Saratoga and Troy companies create theater as radio
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Throughout the pandemic, theater organizations have been struggling to find a delivery system that will be functional, inexpensive and still replicate the live theater experience.
Most people in the industry believed the ultimate solution would be a hybrid. Something on a digital platform that captured the storytelling essence of live theater.
Few would have assumed that radio shows would have found itself in the mix. But here we are.
In March, there are two area theater companies streaming plays produced in the form of a radio show, and a third is releasing audio versions of plays that were written for the stage.
Home Made Theatre in Saratoga Springs is producing three short melodramas that will be offered as if they were radio shows. They are available individually starting on March 14, 21 and 28.
The Theatre Institute at Sage College in Troy is streaming the classic “39 Steps” March 19-26. It, too, is presented as if a live radio show.
Williamstown Theatre
Festival made a decision last year to offer their 2020 summer season in the form of audio books. The final three of the seven-play series will be released on March 25, April 1 and April 8.
In separate interviews, the directors of Home Made Theater and TiS say the concept is logical for many reasons. First and foremost, it is safe. The actors all have their own space and can be separated by six feet, which makes performing without a mask permissible. Constant COVID testing adds to the security.
And too, it offers a format tailor-made for filming. David Baecker, a professor of theater at Sage directed a complicated “A Christmas Carol” that streamed last fall. For the sake of diversity and simplicity, he thought a less busy format with the actors stationary would work for “39 Steps.”
Diane O’Neill, who is directing for Home Made agrees. The three melodramas which were selected for “On the Air,” are her first experience with filming and she describes the learning process as “a strictly vertical learning curve.”
It’s a process she is enjoying immensely as it is a nice reminiscence for her. She is of the age that when growing up, radio was the only entertainment in the homes of the era.
“It’s fun to recreate those shows,” she says. A special pleasure, one she expects the audience to appreciate as well, is having an actor at a separate station creating sound effects. “It’s an opportunity for viewers to see how ingenious many of those shows were.”
Again, Baecker agrees. He is having each actor create sound effects. For instance, they are creating the sound of a moving railroad train by shaking a box of macaroni and the hum of a hand mixer provides the sound for an automobile.
As for costumes, Home Made is going full costumes, as the actors will be dressed in 1940s garb. Sage’s productions will be more representative, with items like hats and glasses establishing a character. In both productions, most actors will play multiple characters, so changes in voice will be important.
While the production elements are much the same, there is a difference in material. O’Neill has consciously chosen melodrama. She describes the form as “delightful and silly. It’s all about having fun,” she says.
The three plots of the stories support her theory. “Fleecing the Flock,” which airs starting on March 16, and “The Cheesecake Factory on March 21 are about young heroines, destitute widows and dastardly cads.
They each run between 1520 minutes
The March 21 offering, “The Cheesecake Factory” is about keeping the secret family recipe for making cheesecake from a diabolical man trying to put them out of business. As O’Neill tells it, the recipe created by Graham Cracker, is at risk.
The first two shows run 15-20 minutes each, but the final show “Magic Merle’s Miracle Makeover Mush” takes about 45 minutes.
O’Neill calls it a hoot as it is about a 45-year old man claiming to be 86. He is selling the phony elixir that supposedly keeps him looking young.
O’Neill points out that what is especially intriguing in the material is the heroine, who untypical for the era, aspires to be a sheriff - a goal which is put to the test in a comical way.
“39 Steps” is, perhaps, best known as a 1935 Alfred Hitchcock spy film. In 2012, it was adapted into a play in which four actors play all the roles from the film. This 5-actor work, written by Joe Landry, takes the same approach.
However, Baecker insists that the espionage elements in the work are secondary. He compares it to other Hitchcock films like “North
By Northwest.” He described them as mysteries but really are an adventure about a man and a woman who are strangers and flee together from bad guys. The mystery element is discovering why are they being chased and who is trying to catch them.
“It’s good fun,” he says. “Everyone gets it immediately. That’s one of the reasons it works so well in a radio format.”
“39 Steps” is also short, running about 45-minutes, which Baecker feels is perfect, pointing out that original radio programming rarely took more than an hour.
It’s hard to categorize this style of entertainment. Is it theater offered online in the style of a radio show? Or is it a radio show with visuals? Either way, they promise to be fun.
The Home Made Theater’s “On the Air.” 7 p.m. starting March 14, 21, 28. Tickets $10 per show, $25 for package of 3. homemadetheater.org or 518-587-44427.
Theatre Institute at Sage, “39 Steps” 24 hour rentals available March 19-26. (518) 244-2248 or theatre.sage. edu
Williamstown Theatre Festival’s audio books can be had at wtfestival.org