Under Milk Wood is Great Radio Scriptwriting

Dylan Thomas' Radio Play is an Example Of How to Write for Radio

Jun 15, 2009

From initial scripting to finished audio production may have taken over eight years, but judged as a piece of the masterful use of radio there are few better scripts.

Under Milk Wood a play for voices was first published in 1954. It begins with the word Silence. It’s the first clue to Dylan Thomas’ understanding and hugely imaginative use of the radio and the creative possibilities open to someone of his creative abilities. The script is written to give any following production team exactly the information they need to produce a piece of audio. Characterisation, use of sound effects, delivery, style, and some of the most superb, moving and imaginative poetry that was ever penned, are all on the pages of the Welsh bard’s play.

To Begin at the Beginning.

The now famous words that the listener hears, “To begin at the beginning,” starts the tale and there are some interesting facts and stories that follow from the characters. Firstly here are some facts about the play itself:

Conception and Characterisation.

Read ‘Quite Early One Morning,’ Dylan Thomas’ quite beautiful own account of an early morning winter’s walk in 1944 through the quiet, sleeping small Welsh village of New Quay and the kernel of ‘Under Milk Wood’ is plain to read. The start of the characters and the whole feeling of the piece that was to become the radio play itself had begun.

‘Quite early One Morning’ itself was recorded for the BBC and there are reports in a memo from the BBC Director of Talks at the time to the producer that Dylan Thomas didn’t do justice to his own script, ”until the character speech on the last page.” The reviewer in the Listener disagreed. “It produced a delightful picture of a small seaside town, a beautiful, richly imaginative, humorous piece of work to which the poet did full justice by his excellent reading."

Characters.

The poet was a resident of the small seaside town at the time of writing ‘Quite Early One Morning’ and it can only be respectfully assumed that as most writers write what they know, some of the 30 or so characters developed from the people of New Quay in the mid 1940’s. Characters like:

The Story and the Radio Play.

The poet titled the piece ‘A Play for Voices,’ while the BBC later produced it as a “Play for Radio.” The early action takes place quite early in the day, and after the introduction by the First Voice the author sets the scene with the words, “Time passes. Listen. Time passes,” and encourages us “Come closer now.” It’s a magical use of radio to draw the listener in; having already celebrated the language and the scene with some fine poetry.

Over the next ensuing moments the poet brings us inside the dreams of the characters until eventually the village wakes and we follow them and their feelings and experience how they interact with each other in their everyday lives.

A Template for Radio Writing.

For eight years, after initially writing ‘Quite Early Morning’ the poet worked on the idea that became the classic piece “Under Milk Wood,” studied, read, translated and providing inspiration for poets, songwriters, operas, ballets, films, all over the world. It also provides anyone who works in radio and writes audio scripts as a template on how best to use the medium to its fullest potential.

The copyright of the article Under Milk Wood is Great Radio Scriptwriting in Radio Industry is owned by Dan Mccurdy. Permission to republish Under Milk Wood is Great Radio Scriptwriting in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.