Mobilizing the Hordes: Radio Drama as Development Theatre in Sub-Saharan Africa

Chapter Five. Radio Theatre Aesthetics: Engineering Development Initiatives on the Air

141 Chapter Five Radio Theatre Aesthetics: Engineering Development Initiatives on the Air Radio Theatre offers a novel phenomenon that corroborates the underlying aim of Development Theatre. Radio produces audiences of sizes hitherto unimaginable; and it gives a new impetus to the traditional theory of crowd-formation and group-thinking. It reduces the relevance of the eyes in social communication and uplifts the role of the human voice and the auditory sense to a new realm of import. Aesthetically employing radio for theatre increases the scope of this relevance as it establishes a vibrant space for cultural reanimation. Expounding on the technical relevance of radio, Hadley (1971, 18) puts it vis-à-vis the printed word thus: Not only is the radio easy to listen to, it is likewise more personal, and living people arrest our attention and sustain our interest better than do printed words. The very transience of broadcast possesses fascination. Printed words endue, they are polished and perfected and lack the spontaneity and human fallibility of the single performance. A voice broadcasting news possesses an intimacy and eventfulness absent from the evening newspaper. If the voice is that of a wellknown radio favourite, it seems friendly; we respond to it and even obey its commands. Hadley’s assertion lends credence to the role radio plays in social mobilisation and therefore cultural re-animation. The listener has an imaginative sense of participation in a common activity. He knows that others are simultaneously listening with him, and in this way he feels a community of interest with people outside his home. Only in a vague sense is the printed word a social stimulus, whereas radio fills us with what the reputable British Radio Playwright and producer, Alan Beck (1996, 34) describes as a “consciousness of a kind which at times grows into an impression of vast social unity.” Radio is therefore, much more effective in bringing about concerted opinion 142 and action. Nevertheless, it takes good skills on the part of the producer to get listeners to invest in the fictional world of radio drama. The producer employs the peculiar aesthetics of this subgenre to create dialogue and movement as well as convincing acting that is more than the words on script. He or she ensures that the actors live the words and give them the dramatic movement and life. From the new historicist’s standpoint some of the selected productions under study trigger the developmental initiatives found in mainstream Development Theatre. In different, albeit related shades, the selected plays produced present a society that has changed, is changing and is grappling with crucial challenges. We discern in this chapter that the playwrights and producers are informed by their societies and that appreciating the works from the new historicist stand point provides a more convenient universe of discourse that vindicates the driving force behind Development Theatre in Anglophone Africa. The focus in this chapter will be on the following productions: Koffi the Village Doctor by Nora Elu Mumba (produced by the British broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in 1986, The Marriage that never Was by Becky Ndive (produced by the National Radio Service of the Cameroon Radio and Television Corporation, CRTV, in 1986). The Step Mother by Wenaru Amba Mulewa (produced, courtesy of the programme exchange centre of the Union of National Radio and TV Organisation of Africa, URTNA, 1987). The Incredible Madam Ida by Victor Elame Musinga (produced by the South West provincial service of the Cameroon Radio and Television Corporation, CRTV radio– in 1984), Victor Epie Ngome’s Not yet the Name (produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in 1986) and The First Defence (produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC in 1987). Besides discussing the aesthetic components of these productions and their effectiveness, we will pay attention to development radio in South Africa where radio has been used extensively for the fight against HIV AIDS and Malawi where radio has brought villagers to the forefront of local development initiatives. 143 Synopses of Selected Productions In Nora Elu Mumba’s Koffi the Village Doctor, Koffi is a celebrity of an imaginary village in Africa who comes home as a medical doctor after a decade of studies in the United Kingdom. His decision to settle and practice in the local community in order to help his people who have remained backward in many areas of development initiatives comes as a pleasant surprise to the villagers who expect him to...