Post by William L. Rupp on Feb 16, 2011 2:02:20 GMT -5
Audio Drama: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: Part One
We have no idea when or where mankind's first dramatic presentation took place. We can be sure of one thing, however; no electronic devices were involved. Instead, some long ago human, perhaps sitting around a campfire, told a story to his fellow clan members. Were his listeners . . . noting the use of the word listener . . . pleased? Did they ask him to tell another story, or was the story teller invited to leave camp quickly or face a barrage of rocks, sticks, and animal bones? We will never know.
However, we do know two things about the history of story telling. First, it was oral. Repeat, oral. One person spoke, others listened. Remember the emphasis I put on the work “listener”? That was the essence of camp fire story telling. No visuals. No props. Just the spoken word.
Second, we know that the medium of oral story telling caught on big time. Who wouldn’t want to relax and hear an exciting tale after a hard day of chasing wooly mammoths or gathering berries and firewood? For millennia, there was no writing. That came much later. In the meantime, the oral tradition was passed down from generation to generation. No doubt that type of story telling came to be an important part of pre-historic cultures.
Much later, the story telling became more elaborate, with more than one person being involved, each one taking a different role. By the time of the Greeks, drama had become highly developed. The modern stage play was well on its way. One thing remained the same throughout the course of all those centuries; the use of the human voice to tell a story.
That brings us to the radio drama, or, as I prefer to say, the audio drama. Commercial radio in the U.S. began with KDKA in Pittsburg in 1920. It wasn’t too long before dramas were being broadcast there and elsewhere around the country. At first, existing plays were condensed to fit radio time slots. Later, original radio scripts were written and performed. Music and sound effects became important parts of the presentation.
By the mid-1930s, radio drama was well established. In the daytime, one could listen to soap-operas or kids shows. At night there was a variety of programs, many of which presented original scripts, while others (e.g., Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater on the Air) adapted short stories by famous authors. Some of the most successful and well-produced shows were the Lux Radio Theater and Suspense. Both lasted two decades on the air, even continuing after TV became successful. Some programs, notably the Lux Radio Theater, Academy Award, and one or two others, featured on-air versions of famous motion picutres.
For my money the later programs were, by and large, the best of all. That’s really pretty logical. Most products get better over time. For example, few of us would prefer to drive 1940 cars on a regular basis instead of 2011 models. I have already mentioned Suspense and the Lux Radio Theater. The Whistler, Inner Sanctum, Escape, all presented exciting stories.
Other excellent programs that began near the end of the radio era or even after TV was going strong are Dragnet, Nightbeat, Tales of the Texas Rangers, Gunsmoke, Have Gun Will Travel, Dimension X, and X Minus One. Special note should be made of the Six Shooter. That program, which ran for just one season (1953-54) was one of the best, both for its excellent writing and the actor who portrayed the title character, Academy Award winner James Stewart.
There have been a few serious attempts to revive interest in audio drama since 1960, especially the CBS Mystery Theater of the 1970s. By and large, however, audio drama has has had only a small, though loyal, following. There are plenty of collectors, of course. Tens of thousands of hours of old radio shows are readily available. Just go to EBay and enter OTR and you will see how much can be had for practically nothing.
Keep in mind that the major networks spent thousands of dollars on their popular programs. Major stars and writers, plus teams of sound effects people and musicians were all involved. And people listened with great interest week after week, year after year. In many cases, it was a great thrill to actually be a member of the audiences that were allowed to watch as the cast and crew of a major radio drama went through their paces.
In the next part of this series I will talk about some of the shows I remember listening to as a kid, plus the basic techniques of audio drama.
Hope you will find all this of interest.
Bill Rupp
.
We have no idea when or where mankind's first dramatic presentation took place. We can be sure of one thing, however; no electronic devices were involved. Instead, some long ago human, perhaps sitting around a campfire, told a story to his fellow clan members. Were his listeners . . . noting the use of the word listener . . . pleased? Did they ask him to tell another story, or was the story teller invited to leave camp quickly or face a barrage of rocks, sticks, and animal bones? We will never know.
However, we do know two things about the history of story telling. First, it was oral. Repeat, oral. One person spoke, others listened. Remember the emphasis I put on the work “listener”? That was the essence of camp fire story telling. No visuals. No props. Just the spoken word.
Second, we know that the medium of oral story telling caught on big time. Who wouldn’t want to relax and hear an exciting tale after a hard day of chasing wooly mammoths or gathering berries and firewood? For millennia, there was no writing. That came much later. In the meantime, the oral tradition was passed down from generation to generation. No doubt that type of story telling came to be an important part of pre-historic cultures.
Much later, the story telling became more elaborate, with more than one person being involved, each one taking a different role. By the time of the Greeks, drama had become highly developed. The modern stage play was well on its way. One thing remained the same throughout the course of all those centuries; the use of the human voice to tell a story.
That brings us to the radio drama, or, as I prefer to say, the audio drama. Commercial radio in the U.S. began with KDKA in Pittsburg in 1920. It wasn’t too long before dramas were being broadcast there and elsewhere around the country. At first, existing plays were condensed to fit radio time slots. Later, original radio scripts were written and performed. Music and sound effects became important parts of the presentation.
By the mid-1930s, radio drama was well established. In the daytime, one could listen to soap-operas or kids shows. At night there was a variety of programs, many of which presented original scripts, while others (e.g., Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater on the Air) adapted short stories by famous authors. Some of the most successful and well-produced shows were the Lux Radio Theater and Suspense. Both lasted two decades on the air, even continuing after TV became successful. Some programs, notably the Lux Radio Theater, Academy Award, and one or two others, featured on-air versions of famous motion picutres.
For my money the later programs were, by and large, the best of all. That’s really pretty logical. Most products get better over time. For example, few of us would prefer to drive 1940 cars on a regular basis instead of 2011 models. I have already mentioned Suspense and the Lux Radio Theater. The Whistler, Inner Sanctum, Escape, all presented exciting stories.
Other excellent programs that began near the end of the radio era or even after TV was going strong are Dragnet, Nightbeat, Tales of the Texas Rangers, Gunsmoke, Have Gun Will Travel, Dimension X, and X Minus One. Special note should be made of the Six Shooter. That program, which ran for just one season (1953-54) was one of the best, both for its excellent writing and the actor who portrayed the title character, Academy Award winner James Stewart.
There have been a few serious attempts to revive interest in audio drama since 1960, especially the CBS Mystery Theater of the 1970s. By and large, however, audio drama has has had only a small, though loyal, following. There are plenty of collectors, of course. Tens of thousands of hours of old radio shows are readily available. Just go to EBay and enter OTR and you will see how much can be had for practically nothing.
Keep in mind that the major networks spent thousands of dollars on their popular programs. Major stars and writers, plus teams of sound effects people and musicians were all involved. And people listened with great interest week after week, year after year. In many cases, it was a great thrill to actually be a member of the audiences that were allowed to watch as the cast and crew of a major radio drama went through their paces.
In the next part of this series I will talk about some of the shows I remember listening to as a kid, plus the basic techniques of audio drama.
Hope you will find all this of interest.
Bill Rupp
.