ADAPTATION

Whilst listeners may be unaware of whether a radio drama is a wholly original work or an adaptation, the two are very much differentiated from the perspective of the writer.

Broadly speaking, the process of adaptation is similar to that of translation. Instead of (or as well as) translating the spoken word from one tongue to another, the radio writer must translate from the language of (usually) a written text not intended for speaking aloud into the sound world of radio, with all its vagaries and special techniques as discussed previously in this course.

It is a foregone conclusion that the experience of listening to an adaptation cannot be the same as that of reading a book. For example:

• the characters' voices and the soundscape, which are left wholly to the imagination of the reader, are imposed on the listener;
• whereas the reader can read at whatever pace s/he chooses, the adaptation forces its pace on the listener;
• whereas the reader can move freely back and forth within the written text, the listener must rely on a single, continuous fabric of sounds for understanding;
• and so on.

These factors should be central to the writer's approaches to both the selection of an appropriate text for adaptation and the nature of the adaptation.

There are no set rules governing the choice of suitable texts for adaptation. On the contrary, it is hard to think of any classic text that has not undergone some form of adaptation for radio in recent years. For example:

• aurally one-dimensional texts, such as a book written entirely in the first person, may work on radio if properly packaged and delivered by a compelling voice or by being adapted for many voices, while
• the seeming unsuitability of texts that consist largely of narrative, with little or no dialogue, may inspire the radio writer to make a bold and innovative adaptation.

In short, there is little that cannot be conveyed successfully on radio, provided one accepts the basic premise that the radio adaptation cannot be a clone of the original.

Radio adaptations should be either faithful to the original or else so different that the relationship between original and adaptation is tenuous. Listeners who know the work being adapted are invariably interested to know how their favourite aspects of the work are treated in the adaptation. They often complain if important details are misrepresented or omitted. Some degree of omission is usually inevitable to fit the constraints of radio scheduling. Insofar as the writer is seeking to make a faithful adaptation, therefore, the work of writing must be preceded by a careful analysis of the original text in order to:

• identify the crucial moments of the original in terms of the exposition and development of character and plot (with particular emphasis on conflict and seminal/conclusive events, and taking particular care to consider important but difficult moments, such as those which require many different characters to speak in quick succession);
• identify any lesser moments that may be useful to provide contrast or otherwise to alter the pace of the action (such as the comic sub-plots in Shakespeare's histories);
• construct the central story line for each of the main characters (not least as a check that the characters' stories are still being properly told in spite of the abridgment);
• determine whether to use a narrator and, if so, the narrative perspective for the adaptation;
• ensure that the work is going to be feasible in terms of casting, for example in terms of the number of voices required and the degree of differentiation required between voices. .

When these tasks have been completed, the writer's work changes from being predominantly analytical to predominantly creative. In other words, having identified the key aspects for adaptation, the writer takes control of the piece as if the characters and plot were his/her own, using precisely the same skills as we have been developing in this course. Accordingly, there is much room for innovation, so that two adaptations of the same work may be radically different.

SERIALISATION

If the drama (whether adaptation or not) is to be serialised, a few extra considerations come into play.

Serialisation adds an extra dimension in terms of listener commitment. In other words, listeners' attention must be engaged not only for every moment of the programme but sufficiently to make them want to return to the second and subsequent episodes. Episodes should generally conform to the usual basic rules: begin with a crisis, hold the attention all the way through, and end with a cliffhanger.

Radio schedules are usually designed to help keep listeners involved. For example, notice how short episodes (c. 15 minutes) are often broadcast on consecutive days rather than at intervals of, say, a week. This is partly to overcome the potential continuity problems arising from the fact that listeners tend to forget short episodes more quickly than long ones.

Regardless of scheduling concerns, however, the writer must take steps to assist listeners in picking up the threads of the piece with each succeeding episode. Techniques for achieving this include an introductory narration that tells "the story so far" and the repetition of the closing moments of the last episode.

The most challenging and, arguably, satisfying approach is probably to remind the listeners through speech and dialogue, in such a way that the story contains backward signposts that do not compromise the natural flow of the story. The test of whether this approach is working is to perform the episodes together without a break. If the continuity seems laboured, the approach is evidently not working.

The continuity issue also constrains the structure of the piece to some extent. Specifically, in the same way as characters must speak in a radio play to indicate their presence in a scene, they must speak (or at least be spoken about) in every episode if they are not to be completely forgotten. When organising one's materials for serialisation, therefore, it may be necessary to change the sequence of scenes simply to facilitate continuity.