Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Quarter 4 Reviews- 3/13



005 Contemporary Drama – New

General Mdladic is Waving is one of the most unusual radio dramas I’ve ever heard.  Taken out of context, listening to its middle sections sounds like listening to non-fiction—in fact, a very dry and almost boring kind of journalism.  However, that the production has achieved this level of sleight-of-hand (sleight-of-ear?) is remarkable and highlights how this drama skirts the line between fiction and nonfiction.  Docudrama for radio doesn’t even come close to describing it.  However, it is drama, written by Graham White and assembled from actual court records.  Danny (Joseph Kloska), a young English PhD student, is in the Netherlands for the trials of Bosnian war criminals.  He has mixed feelings about the trials.  He meets and befriends the reluctant Hannah (Sarah Ridgway), who is “only a cleaner” but actually has a personal connection to the trials.  Other voices included Philip Fox, Chetnya Pandya, Carrie Gooderson, Tom Forrester, Samuel James, David Sterzakker, Judy Teale, Simon Ludders, and Sancha McCormack.  Mary Peate’s direction was brilliantly understated.

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