Theatre Brown County Radio Shows

~by Jeff Tryon

When the newly-formed Theatre Brown County community drama group experienced the COVID-19 cancellation of their very first planned production, they borrowed a page from the playbook of another era—The Golden Age of Radio.

The group switched gears from their planned and already cast June production of the stage revival of “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” to a theatrical form that made social distancing possible— radio plays.

The group will give performances of two science fiction classics of the genre, “The War of the Worlds,” and “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” from the Brown County Playhouse stage to a live audience in September.

Johnny Ray Elmore, who had been slated to direct the stage play, has agreed to direct the two radio productions based on old Lux Radio Theatre scripts.

Lux Radio Theatre was a classic radio anthology series that was

broadcast from the early 1930s through the 1950s. Lux soap was the sponsor. The series adapted Broadway plays and popular films for hour-long radio programs which were performed live before studio audiences.

“The Day the Earth Stood Still” is about a humanoid alien named Klaatu that comes to Earth, accompanied by a powerful eightfoot tall robot, Gort, to deliver an important message that will affect the entire human race.

“The War of the Worlds” is an adaptation of the 1898 novel of the same name by H.G. Wells. This modern retelling changes the setting from Victorianera England to Southern California. Earth is suddenly and unexpectedly invaded by Martians, and American scientist Clayton Forrester searches for any weakness that can stop them.

The productions won’t be broadcast live, but may be recorded for later broadcast. The format will allow the group to socially distance six actors on the

stage, each reading their own script into their own microphones. The Playhouse Board feels that distancing will protect the actors during the performance, while the audience will also be asked to physically distance.

Performance dates are scheduled for September 3 and 4 for one production, and September 11 and 12 for the other.

“While this is not the Theatre Brown County introduction that we were hoping for in 2020, it is a reasonable opportunity during these crazy COVID-19 times,” said TBC executive director Mark Stolle. “The Board is just pleased that we can offer this alternative as a live performance on the Playhouse stage.”

Stolle said there will be other radio theater productions yet this year, and the group hopes, in all future Playhouse schedules. They anticipate the return of live theatrical productions in the 2021 season.

The casts for the two September radio productions will include a legendary local radio and studio producer, Richard Fish, in the role of the alien, Klattu, and as the announcer on “War of the Worlds”.

Fish is an actor, writer, and musician who has worked in audio theatre since 1970. Among his many accomplishments, Fish was among the folks who helped get the Bloomington radio station WFHB, Indiana’s first community radio station, started back in 1993. Of local interest, he was the first person to record the String Bean String Band, back in 1972 at the Old Hickory Restaurant.

Fish is heard weekly over WFHB as host of “The Firehouse Theatre,” presenting old and new audio theater, and as writer and presenter of “Better Beware,” a weekly feature on scams and swindles. For 12 years, he wrote for and performed in “The Firehouse Follies,” a live variety show offered four times a year. All these broadcasts are streamed and archived on the website <www.wfhb.org>.

Fish helped found the National Audio Theatre Festivals organization, and has worked with the leading figures in audio theater from coast to coast, including The Firesign Theatre and the legendary American grand master of the art, Norman Corwin.

Tony Brewer will be working with sound design and special effects director Chuck Wills, a recording engineer who also records “The Brown County Hour” for WFHB. “Brewer is one of the best live sound effects artists in the country,” Fish said. •