Harold's Old Time Radio: Columbia Workshop 36-08-08 – "Experiment" & "Highway Incident"

Date: August 28, 2025
Host: Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode Overview

This episode of Columbia Workshop delves into the experimental capabilities of radio as a dramatic art. The workshop, known for pushing creative boundaries, presents two short radio plays:

1. "Experiment" by Mary Parkington – An exploration of emotional synchronicity between people separated by vast distances.
2. "Highway Incident" (from an upcoming play by Brian J. Burns) – A tense, human drama unfolding on the roadside, centered on mercy, fate, and the profound intersections of strangers.

The Columbia Workshop, as noted by its director and guests, seeks active audience feedback to shape future programming and encourages listeners to share criticisms and story suggestions.

Key Points & Insights

Introduction and Workshop Philosophy

(01:04–03:57)

• Irving Rees (Workshop Director) welcomes listeners and notes the workshop’s experimental mission, thanking listeners for their input and letters.
• David Ross (guest):

  “I'm one of the workshop's severest critics. And you too should voice your criticisms as well as your praise. But their successes will be important because they contribute information and knowledge to an art that is still very young.” (02:03)

• The episode serves as a showcase for technical and narrative experimentation in radio drama, opening the floor to new playwrights and unconventional stories.

Part 1: "Experiment" by Mary Parkington

(03:57–19:03)

Premise & Setting

• The Experimenter introduces a dramatic experiment: two simultaneous scenes—one in a tent near the South Pole (Jim Oberon and Frank Stacy), and the other in a London apartment (Corrine, Rosemary, and Lydia)—to explore “perfect synchronization of feeling” among separated lovers.

Key Scenes & Themes

• Emotional Synchronicity (04:36–06:54)

  • Rosemary insists lovers can be attuned even when apart:

    “I'm absolutely certain that it's possible for people who care for each other to be thinking and doing the same things at the same instant.” (04:35, Rosemary)

  • In the tent, Jim and Frank struggle against hunger and cold, sharing scant food, demonstrating camaraderie and self-sacrifice:

    “No, no, we'll divide [the crumbs] up. Fair? Fair.” (06:10, Jim and Frank)

• Parallel Conversations (07:12–07:45)

  • As the women in London speculate what their fiancés are doing, the play alternates between the women’s guesswork and the men’s real struggle, underscoring both connection and disconnect.

• Despair and Sacrifice (14:20–16:05)

  • Jim, losing hope, reveals he knows his love affair is over, burning Corrine’s letters as a last attempt to create warmth:

    “Burn these Corr letters. Yes, they’ll do the trick.” (15:56, Frank)

  • The destruction of the letters becomes symbolic—a failed attempt to transmit hope or love across the void.

• Metaphysical Connection & Anti-Climax (17:44–19:03)

  • The voices of the women seem to reach the suffering explorers psychically, but it’s ambiguous and unresolved.
  • The Experimenter closes with an ironic twist:

    “I am extremely sorry to have to tell you that my little experiment in synchronization has been a complete failure…except by an accident I cannot account for.” (19:03)

  • The play ends questioning whether true synchronicity is possible or simply an illusion.

Notable Quote:

“It seems so strange that two people who love each other shouldn't be able to communicate somehow… Perhaps someone else is interrupting the current.” (12:08, Rosemary)

Part 2: "Highway Incident" by Brian J. Burns

(19:03–32:46)

Premise & Setting

• On a clear night, two men are driving when they witness a speeding car crash. They rescue an elderly woman (Mrs. Lasker) and her driver (Fred), learning she is desperately trying to reach Albany to save her son from execution.

Key Scenes & Themes

• Rescue and Revelation (21:01–24:10)

  • The two men assist the crash victims, discovering the woman's urgency.

    “Fred, I've got to get to Albany tonight.” (23:03, Mrs. Lasker)

  • The urgency is not for her own sake but to petition the governor on her condemned son’s behalf.

• Human Dilemma and Fate (24:10–28:51)

  • Mrs. Lasker explains her son, Bob, isn't the murderer public opinion believes him to be. The men express both empathy and resignation at the limitations of justice.
  • One man offers spiritual consolation:

    “If judgments were dictated by the hearts of mothers, there wouldn't be any execution.” (26:12)
    “But you must. Death is our greatest blessing because it's a promise. A promise of all the things we wish for.” (28:23)

  • The exchange shifts Mrs. Lasker’s focus from frantic action to acceptance:

    “Somehow it doesn't seem so desperately important now… You have reminded me of the things I should never have forgotten. My boy's destiny is in Tender hand.” (29:33, Mrs. Lasker)

• Twist and Tragedy (31:07–32:46)

  • After Mrs. Lasker departs, the true gravity is revealed—the man who comforted her is the prison executioner:

    “It was my right hand. The hand that'll throw the switch to shoot 2000 volts into her boy. Tonight.” (32:34)

  • The tragedy is underscored by the dramatic irony: the mother was comforted by the very person who will execute her son.

Notable Quotes:

• “Now I can see how fortunate the accident was. I don’t know how I can ever thank you.” (30:58, Mrs. Lasker)
• “I don’t know now whether I talked to bolster her spirit or to justify my own existence.” (32:05, Executioner)
• “What's the matter?… She took my hand… kissed it… It was my right hand. The hand that’ll throw the switch…” (32:18–32:34)

Memorable Moments & Timestamps

• [02:03] – David Ross lays out the value of experimental radio, encouraging criticism and public engagement.
• [04:35, 12:08] – The theme of emotional synchronicity and the illusions or limits of love and distance.
• [15:56] – Burning of the letters – a symbol of sacrifice and loss in “Experiment.”
• [23:03] – Mrs. Lasker’s urgent plea to reach Albany.
• [26:12, 28:23] – The executioner’s philosophical and religious attempt to provide comfort.
• [32:34] – The devastating twist: the executioner’s hand will end the life of the woman’s son.

Episode Tone & Language

• The tone is reflective, sometimes ironic, with a strong undercurrent of human tenderness and tragic fate.
• Dialogue is naturalistic, occasionally tinged with poetic longing (“the end is the beginning”), reminiscent of early-20th-century radio drama.
• Characters speak directly, their emotions driving the scene transitions and reinforcing the themes of fate, connection, and mercy.

Summary and Listener Takeaway

• This Columbia Workshop episode is a quintessential example of radio’s golden age experimentalism, tackling profound questions—can souls be in sync across the world? What is the heart of justice and mercy?
• The plays ask listeners to consider the limits of empathy, the randomness of fate, and the sometimes ironical turns of life and death.
• Audience feedback is both valued and solicited, with the workshop hoping to shape future programming driven by public interest and critique.
• The memorable closing twist in “Highway Incident” is classic radio drama: deeply human, haunting, and profoundly moving.

Next Episode Announcement:

“Tune in next week for another program of the workshop.” (32:50)

End of Summary