We have reached a point in history where technology is growing and changing by the hour, where the way things were done last week can be radically altered and improved by the devices of this week. VHS became DVD, cassette tape became CD, Television became streaming video and a roll of film became a stick of memory.
But before it all was something so strange and unknowable to us, I doubt our grandchildren will believe us. Entertainment that wasn’t permanently recorded or stored. Entertainment of a moment in history, an article of time itself.
Radio.
This Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Stewart Theater, L.A. TheatreWorks takes us back nearly a century into our culture’s past to present War of the Worlds and The Lost World, just in time for Halloween.
“It’s a bit of hybrid in that it’s radio theatre… we all do the sound effects and the theater part is that we have costumes and lighting and make-up and we carry our scripts around like you would in a old time radio show,” Jen Dede, one of the leads in the show, said. “If you close your eyes, you can hear it like it was the radio in the room.”
Performers run back and forth across the stage, playing multiple roles and providing a kind of tongue-in-cheek humor about the time period and the art that came out of it. The show itself is based on the novels of the same name, who found foothold in our history for their roles in film and radio. “War” is based on the infamous 1938 radio performance, which announced, without indication that it was fictional work, an alien invasion on Earth, all the way down to the Martian woo-woo sound effects. In a pre-WW2 America already gripped in paranoia, this left a mark on the nation’s people.
“It’s pretty relevant today,” Dede said. “You can compare it to a lot of stuff, from the problems with in the environment to people’s fear of terrorism. Now it’s TV [where we get our news], but years ago it was the radio.”
“Lost” is based on the 1925 film of the same name, which at the time featured high quality special effects but now looks charmingly goofy. The two-part show is directed by John de Lancie, who Star Trek fans will recognize as the enigmatic deity Q.
“John is a blast, we had such a wonderful time in rehearsal and he’s so open to trying different things,” Dede said. “Knowing he was even going to direct it was a draw. He made [War of the Worlds] dark and intense and scary. Lighting has a bluish tint and building intensity to it. You take a little break and then you see The Lost World and it’s completely the opposite: campy, melodramatic and a lot of fun. There’s even a dinosaur fight!”
As if the show itself weren’t enough, celebrated science fiction author and English professor at N.C. State, John Kessel, will he holding a pre-show discussion in Talley’s Blue Room at 6:45.
“Wells’ War of the Worlds is the first alien invasion story ever, and it establishes many of the clichés of the form–which were not clichés at the time,” Kessel said. “Conan Doyle’s The Lost World is a little less serious, but perhaps more fun. It’s as far as I know the origin story for ‘dinosaurs surviving into the present day.’ And who doesn’t like dinosaurs?”
Perhaps the most important aspect of the show is reminding us that art like radio and stage performances are far from gone and have a lot to show us about where we’ve come, not just technologically but also culturally.
“For me it’s really cool when you can tell a story and the audience can still use their imagination,” Dede said. “It’s really also neat just sitting around a campfire and telling stories and we can use our voices. It’s so theatrical… my 12-year-old nephew was glued to [the show], and I wasn’t sure if after this stuff being blown up on film that [he could] be impressed. I’m hoping theater can still have an impact wherever people are in their life.”
Before she left, I had to ask how she came into stage acting in Hollywood of all places.
“You can’t believe the different stars who do this… [when it comes to acting], never stop learning or training,” Dede said. “Even if you went to theater school, it’s about constantly working, [even if] it’s something you don’t see yourself in. Learn when not to listen to other people because people will have an opinion and it’s just an opinion of course. People are allowed to maybe not like you or your work. What you’ve got to hold on to knowing that you’ve got something to offer.”
L.A. Theatre Works takes us not only back in time but back to the reason we love art: the people. Sit back, keep your ears open and listen. That’s how you take the history and the culture with you.
