A Survey of Published American Radio Drama

(From the Introduction)

Radio broadcasting is a product of the twentieth century, taking its place beside the automobile, the airplane, two world wars, and now television as an influence upon the people of the world. Radio has had a short but colorful life, a reign studded with court fights, money-making, good and bad drama, music and showmanship, and a fair share or public acceptance and criticism.

Radio broadcasting is a composite or music programs, news reports, dramatic programs, commercial announcements, and comedy features. The American people listen to all of these programs at various times. Radio has become a part or our culture, be the adjunct a good or an annoying one. As it pertains to drama, radio broadcasting is another medium or projecting the spoken word in dramatic form, joining the stage and the more recent medium or the movies.

The numerous books on radio drama now available are concerned with the techniques of putting on a radio play or they contain a number of plays for reading enjoyment. There is, to my knowledge, no book on the literature of radio studied as a whole. While there are several collections of radio plays, they are limited to the printing of some ten to twenty-five play by different authors.

This paper will be a limited survey of radio dramatic literature. Only published radio plays will be treated and not all of those, since the number is too large. Nearly 300 of the more important printed plays have been studied and many of them will be mentioned in this work. There will be included some comment on the nature of radio drama, some material on theories, techniques, and limitations, and a considerable amount of critical material from contemporary books and periodicals.