Merry-Go-Round (play)

Merry-Go-Round is a 1936 Australian radio play by Max Afford. It won first prize in the ABC Radio Contest for best play.^[1][2]

Merry-Go-Round

Genre	drama play
Country of origin	Australia
Language(s)	English
Home station	2FC
Syndicates	ABC
Written by	Max Afford
Directed by	Laurence H. Cecil
Original release	May 31, 1936 (1936-05-31)

It was based on Afford's time as a journalist, in particular reporting on a fete at the children's hospital.^[3][4]

The Sydney Morning Herald called it "excellent radio drama".^[5]

In 1937 Edmund Barclay said "The perfect radio play remains to be written; the nearest to it, in Australia, is Max Afford’s Merry-Go-Round."^[6]

Premise

The action of the play covers a span of years from 1896 until the year 1935. According to Wireless Weekly the premise was "Life isn’t all a gay whirl on a merry-go-round. There will be children, God willing. They will bring their own responsibilities, and life brings other troubles; no one escapes; only some face them more cheerfully than others. " ^[7]