It’s one of the most famous radio broadcasts in history.
The Orson Welles 1938 radio drama War Of The Worlds was presented as if was real.
What was supposed to be a typical evening of music broadcasts on the CBS Radio Network was interrupted by increasingly frightening news bulletins about the invasion of Earth by Martians.
Even through there were disclaimers during the broadcast, it created fear among some listeners. There was outrage in the media, and even calls for new government regulations on broadcasting, even though the claims of widespread panic were exaggerated.
Now, a new play which just opened in Santa Barbara looks at the story behind the radio drama and its aftermath.
"We are a 1948 radio station that is doing the ten year anniversary of the original Orson Welles 1938 version of War of The Worlds," said Jaimie Torcellini, director of War of the Worlds: The Panic Broadcast. "With that in mind, we made it even more dramatic, playful, and fun. It intertwines with the behind the scenes action of what happened before they wrote it, while they wrote it, and the repercussions after it aired."
The Ensemble Theater Company production is set in a radio station studio, and is in effect a play within a play. Richard Baird plays Orson Welles, as well as actor Freddie Filmore, who portrays Welles in the broadcast.
"It (the production) does a wonderful job for those who don't know what happened, and really setting out all the things that did happen," said Baird. "It's the most famous radio broadcast in American history, and the effect that it had, it remains that. Orson even once said the whole point of 'War of the Worlds' was an assault on the credibility of that machine (broadcasting), and not to always trust what you hear on the news."
Baird said given the recent controversies about entertainment and free speech, this production has a special timeliness to it.
"I think it has a lot to do with freedom of speech, the relationship between our political atmosphere and entertainment, and that's certainly been in the news lately," said the actor. "About a week into our rehearsal, our play went from being from what we feared at first would be a bit of a museum piece, to all of a sudden it became incredibly resonant, and the end (of the play) really brings that home."
There is a montage of soundbites from major events over the decades which highlight free speech issues.
Torcellini said he hopes the production leads audiences to think about some of the free speech questions we are facing today.
"We do talk about how important speech is. This is entertainment. It isn't a news station," said the director. "They were performing as the Mercury Theater broadcast company. They were doing art."
The Ensemble Theater Company production of War of the Worlds: The Panic Broadcast runs now through October 26th at Santa Barbara’s New Vic Theater.
