KELOWNA NATIVE TO CHANNEL WELLES
War of the Worlds going online
A scavenger hunt in the downtown core will see participants searching for pieces of art.
In association with Culture Days, this fun and creative scavenger hunt is suitable for the whole family.
The works of 11 local artists will be displayed in the windows of local businesses.
When participants find the piece that correlates with the questions to be answered, they will then take their picture with the artist display and qualify for a chance to win prizes.
The hunt continues until Oct. 25 at 4 p.m.
If you are interested in getting in on this action then pick up a hard copy of Scavenger Hunt activity guide at the Rotary Centre for the Arts box office, 420 Cawston Ave., or find the mobile app Actionbound, download it for free, search for “Downtown Kelowna Scavenger Hunt,” fill in your name and let the games begin.
The only flaw with this is that you can’t skip question. You must answer them in order, which is disappointing because twice a week I work at Tigerlily Fashions on Bernard and we have a wonderful wearable art display on a mannequin made of felt, created by fibre artist Amy Bradshaw, and I have to answer a few questions before I can answer the one that is correlated to the piece I see in our window display.
Other artists featured in this hunt include Moozhan Ahmadzadegan, Art Felt Collective, Cool Arts, Matt Ferguson, Brian Joubert, Angie Marchinkow, Lindsay Peltz, Megan Roberts, Tyler Keeton Robbins, David Doody, Leanna Spanza and Nicole Young.
War of the Worlds
Only a handful of readers were alive on Sunday, Oct. 30, 1938 to hear Orson Wells’ radio dramatization of a Martian invasion of Earth.
H.G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds” was broadcast on radio at 8 p.m.
Sunday evenings in 1938 was prime time in the golden age of radio and millions of Americans had their radios turned on, but most of them were listening to ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his dummy “Charlie McCarthy” on NBC and only turned to CBS at 8:12 p.m., after the comedy sketch ended.
By then, the story of the Martian invasion was well underway. For those who are not privy to this historical havoc, you might surmise the fear and panic those listeners felt when they tuned in, not knowing they were listening to a theatre production.
Tomorrow night at 8 p.m. and then every night but Mondays. you will have this same chance to sit in front of your online device to listen to “A War of the Worlds” by H.G. Wells but adapted through Theatre in the Dark and performed ‘live’ in real-time each night by company actors out of Chicago where the adapted play is set.
The new script by company founders Corey Bradberry and Mack Gordon; who is originally from Kelowna, follows the contours of Wells’ story of a Martian invasion.
It moves the action from 1890s England to present day Illinois, with settings in Chicago and other parts of the United States.
Performed without visuals, combining recorded sound, live effects and the voices of real actors, it invites the audience to paint our own picture — just like the folks in 1938 did in front of their radios.
The only time the cast will be in front of cameras is for the post-show Q & A each night after the play is over.
I am so excited about this reinvention of high-end radio plays. The production is live Tuesday-Saturday at 6 p.m. and then on Sundays at 5 p.m. and runs from Oct. 16 to Nov. 21.
Tickets will be pay-what-you-can ($15$20 suggested donation) and are on sale now through theatreinthedark.com.
Evil Dead review coming
Next week I will be reviewing Evil Dead — The Musical, playing at the Kelowna Actors Studio. This rock musical is about five college students who go to a cabin in the woods and accidentally unleash an evil force that turns them all into demons. F
First performed on stage in 2003 in Toronto, the show instantly became a hit and eventually moved on to an offBroadway run in 2006, where the New York Times hailed it as “the next The Rocky Horror Show.” For tickets, call 250-862-2867 or go to KelownaActorsStudio.com. Curtain goes up at 7:30 p.m.