How to Write a Radio Serial Drama for Social Development- PDF

136 Chapter Nine: Interactivity and Enter-Educate Drama
7. Oral responses to a character. In some dramas, one of the characters will
put direct questions to the listeners and invite them to give immediate
oral responses.
In the scene below, Tolto—a slightly foolish, but charming character
who is always forgetful—is riding home alone on his mule. He is trying
anxiously to recall the information he has just learned on his visit to the
health worker and calls on listeners for help. The letters PLR in the script
stand for Pause For Listener Response, and the figure 02 indicates that
the pause lasts two seconds.
EXAMPLE
11. TOLTO: (CHATTING TO HIS MULE) I hope I can remember all that,
Burro. I never can remember details...maybe I wasn’t even listening
properly. I think she said there were six temporary methods of
contraception and two permanent ones.... Yes, I think I got that
right. But what were the various methods called (PAUSE) Stupid
Burro, you don’t know anything. (ANXIOUSLY PLEADING).
Help me, listeners, help me. My wife won’t give me dinner tonight
if I don’t remember the names. Oh somebody please tell me, what is
the name of the permanent method for men
12. PLR: 02
13. TOLTO: Vasectomy. Oh, that’s right. Thank you...thank you...thank you. I’ll
remember that. Vasectomy...vasectomy. Great, but now, would
somebody PLEASE tell me what was the name of the permanent
method for women
14. PLR: 02
15. TOLTO: Laparoscopy. That’s it. I don’t know how you people do it.
Vasectomy...laparoscopy. I’ve got those two, but how will I ever
recall the six temporary methods
At this point, other characters arrive and the action changes. Later, however,
Tolto pauses outside the door of his home, just before he sees his wife, and
asks the listeners to help him recall the six temporary methods.
Calling for oral responses in this way can be highly effective as listeners
quickly fall into the habit of trying to outsmart the character and recall
everything he forgets. Only one character in a drama should speak directly to
the audience in this way, however. Involving more than one character in
interactive questioning tends to destroy the story’s sense of reality. For the
same reason, this character should address the audience only when there is no
one else in the scene.
8. Open-ended questions. Posing an open-ended question at the end of a
drama episode encourages audience members to think for themselves.
Listeners might be asked to think about how they would resolve one of