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2ND & 3RD YEAR’S

RADIO PLAY EXPERIENCE

On the 14th of October 2016, the third year students of the Royal School Cavan attended a ‘radio
play’ in the town hall. The play was entitled “Dad in the Kitchen.” It was written by Philip Doherty, and
ran from the 20th of September to the 16th of October. There were only two voice actors in the play,
which was played out over the sound system.

The play was a new theatre experience for us all, with the audience sitting in on the actual set, and no
actors physically present. The set of the play was a 1970’s style kitchen. From the moment we entered
the town hall and all during the play, smells of food filled the air, immersing us in the moment. The set
also used a large variety of sound effects and lighting which were very effective, for example, when
the father arrived home, the light of his headlights shone through a window on set. He turned off
his engine, put on the handbrake, got out of his car, walked on the gravel up to the front door, and
then opened and closed the door. Even though we didn’t see him, nor did anyone tell us what he did,
the sound effects of him doing all these actions and the lighting of his headlights told us what had
happened.
The play throughout was imbued with hyperboles and witty puns which made some moments very
humorous. The plot detailed a day of catastrophe, when an undomesticated father is left alone with
his son in the kitchen to fend for himself. The play seems to poke fun at the stereotypical 1970’s father,
who didn’t spend any time preparing food in the kitchen, and usually had his food handed to him by
his wife or the woman of the house.
On this occasion, his wife had gone on a bingo trip with her friends and the father and son had to
make their own food until she returned. Do they survive? Just about, and they learned some valuable
lessons along the way. We all thoroughly enjoyed the break.
Thomas Smith 3R

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