Seventeenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

Since its inception in 1920s, radio drama has been analysed and compared to other dramatic performance genres of theatre, film, and television. Being sometimes called “the blind medium”, it must possess certain features in order to be audible and understandable. Only with the use of accurate ‘ingredients’ can radio drama transform from “incomplete” (Drakakis) into “absolute sound” (Rattigan), which then can be fully appreciated by the listening audience. As secretive, independent, and elusive creatures, cats portray a variety of difficult themes, convey symbolism, and generate a new perspective of the plot. Cats prove to have uncanny abilities and be self – contained and shrewd. Humans, on the other hand, are both willing to follow the cats’ pursuits and unable to resist the temptations and yearnings of felines. Whether it is because of the felines’ cuteness or persuasiveness, it is the cat, more often than any other animal, that humans are content to obey. In the radio drama, felines’ enemies tend either to see their own evil deeds portrayed by cats or seem to believe pets are the reincarnation of the deceased people intent on haunting people for their wicked actions. Felines fans, on the other hand, are inclined to listen to and follow their pets. Due to the stereotypes about cats in the human world, people are easily induced and impelled to perform actions they would never have considered otherwise. This paper explores how cats are rarely “just” cats in radio drama. They are invisible carriers of hope, regret, and/or mystery.