Pointless Design
Wireless Weekly 3 May 1941
Genredrama play
Running time60 mins (8:00 pm – 9:00 pm)
Country of originAustralia
Language(s)English
Home station2BL
SyndicatesABC
Written byRichard Lane
Directed byJohn Cairns
Original release20 October 1938

Pointless Design is a 1938 Australian radio play by Richard Lane. It was Lane's first notable radio work although his second one produced (after The Man was Blind). It was inspired by Lane's travels to Europe.[1][2]

Wireless Weekly called it "an excellent play. A character study of a negro vaudeville tap dancer, as seen through two young idealistic people’s eyes. This play will add to the small collection of literary radio plays written in Australia, and would stand publishing in the printed form."[3]

It was broadcast again in 1939.[4] A review of this production said it "gave me more pleasure than l can say. This penetrating sketch is as amusing, *as moving and as pitiful as life itself. "[5]

The play was produced again in 1940[6] and 1941.[7]

Premise

According to Wireless Weekly it is an "account of a sea journey between Fremantle and London. The passengers include a young Australian going abroad to look for success as a journalist; an Australian girl going abroad for another reason; a negro vaudeville performer, a cynical French professor. Outwardly, the play's material is the journey—shipboard romance, Colombo, the inevitable concert, Aden, Toulon, forlorn partings at the end of the voyage. This is one interest; the major one is Mr. Lane’s study of his people, particularly of his negro, Teddy Deacon. Teddy is seen in relief, with his saintly simplicity and faith broken by unbrotherly prejudices."[8]

References

  1. ↑ Australasian Radio Relay League., "STOP-PRESS", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred Per Cent Australian Radio Journal, Sydney: Wireless Press (Vol. 32 No. 18 (October 28, 1938)), nla.obj-713898788, retrieved 26 October 2023 – via Trove
  2. ↑ Australian Broadcasting Commission. (1939), "Plays of the Air— Can Stage Plays be Radio Plays?", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC (Vol. 3 No. 18 (3 May 1941)), nla.obj-1312687970, retrieved 26 October 2023 – via Trove
  3. ↑ Australasian Radio Relay League., "SOUND OR NOISE A Criticism, of Plays and Players", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred Per Cent Australian Radio Journal, Sydney: Wireless Press (Vol. 32 No. 19 (November 4, 1938)), nla.obj-713920494, retrieved 26 October 2023 – via Trove
  4. ↑ Australasian Radio Relay League., "WEDNESDAY.", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred Per Cent Australian Radio Journal, Sydney: Wireless Press (Vol. 34 No. 32 (November 1, 1939)), nla.obj-726491623, retrieved 26 October 2023 – via Trove
  5. ↑ Australasian Radio Relay League., "Shipboard Play True To Life", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred Per Cent Australian Radio Journal, Sydney: Wireless Press (Vol. 34 No. 34 (November 11, 1939)), nla.obj-726507861, retrieved 26 October 2023 – via Trove
  6. ↑ Australian Broadcasting Commission. (1939), "TALKS and PLAYS of the week", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC (Vol. 2 No. 1 (6 January 1940)), nla.obj-1325854062, retrieved 26 October 2023 – via Trove
  7. ↑ Australasian Radio Relay League., "POINTLESS DESIGN", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred Per Cent Australian Radio Journal, Sydney: Wireless Press (Vol. 36 No. 18 (May 3, 1941)), nla.obj-714881597, retrieved 26 October 2023 – via Trove
  8. ↑ Australasian Radio Relay League., "RADIO PLAYS – NATIONAL NETWORK", The Wireless Weekly: The Hundred Per Cent Australian Radio Journal, Sydney: Wireless Press (Vol. 32 No. 16 (14 October 1938)), nla.obj-713123050, retrieved 26 October 2023 – via Trove
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