Dividing by the number of plays per writer

4.3. Dividing by the number of plays per writer

There is one group that includes many more titles then any of the others. It is a category with 58 plays. This means that throughout the five months period there occurred only one play under the playwright’s name, keeping in mind that this does not have to be the number of plays that the writer has written for the BBC. But it gives us some indication as regards the frequency in which playwright can expect to have his or her play broadcasted and it is definitely worth mentioning at least some of the names that belongs to this group.

Jonathan Holloway is one of the writers who have written several dramas but still belongs to the largest group. Some of those dramas are original plays and some are adaptations. I come across The Emperor’s Babe (2013). It is an adaptation of Drenardino Evaristo’s original book, The Emperor’s Babe. [npnd33]

Bernardine Evaristo's text could have been made for radio. Written in free verse, it combines different idioms - classical allusions, contemporary colloquialisms, slang and Latinate phrases. It is an exceptionally playful style of writing, making light of what might have been heavy material. The beauty of her writing is especially apparent in the aural medium, where we listen intently to what the characters say, noting as we do so the brilliant use of alliteration, assonance and different rhythms. Jonathan Holloway's adaptation retains that beauty, while streamlining the story into a forty-three-minute dramatic form. [np136]

Now we come to smaller group. In here I included Writer that had only one play broadcasted during the five months period but each has a different number of episodes. Between these names is Clara Glynn whose One of the Lads was broadcasted in June 2013.

Clara Glynn is an award-winning television director. Her work stretches from a feature length documentary about Adolf Eichmann for BBC2 to Channel 4's No Angels. She's written two plays and one adaptation for Radio 4. She's currently writing the libretto for an opera by composer Sally Beamish. [npnd32]

Her play deals with an issue of unfair dismissal from the police department. The main character charges the police department claiming that she was sexually bullied. There is a clash between men and woman interpretation of the words and as the radio drama review states that “in the end the case was resolved, but nothing changed: we were left with the distinct feeling that the male-dominated force would continue behaving in precisely the same manner as before.” [np135]

Now, we are getting to the point where almost each writer has his own category. Hugh Costello had broadcasted free single plays. These are The Forgetting Curve, The Fewness of His Words and The Guest of St Peter’s. Another name is Christopher William Hill. His broadcasted plays are Rhapsody, Hush! Hush! Whisper Who Dares! and Sometimes into the Arms of God. Last mentioned play has free episodes. Single plays Last Days of Grace, Irongate and a multiple play People’s Passion were written by Nick Warburton. His People’s Passion is a play with the biggest number of episodes, five, from all the plays taken into an account.

The People's Passion took a harsh and uncompromising look at contemporary religious attitudes, and how they were often shaped by external factors - jealousy, officialdom, rivalry and family loyalty. I found Jonquil Panting's productions spell-binding, especially the music (composed by Sasha Johnson Manning), which set the scene admirably. [np12]

Two afternoon dramas from Michael Chaplin both come in two part series with a very simile title; Two-Pipe Problem, Two Pipe Problems. Author with the name Sebastian Baczkiewicz wrote and had broadcasted one four episode play called Pilgrim (Pilgrim, series two, again with four episodes, is not included because the first episode was broadcasted 31^st August 2013) and one free episode play Arabian Afternoons. The only exception in this account is the two dramatists with two plays each. Abigail Docherty is the author of Edward, Edward and Ursula and Boy. The other author is Nicola Baldwin and the plays are Tony and Rose, and Edward Alleyn’s Devil. One but last is The Interrogation from Roy Williams which comes in two series each having free episodes. Finally, the dramatisation Young Rumpole stories that include four single episode dramas and free with two episodes each which brings us to a total of ten stories of Young Rumpole adapted for the 45 minutes Afternoon Drama program by one writer, Richard Stoneman.

7. 5. Analyzing Plays

It is commonly known fact that the power of a radio is greater than we can imagine. This had been proved not only in the Second World War, as mentioned before, but there were also situations especially written scripts, and broadcasted, to find out how much people trust the radio and what impact it has on them.

There are few people who are unaware of the panic created by the Mercury Theatre on Halloween night 1938. The radio adaptation of H G Wells's 'The War of the Worlds' had been transformed into a close representation of an American entertainment programme interrupted by urgent news bulletins. Orson Welles is credited with the idea, Howard Koch is credited with writing the script and the outstanding, almost naturalistic acting of the cast is credited with convincing hundreds of thousands of people that the Martians were invading New Jersey.[Timnd]

The plays analyzed bellow were included in the survey of Afternoon Drama plays and were chosen because of a very strong point to them or because they deal with a situation that is not regularly talked about and as a result they achieved lot of responds in media or even more they were nominated or won an award. Case study seems to be the best option how to deal with Afternoon drama analyzes. Plays that will be analyzed all belong to the largest groups that were mentioned in chapter three. The groups in question are plays which consist of only one episode and, at the same time, were broadcasted no more than once during the five months period. Other criteria will be what response and reaction the play had.