Exactly 100 years ago, the first radio play, A Comedy of Danger, was broadcast by the BBC. In this digital age, it’s perhaps surprising that radio drama remains popular in much of the world, attracting 6.96million listeners per week in the UK alone – although most is downloaded rather than heard on terrestrial or satellite radio.
Listening to stories allows us to weave an internal, imaginary world with pictures of people, places, objects, events, sounds, scents, emotions and even tastes linked to the unfolding drama. Much depends on the skill and involvement of the storyteller.
Rotherham u3a has its own band of story tellers – the Playreading group, which meets fortnightly to read plays ranging from Shakespeare to farce. Although not all the plays are comedies, the emphasis is on having fun. The fact that group members often play multiple parts, quickly switching, for example from a refined Shakespearian gentleman to a roisterous, barking dog, adds greatly to the enjoyment and hilarity.
Two contrasting plays amongst those performed by the group this year are Willis Hall’s The Musketeers – an amusing, high-energy adaptation of the universally loved story (swashbuckling and rollicking adventure guaranteed – convincing French accents, not so much) and Pinter’s The Homecoming, a difficult and absurd tale about family and belonging.
Yet playreading is often full of surprises, and reading a play out loud can bring out the fun in it. So-called ‘heavy’ plays such The Homecoming or Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard are in fact quite humorous. All manner of drama is grist to the mill for this group.
Stretch your imagination. Try two sessions, free of charge. For more information visit www.rotherham.u3asite.uk or call 01709 379379.