LONG BEFORE ?Gulong ng Palad? and ?Mga Mata ni Anghelita? were made into movies and serialized on TV, they were long-running radio dramas. The former was penned by Lina Flor in the 1950s, while the latter was written by Ricardo Feliciano and became a hit radio drama from 1974 to 1978.

Sadly, like the komiks, radio dramas are becoming an endangered species, eclipsed by the popularity of movies, television and the Internet. This is unfortunate because, as a child who grew up listening to the radio, we believe that part of our sensitivity can be attributed to the many hours we spent listening to radio dramas.

Sound effects

In the confines of our room, our imagination grew as we listened to how the interplay of voices, music and sound effects created stories that moved and helped us understand life a little better.

In some First World countries like the United States, despite the proliferation of hi-tech media forms, there are people who support the revival of radio dramas. An example is Fred Greenhalgh, a young writer whose passion for the genre led him to produce the weekly ?Radio Drama Revival,? which is aired in Portland, Maine?s community station, wmPG (www.radiorevival.com).

Of the 600-plus radio stations all over the Philippines, dzRH still airs drama serials between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and a half hour every night. We caught some of them recently: ?Sagrado: Crisanto Salvador,? an action drama about a former priest who left his vocation to seek justice for the victims of a feudal system in Hacienda Valencia.

The program is full of action and fight scenes, with the protagonist riding a horse and exchanging gunshots with villains. The voice of the villainess belongs to Luz Fernandez, who has essayed every conceivable role on the airwaves. And ?Hukumang Pantahanan,? a drama about domestic crimes, followed the friendship of two friends?a police officer and a drug dealer.

Development

In the future, we trust that writers of radio dramas would be more inventive in terms of theme, plot and dialogue development. They should bear in mind that today?s listeners are younger and more imaginative, so using dialogue like ?narito na ako sa silid, bubuksan ko na ang pinto? are outdated.

Young listeners who have been weaned on TV soaps should try listening to radio dramas for a change. The absence of visuals might take some getting used to, but they?ll soon realize that the audio experience will encourage them to use their imagination more.

E-mail rgmgrinch@gmail.com