are collected, re-recorded onto audio CDsand/or MP3 files and traded by hobbyists today as old-time radio programs. Meanwhile, veterans such as the lateYuri Rasovsky (The National Radio Theater of Chicago) and Thomas Lopez (ZBS Foundation) have gained newlisteners on cassettes, CDs and downloads. In the mid-1980s, the nonprofit L.A. Theatre Works launched its radioseries recorded before live audiences, which maintains a tenuous hold in public radio, while marketing itsproductions on compact discs. Carl Amari's nationally-syndicated radio series "Hollywood 360" features 4 classicradio dramas during his 4-hour weekly broadcasts.In addition to traditional radio broadcasters, modern radio drama (also known as audio theater, or audio drama), hasexperienced a revival, with a growing number of independent producers who are able to build an audience throughinternet distribution.[] While there are few academic programs in the United States that offer training in radio dramaproduction, organizations such as the National Audio Theatre Festival teach the craft to new producers.The digital age has also resulted in recording styles that differ from the studio recordings of radio drama's GoldenAge. Not From Space (2003) on XM Satellite Radio was the first national radio play recorded exclusively throughthe Internet in which the voice actors were all in separate locations. Other producers use portable recordingequipment to record actors on location rather than in studios.[]

Currently, podcasts are the most promising distribution format for independent radio drama producers. Podcastsprovides a good alternative to mainstream television and radio because they have no restrictions regarding programlength or content.[]

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Radio drama around the world Radio drama in Japan Vividh Bharati a service of All India Radio has a long running Hindi radio-drama program Hawa Mahal Farm Radio International[58]

African Radio Drama Association in Nigeria NRK Radioteatret Katha Mitho Sarangiko [59] The most popular Nepali radio drama series.

Further reading Tim Crook: Radio drama. Theory and practice. London; New York: Routledge, 1999. ISBN 0-415-21602-8 Armin Paul Frank: Das englische und amerikanische Hrspiel. Mnchen: Fink, 1981. Walter K. Kingson and Rome Cowgill: Radio drama acting and production. A handbook. New York: Rinehart,

1950. Karl Ladler: Hrspielforschung. Schnittpunkt zwischen Literatur, Medien und sthetik. Wiesbaden: Deutscher

Universitts-Verlag, 2001. Sherman Paxton Lawton: Radio drama. Boston: Expression Company, 1938. Peter Lewis (ed.): Radio drama. London; New York: Longman, 1981. ISBN 0-582-49052-9 Dermot Rattigan: Theatre of sound. Radio and the Dramatic Imagination. 2nd edition. Carysfort Press, 2003.

ISBN 0-9534257-5-4

References[1] LC subject heading.[2] Tim Crook: Radio drama. Theory and practice (http:/ / www. coffeetheater. com/ usr/ down/ 2_93. pdf). London; New York: Routledge,

1999, p. 8.[3] Compare the entry to Hrspiel e.g. in: dict.cc Deutsch-Englisch-Wrterbuch (http:/ / www. dict. cc/ deutsch-englisch/ Hrspiel. html)[4] Martin Banham: The Cambridge guide to theatre. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1995, p. 896.[5] Tim Crook: Radio drama. Theory and practice. London; New York: Routledge, 1999, p. 15.[6] Historian Alan Beck reports in The Invisible Play: B.B.C. Radio Drama 1922-1928 (http:/ / www. savoyhill. co. uk/ invisibleplay) that "The

first English experiment in radio drama" (http:/ / www. savoyhill. co. uk/ invisibleplay/ body/ 2a2. html) took place October 17, 1922, in GreatBritain. But U.S. stations were broadcasting drama prior to this. See following.

[7] Bill Jaker, March 27, 1998, email post to the OTR Digest (http:/ / lists. oldradio. net/ otrdigest)[8] "OPERA CARRIES 1,500 MILES BY RADIO PHONES," November 12, 1921 Chicago Tribune; "Radi-Opera" November 17, 1921 Chicago

Tribune[9] "TWO PLAYS BY WIRELESS," February 4, 1922, New York Times; "MILLION TO HEAR MUSICAL COMEDY," February 12, 1922 Los

Angeles Times; "YOU CAN HEAR ENTIRE SHOW BY RADIO PHONE," February 19, 1922 Mansfield (OH) News.[10] July 1922 wire service story which appeared in the July 19, 1922 Lima (OH) News (under headline: "ACTING BY RADIO IS A WEIRD

SENSATION") and the July 23, 1922 Charleston (SC) Daily Mail (under headline: "PRESENTING A PLAY OVER THE WIRELESS INNEWEST WRINKLE")

[11] New York Times and Hartford (CT) Courant radio listings, August 3, 1922; New York Times radio listings, September 11, 19, and 25, 1922;"Will Give Dramatic Productions By Radio" September 2, 1922 The (Fort Wayne, IN) News-Sentinel; LOCAL RADIO FANS TO HEAR"OFFICER 666" November 3, 1922 Fayetteville (AK) Democrat; "MADAME X" FROM WGY THURSDAY NIGHT, November 21, 1922Fayetteville (AK) Democrat.

[12] Lawrence Lichty, "Radio Drama: The Early Years" in Lawrence Lichty and Malachi Topping (eds): American Broadcasting (New York,Hastings House, 1975).

[13] April 2, 1923 Hamilton (OH) Evening Journal radio listing; Lichty, ibid.[14] "WRITING RADIO PLAYS IS LATEST," May 27, 1923 Oakland (CA) Tribune.[15] April 22, 1923 Los Angeles Times radio listings; "KHJ TRAVELS IN PRETENSE LAND," April 23, 1923 Los Angeles Times.[16] "Contest for Prize Radio Drama Opens September 1," August 19, 1923 Washington Post; "G. E. COMPANY HAS PRIZE FOR RADIO

DRAMA," September 7, 1923 Waukesha (WI) Daily Freeman; Lichty, ibid.[17] Compare The New York Times Archive 1851-1980 (http:/ / query. nytimes. com/ search/ query?frow=0& n=10& srcht=s&

daterange=period& query=& srchst=p& submit. x=0& submit. y=0& submit=sub& hdlquery=& bylquery=& mon1=09& day1=18&year1=1851& mon2=12& day2=31& year2=1980)

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[18] SHAKESPEARE - British Drama Website (http:/ / www. britishdrama. org. uk/ shakespeare. html)[19] Elizabeth McLeod, The Original Amos 'n Andy: Freeman Gosden, Charles Correll, and the 1928-1943 Radio Serial. McFarland & Co,

2005.[20] Richard J. Hand, Terror on the Air!: Horror Radio in America, 1931-1952 McFarland, 2006.[21] Richard Hughes, 'A Comedy of Danger' (http:/ / www. savoyhill. co. uk/ invisibleplay/ body/ 4a2. html) in Beck, ibid[22] "Maremoto, a radio play (1924)," Rseaux, 1994, Volume 2, Numro 2 p. 251 - 265[23] Theatre Arts (July 1951):"Windy Kilocycles" by Arch Oboler (http:/ / www. richsamuels. com/ nbcmm/ windy. html)[24] Koch, Howard, The Panic Broadcast: The Whole Story of Orson Welles' Legendary Radio Show Invasion From Mars, Avon Books, 1971.[25] See reviews in The Listener[26] "The Poetic Quality", Grace Wyndham Goldie. The Listener (London, England), Wednesday, January 8, 1936; pg. 78; Issue 365.[27] British Library (http:/ / www. bl. uk/ reshelp/ findhelprestype/ sound/ radio/ radiodrama/ drama. html)[28] See, for example, "A Listener's Commentary", R. D. Charques. The Listener (London, England), Wednesday, October 23, 1929; pg. 553;

Issue 41.[29] The Archers airs 15,000th episode (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 1/ hi/ entertainment/ 6124558. stm), BBC News, 2006-11-07[30] (http:/ / www. irdp. co. uk/ britrad3. htm) "British Radio Drama - A Cultural Case History" by Tim Crook.[31] Linnea Gibbs, James Hanley: A Bibliography. (Vancouver: William Hoffer, 1980), p.165.[32] [Poets.org: (http:/ / www. poets. org/ )[33] (http:/ / www. doollee. com/ PlaywrightsC/ churchill-caryl. html)[34] Tim Crook, "International radio drama" (http:/ / www. irdp. co. uk/ radiodrama. htm)[35] "John Mortimer Radio Plays": [http://www.filmreference.com/film/69/John-Mortimer.html John Mortimer Biography (1923-2009) (http:/ /

www. suttonelms. org. uk/ jmortimer. html;)[36][36] The Listener (London, England), Thursday, September 1, 1955; pg. 349; Issue 1383.[37] DIVERSITY WEBSITE (http:/ / www. suttonelms. org. uk/ )[38] "Critic on the Hearth", J. C. Trewin. The Listener (London, England), Thursday, June 28, 1956; pg. 903; Issue 1422.[39] Bill Naughton radio drama - DIVERSITY WEBSITE (http:/ / www. suttonelms. org. uk/ BNAUGHTON. HTML)[40] (http:/ / www. suttonelms. org. uk/ )[41] The Columbia encyclopedia of modern drama, by Gabrielle H. Cody; "Brendan Behan" - RT Archives (http:/ / www. rte. ie/ archives/

exhibitions/ 925-brendan-behan/ )[42] J. C. Trewin, "Critic on the Hearth." Listener [London, England] 5 Aug. 1954: 224.[43] Prix Italia "PAST EDITIONS WINNERS 1949 - 2007" (http:/ / www. prixitalia. rai. it/ 2008/ pdf/ vincitori_edizionipassate_en. pdf)[44][44] British Radio Drama- A Cultural Case History by Tim Crook[45] A Man for All Seasons (1966) - IMDb (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0060665/ ); A Man for All Seasons (TV 1988) - IMDb (http:/ / www.

imdb. com/ title/ tt0095578/ )[46] "Critic on the Hearth", Philip Hope-Wallace. The Listener (London, England), Thursday, November 28, 1946; pg. 767; Issue 933; "Critic on

the Hearth", Martin Armstrong. The Listener (London, England), Thursday, May 14, 1953; pg. 815; Issue 1263.[47] "The Human Age"", Wyndham Lewis. The Listener (London, England), Thursday, June 2, 1955; pg. 976[48] "A Kind of Loving - The Literature of Stan Barstow": (http:/ / www. stanbarstow. info/ kindofloving. html); A Kind of Loving (1962) -

IMDb (http:/ / www. imdb. com/ title/ tt0056141/ )[49] (http:/ / www. guardian. co. uk/ culture/ 2009/ sep/ 09/ ray-barrett-obituary)[50] Jim Cox, Say Goodnight, Gracie: The Last Years of Network Radio (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=o18qwF_TZIIC& pg=PA145), p.

145148.[51] John Dunning, On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=EwtRbXNca0oC& pg=PA742),

Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 742. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3.[52] Bernhard Siegert, "Das Hrspiel als Vergangenheitsbewltigung", in Medienkultur der 50er Jahre. Diskursgeschichte der Medien nach

1945, edited by Irmela Schneider and Peter M. Spangenberg, 28798; Diskursgeschichte der Medien nach 1945, vol. 1 (Wiesbaden:Westdeutscher Verlag, 2002): 290. ISBN 3-531-13638-0.

[54] http:/ / eveningshadows. bandcamp. com[57] http:/ / www. acbradio. org/[58] Farmradio.org (http:/ / www/ farmradio. org)[59] http:/ / bbcnepalidrama. com/

Radio drama 10

External links Audio-Drama.com (http:/ / www. audio-drama. com/ ) An encyclopedia of audio drama websites The Audio Drama Directory (http:/ / www. theaudiodramadirectory. com/ ) A directory of modern works of audio

drama The Well-tempered Audio Dramatist (http:/ / natf. org/ ) Treatise on writing, producing, performing and directing

audio plays in the 21st century. Necrology of Old Radio Personalities (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20091022031047/ http:/ / geocities. com/

stiquesheik/ Dead. html)

BBC sources The BBC Story - The Written Archives: (http:/ / www. bbc. co. uk/ historyofthebbc/ contacts/ wac. shtml) Radio Plays & Radio Drama webpage (England): (http:/ / www. suttonelms. org. uk/ RADIO1. HTML) British Radio Drama- A Cultural Case History by Tim Crook: (http:/ / www. irdp. co. uk/ britrad. htm)

On-line audio drama ABC Radio Airplay (http:/ / www. abc. net. au/ radionational/ programs/ airplay/ ) Free streaming and

downloading capability BBC Radio Drama (http:/ / www. bbc. co. uk/ radio4/ newsletter/ drama/ join/ ) Free streaming and downloading

capability ACB radio (http:/ / www. acbradio. org/ ) Old-time radio from the American Council of the Blind. Theatre of the Mind (http:/ / colsearch. nfsa. afc. gov. au/ nfsa/ search/ summary/ summary.

w3p;adv=yes;group=;groupequals=;page=0;parentid=;query=Number:677631 | Number:677630 | Number:677629| Number:677627 | Number:677011 | Number:676406 | Number:676405 | Number:675872 | Number:674761 |Number:671223 | Number:671176 | Number:671153 | Number:671145 |Number:671133;querytype=;resCount=10) at the National Film and Sound Archive.

Article Sources and Contributors 11

Article Sources and ContributorsRadio drama Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=566468533 Contributors: Aknorals, AlbertSM, Alexanderdavis, Allisonok, Angmering, Applejaxs, Arjayay, Arthena, BalphEubank, Barek, Bart133, BenjaminHare, BigKahuna, BillRitch, Blainster, Bmv 1978, Bobbyi, Borgus, Breno, Brick16, Bubbas Brain, Cab88, Can't sleep, clown will eat me, CaptRik, Cate,Cerddaf, Charles D. Laughlin, Charles Matthews, Chowbok, Chris the speller, Classicrockfan42, Colonies Chris, CopperKettle, DJ Clayworth, Darkerprojects, Daveb74, Davefilms, Debashish,Djbartch, DocWatson42, Dunks58, Dwane E Anderson, Dwerneck, Eelco maaike, Ekabhishek, Empirecontact, Euchiasmus, Ewlyahoocom, Fgreenhalgh, Formeruser-81, Fritz freiheit, Frungi,FuegoFish, Funandtrvl, G.B. Blackrock, Geo Swan, Goldencrisp87, Gozor136, Graphicaudio, GreatWhiteNortherner, Grebenkov, HaeB, Hands4200, Hede2000, Hezbolarki Fun Ship, Histrion,Hitch42, Hobo Dave, Hrafn, Hu12, Islandboy99, J.delanoy, JIP, Jeff G., Jeodesic, Jerome Kohl, Jerrycrt, JodyB, Josiah Rowe, JulesH, Jumbuck, Kaijan, Karl, Kasper2006, Keen Peach,Khaosworks, Khazar2, Kneiphof, Kolja21, Korshov, Kunzite, LKNOMIS, Lapsus Linguae, Larryamon, Lasse Hjorth Madsen, LeoNomis, Litefantastic, Lockley, Lotje, Lpgeffen, Lucyin,Luvcraft, Maarten1963, Maddenlaw, Malakadew, Marketdiamond, Marrante, MarsiePan, Mathman20002002, Mdann52, Mdumas43073, Mecandes, MegX, Mlaffs, Mmxx, Murdats, Mysid,Nationalparks, Naytchrboy, Newsboss, Niceguyedc, NigelR, Nightkey, OGoncho, Ohnoitsjamie, Orlady, Parcemihi, Pastor Kam, Patrick, Paul A, Paulvdc, Pearle, Pepso, Pepso2, PerryTjr,PhantomS, Pharaoh of the Wizards, Picapica, Postdlf, Prolog, Quisquillian, R Neave, Radon210, Rapaterson, Raveler1, Rd232, Reginald Perrin, Revcom626, Rich Farmbrough, Richard D.LeCour, Rjwilmsi, Road Wizard, Roadrunner, Rob T Firefly, Rompe, Rugz, Rwood128, Samwaltz, Scott Sanchez, Serial sean, Seven coins, Shadowjams, SiobhanHansa, SnuggleBunny, SoenkeRahn, Soundout, Spun13, StarretteLinda, SteinbDJ, SteveFoerster, Supotmails, Switch-to, Tbrittreid, That Guy, From That Show!, TheOldJacobite, TheRealFennShysa, Threepwood89, Tide rolls,Tim Ivorson, TimR, Tobias Bergemann, Tohd8BohaithuGh1, Tokek, TomWaits4NoMan, Tooto, TreasuryTag, UpdArch, Updatehelper, Vary, Vespagl, Vision Insider, Vlipvlop81, Vrenator,Walloon, Wayland, Why Not A Duck, Wiki-Updater 2.0, Wiki-uk, Wmkvfm, Writer65, Xeno, Zebrapix, Zeta Nova, 348 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:Opname van een hoorspel Recording a radio play.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Opname_van_een_hoorspel_Recording_a_radio_play.jpg License:Attribution Contributors: Nationaal ArchiefFile:FAP radio show.gif Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:FAP_radio_show.gif License: Public Domain Contributors: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library andMuseum

LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Radio dramaHistory1880-1930: Early years1930-1960s: Widespread popularity1960-2000: Decline in the United States2000-present: Radio drama today

Radio drama around the worldFurther readingReferencesExternal linksBBC sourcesOn-line audio drama

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