Radio Plays

At AnamCara Art and Writing Retreat in County Cork, Ireland, I recently heard Michael Downend, American playwright and photographer, speak about the resurgence of radio plays. It's a genre and/or a venue that most of my generation has very little experience with. Oh, I've seen the old movies in which a group of movie actors are acting as though they are radio actors, standing side by side reading into microphones from a script, the sound man off to the side adding affects. I have a memory of begging to hear the Jack Benny show on radio on Sunday night. Our first TV came into the house about 1950, when I was four years old. I couldn't have been a fan of Jack Benny long or of radio plays. I don't think there was much time between my awareness of the radio as spoken entertainment and my imagination and attention turning to T.V. and the Howdy Doody and Pinky Lee shows.

For me over the last 35 years radio entertainment has meant NPR and in particular Prairie Home Companion. Michael Downend sees an increase in the use of radio plays in the U.K. as well as a smaller but increasing demand in the U.S. As a listener, I like the idea of more drama and comedy available on more stations. As a writer, I am fascinated with the process of learning how to write and market a radio play. I can think of a number of subjects that would seem to lend themselves to the genre. The question is can an old prose writer drop all the descriptive phrases and bring characters to life and move plot with only dialogue and a few sound affects?

Writing or Avoiding?

If I am blogging about writing, am I actually writing? Or is this an avoidance tactic a bit more sophisticated than washing the dishes or eating, less social than holding my capless uniball fine point on the patio at Starbucks in Santa Fe or going to Los Muertos Beach in Puerto Vallarta, my lonely notebook buried in my bag under sunscreen and other non-writing essentials. I think if I consulted my writing coach, Karen Blomain, whose Personal Writing Workshop I attended in Eyeries, Ireland last month, she'd say yes. Yes, you are writing! Okay then let's blog!