''Pointless Design'' is a 1938 Australian radio play by Richard Lane. It was Lane's first notable radio work although his second one produced (after ''The Man was Blind''). It was inspired by Lane's travels to Europe. ''Wireless Weekly'' called it "an excellent play. A character study of a negro vaudeville tap dancer, as seen through two young idealistic people’s eyes. This play will add to the small collection of literary radio plays written in Australia, and would stand publishing in the printed form." It was broadcast again in 1939. A review of this production said it "gave me more pleasure than l can say. This penetrating sketch is as amusing, as moving and as pitiful as life itself." The play was produced again in 1940 and 1941.

Premise

According to ''Wireless Weekly'' it is an "account of a sea journey between Fremantle and London. The passengers include a young Australian going abroad to look for success as a journalist; an Australian girl going abroad for another reason; a negro vaudeville performer, a cynical French professor. Outwardly, the play's material is the journey—shipboard romance, Colombo, the inevitable concert, Aden, Toulon, forlorn partings at the end of the voyage. This is one interest; the major one is Mr. Lane’s study of his people, particularly of his negro, Teddy Deacon. Teddy is seen in relief, with his saintly simplicity and faith broken by unbrotherly prejudices."

References

{{reflist 1938 Australian radio dramas 1940 Australian radio dramas 1941 Australian radio dramas Works by Richard Lane (writer)