Don’t panic — War of the Worlds is revisited
Original radio show was said to have caused mass hysteria
When Brian Richmond and his creative collaborators at Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre decided to use the term “hearing is believing” to help promote their next show, it was for good reason.
While they recreate Orson Welles’ classic War of the Worlds radio drama — the story of an alien invasion broadcast on the CBS radio network on Oct. 30, 1938 — Richmond’s dramatization opening Monday at the Roxy will likely also inspire conversation about media-driven mythology.
Welles and his Mercury Theatre cast delivered a series of simulated news bulletins in real time, creating the impression that the world was under attack by Martians brandishing heat rays.
Whether that Sunday-night broadcast created the mass hysteria in the U.S. we’ve read and heard about for decades is questionable, however.
“The new theory is that the panic was not as widespread,” said Richmond. “There’s the theory that radio was the new medium, and that newspapers were the old one. You think of William Randolph Hearst, right, and the competition that would have been going on. Newspapers [which published reports about the panic] saw this as an opportunity to devalue radio.”
While some listeners might have been frightened by the broadcast, based on the H.G. Wells classic, reports of nationwide panic were overblown, wrote W. Joseph Campbell in his 2010 book Getting It Wrong.
Still, the controversy surrounding the impact of War of the Worlds provides food for thought, especially in an era in which U.S. President Donald Trump routinely dismisses stories he doesn’t like as “fake news.”
It gave Richmond and his cast a chance to augment their production with some extras, including a discussion about whether the power of radio to shape human minds is still relevant in the digital age.
The Oct. 30 and 31 shows include a screening of the PBS documentary The War of the Worlds: The Panic Broadcast, which, Campbell said, perpetuates the myth that the broadcast “scared Americans out of their wits.”
“We’ll do a little talk-back and set the record straight,” Richmond said.
The Blue Bridge show features several members of its acting ensemble. In addition to Richmond’s own stage appearance, the cast includes his son Jacob Richmond as Orson Welles, along with Shauna Baird, Sheldon Graham, Jack Hayes, Adrian Hough, John Krich, Griffin Lea, Brian Linds, R.J. Peters and Lindsay Robinson
“We’ll have a minimal set [depicting the CBS studio], but full production values,” said Richmond, noting many abridged radio plays were meant to be staged in front of live audiences to promote new studio pictures.
“As much as I’d love to, we can’t put a 27-piece orchestra onstage, however.”
Richmond is no stranger to staging radio plays — upcoming shows include Shop Around the Corner and It’s a Wonderful Life — and says they are a good fit during its off season.
“It’s easier in terms of the amount of rehearsal that’s required,” he said.
“For this one, we gather on Sunday, and we’ll only rehearse for five hours.”
With such a high-calibre cast, the directing process is also less onerous, he said.
“My chief direction is: ‘Don’t rattle your pages,’ ” Richmond said with a laugh.
Another upcoming show the theatre has just announced is Blue Bridge Sings, a compilation of highlights from musicals the theatre has staged over the past 10 years.
The show, which opens Nov. 30, stars Sara-Jeanne Hosie and Kholby Wardell, who last appeared together in Blue Bridge’s Cole Porter revue Red Hot Cole, with cameo appearances by stars of past shows.
Richmond himself will do a number from My Fair Lady in the revue, which will also feature selections from The Fantasticks, Little Shop of Horrors and hopefully from Hank Williams: The Show He Never Gave.