Groser. Mr Groser handled his large cast with a sure hand to achieve a result which was wonderfully true to the spirit and conception of the author. An interesting innovation was the use of electronic sound images especially composed by Douglas Lilburn. Despite occasional passages which were noisy and distracting, these images played a most important part in creating the atmosphere of the play. There was a surrealistic quality about the effects which served initially to heighten tension and expextancy as the Underworld was entered, and later to create an atmosphere which gave the dream sequences an eerie credibility. Technical adviser on Maori matters was Bill Kerekere. It is, however, a matter for the greatest regret that in a play concerning a race with a strongly developed a sense of the dramatic as the Maori, it was necessary to have all the parts played by Pakeha. Although the pronunciation of Maori was for the most part exceptionally good, the voices lacked the timbre and richness and the subtle accent of the Maori voice at its best. The main criticism of The Spiral Tattoo stems probably from the fact that, as a stage play, it was conceived originally in visual rather than auditory terms. The transposition from a stage play to one for broadcasting was not entirely successful, in that some listeners I am sure, would have experienced difficulty in following the progression of the story, despite a sketchy outline provided by the announcer before the programme began. This is indeed a defect, and yet not a grave one for The Spiral Tattoo is not intended to tell a cohesive and entertaining story. (‘Stories are only for children’ says Mrs Schafer). The legend is a means whereby the author seeks to hold a mirror to an ancient culture and to interpret its psychological subtleties in terms which are meaningful to the modern radio listener. For this aim to succeed and for the result to be credible the terms must also be ones which are not incongruous to the mood and age of the original. In this, Adele Schafer has succeeded and succeeded well. Thus in the visions which Mataora has as he undergoes the painful ordeal of being tattoed, the author digs into the subconscious of her hero and calls forth the fear and guilt images which she feels an old-time Maori might have experienced. Mataora dreams of his father Hotoke who was killed in battle. In the dream Hotoke warns his son of the emptiness of honour gained in war. There is a timelessness in Hotoke's sadness for ‘life

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