The Friday R4 Play

[Lawrence Jones]

The quality of the last four Friday evening plays – starting with Sarah Daniels’ Sound Barriers - has been outstanding. However I suspect that last Friday’s The Face Of The Enemy is going to be my play of the year (1). Very, very, very dark and it was disturbing listening to the almost casual way that the rape and murder was discussed…..but what an ending…..and those voices. I'd be interested to hear other listeners' opinions.

Thinking about last Friday's discussion concerning bad language on Feedback, all I can say s that I hope this slot never gives any ground to the complainants. I hear the ‘F’ word and sexually explicit references in these plays quite often and they’ve always been justified.

[Crusoe]

Lawrence said:

The quality of the last four Friday evening plays – starting with Sarah Daniels’ Sound Barriers - has been outstanding. However I suspect that last Friday’s The Face Of The Enemy is going to be my play of the year

I often miss the Friday plays (as I did this one) and when I do listen I often find them a bit grim. Having said that, they do, when they are good, seem to produce some of the most compelling drama on the radio and to make the best possible use of sound effects.

Lawrence said:

Thinking about last Friday's discussion concerning bad language on Feedback, all I can say s that I hope this slot never gives any ground to the complainants. I hear the ‘F’ word and sexually explicit references in these plays quite often and they’ve always been justified.

That was an interesting discussion – particularly the fact that those people who complain about the language are also likely to use it. I agree that strong language is often needed to reflect the reality of a situation and it never seems to be used gratuitously in the Friday Plays I’ve listened to.