Life on the Other Side

Author: CBOnline | Source: CBOnline | Date: 03-06-05

Fiona Hawke had been involved with her local station for about a year when she had a brainwave about merging two of the fundamental aims of community broadcasting – providing local content and involving the community.

Her idea was to get the local writers, actors and FM 107.5 (Orange Community Broadcasters) to work together to produce a series of radio plays, based on the original work of authors and playwrights from the area. The result was the Other Side Radio Plays Project.

The theme ‘Life on the Other Side’, which was developed to give the project direction, was interpreted differently by different people. For some in the New South Wales central-western town it represented life on the other side of the mountains (the Blue Mountains that is). For one of the writers, Dale Harcombe, it also referred to the other side of relationships – the aspects that we don’t always see. In her play ‘The Edge of Silence’ she explores a friendship based more on secrets than on truths.

As an established writer, Dale was interested in the project because she saw it as an opportunity to promote local writing. “It was a good chance to be involved in something new and to be involved in the community,” she says.

She converted one of her short stories into a radio play by removing references to scenery and putting an emphasis on the dialogue.

Dale’s was one of five plays and two volumes of poetry that make up the final project. The collaboration between the Central West Writers Centre, Orange Theatre Company and the radio station achieved everything it set out to and more. It provided a voice for local playwrights, an opportunity for local product to be aired on radio and offered a new medium for actors. The technical production work also represented a steep learning curve for the volunteer producers and for the radio station community as a whole the project expanded their horizons.

“It made people realise that we could produce high quality, local content ourselves – we could do more than play music and make sponsorship announcement,” Fiona says.

The volunteer run project took a year to complete and wasn’t without its challenges. As the Project Coordinator, Fiona’s most difficult task was getting people together at the same time. She found the plays with the smallest number of actors worked the best.

The feedback from the community has been very good and in Dale Harcombe’s opinion the project has been particularly good for local writers, some of who were previously unpublished.

“It gives them confidence to try some different things and to interact with people who are a bit further down the track. I think it’s really positive,” she says.

Even for people like Dale who had already had successes there was something to learn. Not only did she have to adapt her work for radio, she also took on an acting role in Stephen Nugent’s play ‘The Appointment’.

For FM 107.5 the production of innovative local content goes on. At the moment a story reading project aimed at children under seven is being finalised. And although there are no definite plans at the moment for a second radio plays series, Fiona Hawke is putting together a ’10 Point Plan’ which can be used as a guide for other community stations interested in doing something similar. It will be full of insider tips to make the process as straightforward as possible. Look out for it on the CBOnline website.

Works in the Series

MY CUP OVERFLOWS by Mary Jarzabkowski
THE APPOINTMENT by Stephen Nugent
THE BEAUTIFUL RABBIT by Ross Stephenson
EDGE OF SILENCE by Dale Harcombe
THE DOUBLE H RANCH by Don Stanger
FLUCTUATING STATES OF MIND AND BODY-Part I by Ninelle Durleng
FLUCTUATING STATES OF MIND AND BODY-Part II by Ninelle Durleng