1. The History of paper radio drama script analysis
This is a BBC Radio Drama on Radio 4 by Oliver Emanuel. This is performed by two
characters, Him: Mark Bonnar and Her: Lucy Gaskell.
This script starts with the title page which includes information on which radio station
this was aired on, the title, author, characters and information on where and when this
was recorded. Dialogue. Stage directions. We then see a quote from Radiohead’s famous
song Creep ‘You float like a feather, in a beautiful world’ this provides us with context as
we later hear from Him that this song was very important to him. In scene 1 we begin to
see the dialogue as Him begins the drama talking about how important paper is to our
daily lives.
The narrative structure of this radio drama is unlike that of a normal story. From
reflecting upon Propp’s character theory (1928) it is clear that this is very different from
the characters within the script. This is due to the fact that there are only two characters
within this narrative and they seem to be playing the role of the Hero equally. It is also
very different from Todarov’s narrative theory (1969) as the story seems to be based on
a character reflecting on memories rather than a chronological (equilibrium- disruption
of equilibrium- recognition of disruption- attempt to repair damage- new equilibrium)
story.
The title page states that this is a Radio drama, we can also see codes and conventions
of the genre throughout the script. Firstly the characterisation of Him and Her suggest a
romantic relationship which is a common theme within dramas. We can also see the
drama genre through the 1st person narrative in scene 1 as Him describes the trauma of
his girlfriend leaving him.
I would suggest that the target audience for this radio drama would be adults both male
and female due to the fact that we have both a male and female protagonist for
audiences to relate to. This would also probably be targeted at adults (18+) as it focuses
on intimate relationships. Regarding the 4C’s scale the audience might be the explorer
as their core need in life is discovery and they enjoy indulging in things such as a drama
story.
