ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT Radio: Chch Studios Reach 100th Play

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30646, 12 January 1965, Page 7

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT Radio: Chch Studios Reach 100th Play

The more spectacular expansion in broad* casting has been that of the television and news services, but a reminder that activity has also increased in production of radio plays comes with the broadcast this week of the hundredth play produced in the Christchurch studios. The play, which will be heard over the ZB link in Sunday Showcase,” is “Long Way Home,” adapted by Errol Brathwaite of Christchurch from his novel. Appropriately, the producer is Bernard Kearns, whose name has been synonymous with radio drama in Christchurch for most of the studios’ 11 years. Mr Kearns took over the Christchurch studios in November, 1954, after two years in broadcasting in Australia. The studios had been started in the winter of 1953 by Allan Morris, now the chief television producer. He had auditioned vast numbers of people and began recording programmes for broadcasting to schools. Hit The Ear

“In 1955 we began our series of plays of which this is the hundredth,” said Mr Kearns. “In the early days I was a one-man staff doing everything—producing, preparing scripts, playing leads, keeping records, and making sound effects. If I was away things came to a standstill because the whole staff was away. “The first play that really sort of hit the ear was ‘Brief Encounter’ in which Dorothy Smith and I played the leads in 1957. “The turning point was in 1959. Suddenly there was a small corps of experienced players who needed no further special training and we could build other players

into casts round them. “With the training and experience we gained in the first four years we were able to do more.” After 1961 the output of plays increased—l 4 in 1962, 15 in 1963. “Last year was the first in which we had two producers and we did 23. The coming of Nat Offord, the other producer—he joined us at the end of 1963—was another milestone.” Local Players More than 230 local players have taken parts in plays. “The players have changed considerably since those early days. William Scannell and Mavis Reesby have been with us since the beginning. So have Judy Dunbar, Guy and Audrey Cotterill, and Andrew Anderson. Some who have done a lot of work have left Christchurch—such as Dorothy Smith and Anthony Cowan.”

Overseas professionals have also taken part in Christchurch radio plays. “We have used more than 60 players from touring companies,” said Mr Kearns. “From the ‘Deep Blue Sea’ cast came Williams Lloyd and Jessica Node. Then we used Sir Lewis Casson from The Chalk Garden.’ He played in ‘Mr Gillie.’ The company that stayed in town the longest was ‘My Fair Lady’ and Stuart Wagstaff, who took over the lead from David Oxley, took part in several of our plays.”

Notable Plays Mr Kearns produced a list of the studios’ 100 and singled out the 15 best. Notable comedies were “Two Dozen Red Roses,” “Society Wedding,” “National Velvet” (Velvet was played by Mary Dailey of “The Archers” who was out here on holiday), “True But Don’t Believe It," ‘The Amazing Dr Clitterhouse” (this was Nat Offord’s first full-length production).

Notable dramas included ‘The Burnt Flowerbed," “Brief Encounter,” “September Tide,” ‘The Pernidus Affair,” “Flowering Cherry,” “The Family Reunion” by T. S. Eliot for which special music was composed by John Ritchie and played by his string orchestra, “Dangerous Corner,” “The Deep Blue Sea,” C. P. Snow’s ‘The Affair,” and ‘The Business of Good Government,” a Christmas play.

As Mr Kearns read out the names of the plays he would occasionally comment: “That was well received.” He explained: “Sometimes people would stop me on the street and say they liked it, or we’d get the odd telephone call or letter. The letters are treasured as we don’t get a lot. But at least we had an indication that a play had some sort of impact Other-

wise it wouldn’t have been remembered. “One of the most interesting things has been the growth of New Zealand writing. The first was Tinder New Stars’ in 1958 by Alice Glenday. In 1959 we did an

adaptation 'Gold at Kapai’ by Mrs Phil Wardell. In ‘6O a couple of short plays by Jean Lawrence from Blenheim. “In 1961 there came a glorious week when all four plays on the air were produced in Christchurch. Three were written in Christchurch —The Outlander* by Wendy de la Bere, ‘And Christchurch Be Damned’ by Eileen Robinson; The Axe’ by Allen Curnow (with special music composed by Douglas Lilburn). “Since then we’ve done plays by Joseph Musaphia, Douglas Stewart, and Errol Brathwaite.” Mr Kearns consulted several rows of cards pinned on the wall behind his desk. “We are scheduled to do six New Zealand plays in the next six months,” he said. Mr Kearns said he produced another New Zealand play, ‘The Rattle,” by Michael Antony Noonan, in Dunedin. This was the first of a projected series to be produced in other centres. More plays by New Zealand writers and with New Zealand music were planned. “We’ve done one Shakespeare, ‘As You Like It,’ I adapted this and John Ritchie did the music. It was one of the two [4o9th] birthday plays. Experimental “We’ve done our share of experimental stuff three Pinters, ‘The Bespoke Overcoat,’ by Wolf Mankowitz, ‘Something Strange’ by Kingsley Amis, three by James Hanley, and ‘Next Time I’ll Sing to You” by James Saunders, to be broadcast later this month. “Other producers to work

here are William Austin and Roy Leywood. And we’ve had some very fine technicians. The present two are Ivan Savill and Valmai Gardner. Their contribution is as important as anybody’s.

Mr Kearns said plays were usually planned in six-month periods. “We try to keep three months ahead. We also try to do plays soon after they’ve appeared on Broadway or in London. In fact, we’ve often scooped other broadcasting services by doing some things while they are still playing in the West End.”

In The Evenings Most of the plays have been recorded in the evenings, but soon the studios will switch to day-time production. A full-length play can take a week to record. Some are done in as many as 20 short sequences. And after the eight to 24 hours in the studio there is still eight to 20 hours to be spent in the control room, the actual time depending on the complexity of the play and on sound effects required. “We’ve quite a library of sound effects now,” said Mr Kearns, pointing to a shelf along a wall of his office stacked with soundeffects tapes. He added: “I suppose you could put in that to get the sound of a cocktail shaker, we shake an empty fire extinquisher. People always ask questions about that sort of thing when I give talks.” “We’re doing adaptations in Christchurch now. We started with The Axe’ which we did by mail with Alan Curnow and we’ve now done about 20.”

Mr Kearns referred again to his days as a one-man band. “I still do all those things that I used to do, but. not at once. Sometimes I take a lead —there’s sometimes a part I’d like to play,” he confessed.

In another part of the building someone switched on a television monitor and the sound of a children’s programme could be heard. Mr Kearns straightened the scripts on his desk. “Two of the things that television can’t do that steam radio can are the radio play and music,” he said.

Hundredth Play The hundredth Christchurch radio play, Errol Brathwaite's “Long Way Home,” could be thought of as a suspense thriller, as a documentary of Search and Rescue work, as character studies of injured men in the Canterbury bush and of the top brass in Christchurch who direct the search for them. It is the story of the search for a crashed Devon aircraft. A long Christchurch cast list includes Patrick Smyth,

Owen Simmance, Frederick Betts, David Hindin, William Scannell, Guy Bliss and, in a small role, Errol Brathwaite. Another New Zealand play will be heard from 3YC on Friday evening, “Conversations With a Golliwog,” by Alexander Guyan, with special music composed and conducted by Owen Jensen. This is a psychological study of a girl’s madness.

Manchester Life Sir John Barbirolli leads two lives as a conductor, spending part of a year with the Halle Orchestra, which he joined in 1943, and the rest of the year in Texas, leading the Houston Symphony, the leading orchestra of the South and South-west which he joined in 1961. The Manchester side of Sir John Barbirolli will be discussed on Wednesday evening in ‘Talking About Music” from 3YC.