I TEMPI SONO MATURI: Nightmare reimagined: Theatre Bristol's will produce 'War of the Worlds' on Zoom

Thursday, September 24, 2020

Nightmare reimagined: Theatre Bristol's will produce 'War of the Worlds' on Zoom

War of the Worlds

Theatre Bristol's on-air production of H.G. Wells "The War of the Worlds" will be available throughout October.

Contributed Photo | Theatre Bristol

Attacks from outer space aliens appear imminent.

Author H.G. Wells first stirred the waters of alien invasion in 1897 with his serialized novel “The War of the Worlds.” In 1938, actor Orson Welles presented the science fiction melodrama to a nationwide audience on radio.Gadzooks, look skyward! Once again, “The War of the Worlds” this way comes. Courtesy Theatre Bristol and its COVID-19-inspired Keeping Drama On — and Off — Stage series, “The War of the Worlds” will broadcast throughout the month of October on the longtime community theater’s website. It begins 8 p.m. Oct. 1.

“This is our maiden voyage for this series,” said Samantha Gray, producer of Theatre Bristol’s “The War of the Worlds.”

For a deeper nod to its radio origins, “The War of the Worlds” as presented by Theatre Bristol will also broadcast via public radio station 89.5 WETS at 8 p.m. Oct. 29.

Dottie Havlik directs. Performers include Steve Basket, Andrew Hunt, Mary Ellis Rice and Bailey George as announcers. Veteran actor Fred Dunagan fills the role of Professor Pierson.

“I love old radio,” said Dunagan, who last performed with Theatre Bristol during 2010’s “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

“Stephen King said one time [that] eventually you have to show the monster. Not with radio. You’re left with your own imagination.”

Wells’ “The War of the Worlds” broadcast from New York City’s Mercury Theatre in October 1938. Millions listened. Terror gripped many of whom actually believed that Earth was under attack by extraterrestrials from Mars.

“Frightening, just think of the title,” Gray said. “My reaction is how it hit people when they first heard it on the radio. It stirred people up.”

Art should inspire reactions. Wells’ forward-looking novel and its woven threads of science fiction and horror employs a foundation of realism such that, despite its premise, it does not seem so far-fetched. Actor Orson Welles injected heavy doses of realism into the original radio broadcast of “The War of the Worlds.”

It sounded real.

Theatre Bristol actors seek to embrace and project that palpable drama. In the interests of social distancing, actors rehearsed lines and will record the broadcast virtually via Zoom.

“The only challenge we’ve had is different people using different modes of communication,” Dunagan said. “Dottie Havlik and Camille Gray (audio technician) have done a great job ironing that out.”

Bristol native Catherine DeCaterina founded Theatre Bristol in 1965 as a children’s community theater company. She never faced a pandemic akin to COVID. But for Theatre Bristol’s past presentation of “Don’t Touch That Dial,” they’ve rarely hearkened to — much less embraced, radio.

Yet podcasts, a modern-era embrace of radiolike programming, pervade contemporary America. Indeed, radio isn’t dead. Imagination lives.

“This is perfect for a time when people can listen, now more than ever,” Gray said. “With this production, you’re basically watching the radio.”

Suspend the moment, engage the mind and possibilities. Witness widespread carnage under unfathomable assaults by Martians, merciless in their attempts to annihilate.

“The War of the Worlds,” it’s a book come to life, a nightmare reimagined.After its initial broadcast, tune in anytime throughout October. Theatre Bristol seek and will accept donations, but there’s no charge whatever to watch and listen to the show.“It’ll be out there for anybody to watch it online,” Dunagan said. “I’m thrilled! Fill the house.”