A Short Melodrama written for Broadcasting by Richard Hughes
Characters:
To get the right atmosphere for listening to this play, lights should be turned down and the play heard in darkness or by fire-light. It will then be easier to imagine the mysterious Congo night, the thick undergrowth, a small clearing, the young English traveller and his companions, a nervous young Cockney, a middle-aged African gold prospector, and also the intrepid girl who is chiefly concerned; these characters and the distant background of black tribesmen with the accompaniment of the threatening beat of the tom-toms and the wailing of the native war chant.
Mr. Richard Hughes is a young Welsh story-writer and playwright who has done as much remarkable work as any other of the Georgians. His first book, 'Gipsy Night and Other Poems,' was published by the Golden Cockerel Press as recently as 1922. Since then he has written several notable plays, including 'The Sisters' Tragedy' and 'A Comedy of Good and Evil,' which aroused peat interest when it was produced at the Ambassadors Theatre last year; as well as 'A Moment of Time,' a book of short stories, and 'Confessio Juvenis.' He was the author of 'A Comedy of Danger,' the first play written specially for broadcasting, which was given in January, 1924.