Evening star., 1933-01-15
UNLIKE England and Ger
many, which have made a

Where tney are allowing Cne
drama to take a paramount place
on program schedules.
This Is due, according to COM
petent observers, primarily to the
fact that the American ear pre-
fers music and Snatches of the
lighter entertainment. Relatively
few listeners, it would seem, have
the patience to sit through one
hour dramatic production and not
many more win listen even for a
half hour. Few plays can be pre-
sented in less time.
Nevertheless, the trend in this
country is toward more drama on
the air, as evidenced by the in
creasing popularity OF mystery
and thriller serials and the fine
work being done by such organi-
cations as the Radio Guild on n.
B. G. and the dramatic laboratory
on c. 3. s.
How to get an adequate supply
of material for radio drama?
That Is the simplest of the prob
lens facing the radio impresarios.
Not only are established play
wrightS of stage and screen only
too eager to turn their talents to
radio, but throughout the coun-
try there are thousands upon
Thousands of aspiring radio play
wrights who are daily submitting
manuscripts to the networks and
the stations.
When a big name" Is wanted
for a radio dramatic production,
1t can readily be supplied. as wit
ness the fact that Booth Tarking-
tons "Penrod" stories and Sax
Rohmer's "Fu Manchu" stories
and OctavuS Roy Cohen's humor
stories have been adapted to
radio production under the au-
thors' personal direction. But
, radios demands for more and
more copy can only be met-in-
deed, is now being met-by the
hosts of relatively unknown writ
ers employed in the continuity
departments of networks and sta
tionS and, to an increasing de-
gree, by the free-lance writers
who submit their scripts to radio.
Some radio organizations take
! just pride in their own play
wrights, but the fact remains that
these are practically unknown to
the public Few know tl,at Miss
Lulu Vollmer is auti- of the
popular "Moonshine anu T-o1ey-
suckle" series; that Edith MeiSer
Is author of the radio adaptations
of Sherlock Holmes, and that
Ruth Cornwell is author of the
Death Valley Days" scripts. Per-
haps Gertrude Berg. who writes
and plays the lead in The Gold
bergS," is better known, but that
Is because she actually plays in
, her act.
J The obscure free-lance play
: wrights, for the most part, ap-
parently have not yet gotten 1.-The
hang" of radio drama, and prob
ably 90 per cent of their offerings
,, are returned with polite rejection
: notes. Radio, lacking the visual
feature Of drama, makes excep-
, tional demands. Words and sound
effects alone must convey the
: whole story. It is more difficult
, to write for radio than for stage
! and screen-yet a performance
) once given is seldom repeated. The
ephemeral nature of radio drama
is inherent in radio itself.
We are told by network con-
, tinuity chiefs that most aspiring
!, radio playwrights - and they
! seem to be legion in the ranks
! OF doctors, lawyers, statesmen and
: those who simply must write
like to write about situations or
,, settings about which they know
nothing. If they live in the coun-
, try, their manuscripts usually are
about metropolitan life, or the
! Riviera or some equally sophisti-
, Gated spot, says Madonna Todd
San Francisco continuity editor
, of N. B. C. If they live in the
cities, they often write about the
mountains of Tennessee or the
snow wastes of Alaska.
The free-lance writer's who
really want to sell radio plays,
! says Miss Todd, must first study
the technique Of microphone
drama and its peculiar demands,
, and then must follow three basic
: rules. First, they should write
about incidents and places ia
! miliar to them; secondly, they
,, much keep their plots as uncom-
plicated as possible, and, third,
they must keep their casts down
to no more than six characters.
"The radio drama" according
to Miss Todd, sis limited by time
and by the fact that 1t can be
followed only through its dialogue.
It must revolve about one plot.
Side issues distract the attention
of the listeners, as do too many
characters. Novelty is always in
demand" Miss Todd also init
mates that when an unusual free
lance offering is accepted, the
radio people Immediately inquire
into the author to see If he has
staff possibilities.
Whether the radio drama has a
real future in American radio, is
+ any ones conjecture. It all de-
pendS upon whether the listen
Ing public wants more of it. The
fact remains that some dramatic
efforts, especially the short Sc
rials, are highly popular. Yet the
networks in this country have
never attempted to do drama on
the scale that some European
countries do it. Germany last
year produced 800 radio plays.
About one program in 20 in Eng
land is a drama written for or
adapted to radio. In Denmark
they even performed Eugene
O'Neill's trilogy, Mourning Be
comes Electra" in three successive
performances.
X
THE turbulent career of the
L phonograph record as part of
the program diet furnished the
radio audience by broadcasters