Turn on the Talking Wireless presented by Theatre Redlands to Celebrate Seniors Month Redland Museum
2nd-9th October 2021
Radio Rules! Let your imagination run riot in this anachronistic radio revival of simpler times.
Dr Gemma Regan
No matter how many times you have circled the Sun, everyone can enjoy and benefit from the magical experience of radio. It enables your imagination to run riot creating personal images of the settings and characters. Despite the introduction of TV and the internet, radio is still a very popular medium for listening to music, news and story-telling. The beloved BBC Radio 4 play The Archers about life in rural Britain is celebrating 70 years of continuous shows. Even broadcasting through the COVID lockdowns to be the longest-running show in history!
As an the introduction to the show they described a research project comparing television and radio preferences on primary school children with one boy exclaiming that he preferred the radio as “the pictures were better.”
Museums are full of artefacts that also evoke stories and memories. Turn on the Talking Wireless combines the two at the Redland Museum allowing time for you to peruse the museum’s impressive collection of radio and vintage sound equipment beforehand.
In 1923 Australia transmitted the first official radio broadcast with listening to radio plays whilst sat around the radio becoming an established part of family life. There are five short plays and an interval with a bar, tea and coffee and preordered cheese platters. Three plays Dad and Dave, The Medical File and Blue Hills are excerpts from popular shows from the ’40s and ’50s. There are also two modern plays The Sounds of Silence and the supernatural Battered Haddock by local playwright and director Jan Nary.
The Snake Gully Cup from the Dad and Dave series by Maurice Francis and Lorna Bingham kicked off the show with six actors gathered around microphones, as in the "olden days". Not being familiar with the series it still seemed a genuine re-enactment as there were many laughs and sighs of recognition from the older members of the audience. Michael Adam Smith was funny as the reserved Dave and even changed characters with a swift donning of a hat to be the fast spoken race commentator.
A Shrine to Janie Gallagher from Medical File was more thought-provoking with a poignant look at the origins of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, borne from the death of a grandchild and a determined Grandmother who gave purpose to the tragedy by helping others suffering from the disease.
After the interval, The Sounds of Silence was a brief amusing play by Linda Stevenson examining the nuances of how to make a radio transmission of a silent Quaker service sound like something was happening. Here the SFX and foley artists, who were on stage throughout, came to the fore. They were moving chairs, shutting doors and pouring tea, demonstrating how the background audio is vital in helping set a realistic scene.
Battered Haddock by Jan Nary was amusing and intriguing, with an unexpected nod to the supernatural. Set in a fish and chip shop, The Happy Haddock in Whitby, England a distant Aussie relative visits Old Mother Shipton to catch up on some family history, discovering more than she bargained for. Ann Shipton, played by the author, Jan Nary is hilarious with her abrupt no-nonsense manner and Yorkshire accent as she bemoans the mystery of her missing “idol drunken bugger” husband Jimmy.
Amusing commercial interludes were performed between each play by the ditsy Redland Rockettes, Ann-Marie Andersen and Linda Muller. They promoted bygone products with the catchy songs for Aeroplane Jelly, Arnotts Vovo biscuits, Caramel Whip and Smarties. They finished with the Aussie iconic “we all love our Vegemite” song. It provided a good break between the plays and enhanced the radio experience bringing the memories flooding back. Reminding us of how simple musical ditties can become ingrained in our psyche and linked to memories of that era.
An excerpt of the Aussie classic Blue Hills by Gwen Meredith, which ran from 1949-1976 ,rounded off the afternoon of radio reminiscences. The radio trip down memory lane was much appreciated by the older audience members, whilst the more youthful enjoyed the acting and storytelling. Turn on the Talking Wireless was entertaining and provided a valuable opportunity to enjoy the extraordinary medium of radio, a more relaxing and slower form of story-telling in a World of Tik Tok and Twitter.