The War of the Worlds
Season 11, Episode 11
October 30, 2023
The most (in)famous radio story of all time
Re-Imagined Radio presents Willamette Radio Workshop, directed by Sam A. Mowry, and their live performance of "The War of the Worlds," Kiggins Theatre, Vancouver, Washington. With this performance, our sixth, of this famous radio story about the invasion of Earth by beings from the planet Mars, we celebrate the 85th anniversary of perhaps the most famous example of radio storytelling, and World Audio Drama Day. Hold on, while we once again destroy the world before your very ears!
Access the episode script
Background
The Original Broadcast
On October 30, 1938, Howard E. Koch, writer, Orson Welles, director then age twenty-three, ten actors of The Mercury Theatre on the Air, and a twenty-seven-piece studio orchestra, adapted the novel The War of the Worlds by British author H.G. Wells for radio. Their adaptation used a series of "break in" news announcements to portray live events unfolding around the country as Martian metal cylinders fell to Earth and a group of tripod-like fighting machines wreaked havoc in New Jersey and New York City.
Reactions and Responses
The morning of October 31, 1938, many newspapers ran stories about "The War of the Worlds" radio broadcast the previous evening. The front page story of the New York Times ran under the headline "Radio Listeners in Panic, Taking War Drama as Fact." Over the next two weeks, 12,500 articles and editorials appeared in newspapers across the country.
The War of the Worlds had, through the CBS network, a broad listening audience. Many listeners tuned in late, and did not realize the program was fictional. Grilled by the press the next morning, Welles apologized for the unintended effects, saying: "I am terribly shocked by the effect it has had. I don't believe the method is original with me or peculiar to the Mercury Theatre's presentation.... Radio is new and we're learning about the effect it has on people."
Orson Welles on the Broadcast
In truth, Welles' morning performance before reporters was just like his radio performance the previous night: fictional. In a recorded audio interview with director Peter Bogdanovich, published in 1992, Welles agreed with Bogdanovich's statement, "But you claimed to be innocent afterwards."
"Of course I did," answered Welles, "they were suing me for twenty million dollars, you know."
When asked by Bogdanovich whether he knew the radio broadcast would have the effect it did, Welles replied, "Only the size was a surprise. My idea was to send a lot of the lunatic fringe out. I just didn't know how widespread the fringe was."
Resources
Download a copy of The
War of the Worlds from archive.org
Production
Contents
A live performance of "The War of the Worlds" by Willamette Radio Workshop, directed by Sam A. Mowry, Kiggins Theatre, Vancouver, Washington. Based on the script used by Orson Welles and The Mercury Theatre on the Air for their October 30, 1938 radio performance which is today considered one of the most (in)famous radio broadcasts ever.
Read and Learn more about Orson Welles.
Cast
Sam A. Mowry as Orson Welles and Professor Pierson
Scott Jameison as Carl Phillips
Curt Hanson as Mercury Announcer, Announcer, Secretary of the Interior, Gunner, Operator #2
Christopher Hart as Wilmuth, Captain Lansing, Air Force Commander, Operator #3
Chris Porter as Announcer #1, CBS VP MacDonald, Officer, Stranger
Patt Blem as Policeperson, Observer, Operator #1, Announcer #4
Credits
Live Foley sound effects by David Ian and Dino de AElfweald
Live sound by Gilberto Silva and Martin John Gallagher
Projections by Joe Medina
Swag table by Jamie Lawson
Script by Howard E. Koch, adapted by Sam A. Mowry
Directed by Sam A. Mowry
Produced and Hosted by John F. Barber
Sound Design, Music, and Post Production by Martin John Gallagher
Promotional Graphics by Holly Slocum Design
Significance
"The War of the Worlds" is a legendary radio story. Perhaps the most famous ever told. Or infamous depending on whom you ask. Adapted from the 1898 novel by H. G. Wells the October 30, 1938 radio broadcast by Orson Welles and The Mercury Theatre on the Air is alleged to have caused mass confusion (panic?) nationwide through its use of realistic sounding news bulletins and other narrative techniques.
Producer's Notes
On October 30, 2013, Re-Imagined Radio offered its first public performance: "The War of the Worlds," performed by Willamette Radio Workshop, directed by Sam A. Mowry, the seventy-fifth anniversary of the original broadcast.
That was one bookend. This live performance, again by Willamette Radio Workshop, again directed by
Sam A. Mowry, is the other. Sam Mowry, noted actor and director in the Portland, Oregon, area since
2001, died in 2024.
— John F. Barber
Listen to WRW Retrospective: Two decades of radio storytelling and learn more about Sam A. Mowry.
Promotion
Press
Hewitt, Scott. Martian invasion! Re-Imagined Radio presents "The War of the Worlds" at Kiggins→. The Columbian, 19 Oct. 2023.
Graphics
