Postmodern & Traditional

radio drama essay

Tara Pringle-Stacey
In this essay I will be critically comparing and evaluating two radio dramas, a post modern drama
and a traditional drama. I will be demonstrating how the codes of words and voices, music and
ambiance, sound and silence and speech have been effectively used in both styles of drama. And the
conventions of aural signposting, fades and silence, cliffhanger endings, titles and credits and
narration and direct speech are used.

In these two dramas I will be comparing the benefits of a narrator, the use of scripts to create drama
and the use of sound and silence to create the overall mood. In a Post modern drama the audience is
allowed to make assumptions about the drama because of the way the drama is played out. The
characters create questions for the audience and leave them unanswered, in this way the story is
open to interpretation. In a traditional drama the story unfolds through the script, for example a
character may say whats wrong?, are you worried about Jims visit to the hospital yesterday and
the results of his tests?. In this way the character is telling the audience that Jim is unwell even
though Jim is not actually in the scene, the response indicates to the audience what the major
concerns are within the storyline and how the characters will overcome those concerns. Traditional
radio dramas can also have a narrator as well as this depth of information within the script.

The first drama I listened to, The day of the dead was in a post modern style. It is a short story
about a young man who, having received a postcard is travelling to find his missing girlfriend Emily.
He does not know her address just knows the general area that she lives in. The young man meets a
man on the train who says he will help him find Emily. It is Halloween and the two characters are in
New Orleans.

The traditional drama was an episode of the Archers. There is a dress rehearsal for a pantomime and
This Post modern radio drama is an hour in duration as it is a single strand drama, therefore the story can unfold
quite slowly with narrative structure and dramatic reconstruction maintaining the audiences interest. The post
modern radio drama is narrated by the main character who is travelling to New Orleans to search for his missing
lover, Emily. The drama opens with the title of the story and the name of the author. The story starts with the
narrators description of his first glimpse of New Orleans, this is a good example of a narrator breaking the fourth
wall by talking directly to the listener to explain what is happening in the story. It is an in depth description of
everything he can see, smell and hear. During the train journey there are good examples of aural signposting, the
background noise of the train indicating to the audience that the drama is taking place on a train. Another good
example of aural signposting is the announcements of various places that the train is travelling through, this tells
the audience that the meeting between these two strangers happens over a long period of time. The narrator is
also the young traveler so the audience get to hear what he is saying but also to understand what he is thinking.
The young man has a flashback and describes the postcard that he holds from Emily that is worn tissue thin by
my constant touch. This is an important piece of information of a flashback for the audience and helps them
understand that he had a close relationship with Emily. This also helps the audience understand the chronological
order for the story. His direct speech tells the audience some of the backstory of why he is in New Orleans, he
describes meeting a colourful individual, who is known in the story as the messenger, he speaks with a strong
accent and this aural signposting makes it easy to differentiate between the two characters and shows that they
are from different cultures. The messenger takes interest in this young man who is travelling alone but the
narrators view point is one sided so the audience can only understand the messengers perspective from the
script. The audience learns via words and voices that it is Halloween and that the young man does not know
exactly where `Emily lives. The messenger takes a look at the post card and says that he will take the young
man there for $20. After a Taxi driver refuses to take him to the area on the post card he decides that he has
very little choice other than to trust the messenger to take him to Emily. The messenger says hell take him for
but the fee will now be $30. The atmosphere becomes darker and makes the audience feel that this young man
is vulnerable and in a strange town. The story uses fades and silences to keep the audience captivated. On their
way to where Emily supposedly lives the messenger takes the young man into a bar in the quarter he talks to
the barman who he knows, the barman also has a strong accent and again the aural signposting makes the
The actor who plays the messenger speaks in a way that makes the audience feel that he is untrustworthy and,
at best he seems out to make a fast buck and at worst he could be leading the stranger into real danger. The
writer is using a cliff hanger approach in his story by not telling the audience what the messengers motive is, in
this way he keeps them interested and allows them to make their own conclusions. The plot development at
this stage leaves the audience wanting to know how things will turn out for the young man. The messenger
uses short sentences followed by silences for dramatic effect to keep the audience interested. He does not go
into any detail to explain how he can be useful to the young man in finding his girlfriend. He leaves so much
un-said which makes the audience make up their own mind about him. The silences during the script keep the
audience interested to decide if the messenger is a good man or not. Much of the story is peppered with sound
effects that add to the atmosphere and help tell the story, for example at the beginning the places that the
young man has travelled through are announced to give the audience an understanding of how long he has
been travelling. When he is in the Quarter with the Messenger the street music creates a melancholy, lonely
atmosphere.
The traditional drama was an episode of the Archers. Each Archers episode is 15 minutes in duration this is
because it is a series, so cliffhangers are very important o carry the audiences interest over to the next
episode. The drama starts with the title of the episode and the archers theme musicIn this episode there is no
narrator, the episode starts with their well known theme music followed by the title of the episode and then
goes directly into the script. The audience learns through the codes of words and voices immediately that the
village is putting on a pantomime and that everybody appears to be helping out. The script is written in a way
that reveals information about each characters important issues and the chronological order in which they
happen. For instance Brian and Debbie discuss Brians purchased land and Debbie suggests that there is a
deeper family impact. There are few sound effects used in this conversation but again the audience
understands that the characters are moving because their speech is slightly labored as though they are walking
while talking, another use of the code of words and voices. At the end of this scene the audience hears the use
of sound and silence, the sound being Debbie and Brian talking followed by a fade to silence which takes the
audience into the next scene at the pub. The audience knows that the characters are in a pub by aural
signposting, firstly drinks are being ordered but also because they can hear voices talking in the background
and glasses clinking which creates a typical pub atmosphere. If the audience were unfamiliar with the Archers
they would be able to understand very quickly how many characters are involved in the scene due to such
Aural signposting as male and female voices and several different regional accents. During the pub scene
Elizabeth tells Debbie that shes ready for a new relationship with one man in particular. Debbie demonstrates
intrigue with the tone in her voice, she uses the code of words and voices which makes the audience intrigued
to know more and gives the opportunity for plot development. Richard Locke joins them which means that the
relationship conversation stops. Kenton, Linda and Susan discuss the pantomime dress rehearsal and this
conversation flows on to them gossiping about chemistry between Debbie and Richard. The code of speech is
used here to show the audience that it is gossip and not fact by the secretive and intriguing pitch that is used
by the actors. At the end of the episode Kenton notices that Elizabeth is quite subdued as she watches Debbie
and Richard leave the pub together. Kenton uses the code of speech to try to reassure Elizabeth that it doesnt
necessarily mean there's anything going on between the two of them. Elizabeth is then quick to point out to
him that they are grown ups and they can do what they like. The narrative structure of Elizabeths speech
When comparing these two styles of radio drama we see how important it is keep the audiences interest all the time. In
the postmodern drama we experience the use of speech in script form and narrative form. Many sound effects are used
and aural signposting is key to determine that this young man appears out of place. The messengers accent are strong a
different to the young mans and he repeats a foreign phrase which leaves the audience with a real understanding of the
difference between these two men.

The target audiences for these two dramas are quite different. The type of audience interested in the Archers would
typically be someone who is interested in village life within the farming community, generally speaking people who have
an interest in country matters. The Day of the Dead's target audience would typically be anyone who is interested in
crime thrillers and suspense dramas.

Aural signposting is also a key element within the traditional radio drama. The difference in regional accents helps the
audience to keep up with who the characters are and what their role is in this episode. There are fewer sound effects in
the traditional drama but in my opinion they are as effective as the numerous sound effects in the post modern drama.
The atmospheres created in both styles of drama are effective in keeping the audience interested.

The use of narration in the post modern drama is really useful for the audience to understand the backstory and the
characterisation. It is also, in my opinion the quickest way to bring the audience up to speed on the chronological
development of the story. In the traditional radio drama I feel that the major skills lie with the script writers use of the
code of words and voices to unfold the storyline in an interesting way and the actors use of the code of words and voices
to add realism with the tone, pitch, accent and volume of their voices which results in the audience eagerly anticipating
the next episode. Surprisingly as I have very little interest in the farming community or pantomime I still found the
Archers held my interest more and I think this is due to the quality of the actors and the script writing. In my opinion
both styles work but I feel it it easier to loose and audiences interest with too much narrative description.

In both styles of drama the cliff-hanger is essential to a good story. In my opinion cliff-hangers dont have to be major
events it is sufficient to just leave the audience wanting to know more and they develop the on going storyline.

The postmodern radio drama was quite a long, meaningful story and I feel the narration helped keep the TAs interest
through the duration of the story along with the vivid characterization of the messenger and the young man. The