Radio+Theater+Land


 * The Land of Radio Theater**

Superman, the valiant and courageous superhero we all know and love, acquired his fame not through movies, but through radio shows. Our hero made his first appearance in radio on Monday, February 12, 1940 with the famous catch line, “‘Up in the sky - look!’ ‘It's a bird.’ ‘It's a plane.'’ ‘It's SUPERMAN!’” Long before the development of imagination-hindering, television and cinema, Radio Theater provided people of many classes from the 1930's to the 1940's sheer entertainment. Many enjoyed some of the more famous programs, such as //Little Orphan Annie//, //Amos 'n' Andy//, //The Guiding Light//, and //The Shadow//. We remember Radio Theater as a beloved part of American history, and as a reminder of simpler times in which one just needed to have a great imagination for entertainment to occur. Often a dramatic, comedic, or simply entertaining play, radio theater makes up for visual clues with colorful characters, a descriptive and clear plot, and sound effects. Back in the day, the script was performed in one take, about fifteen to thirty minutes long, before a studio audience, and with a Foley artist to provide sound effects.

Orson Wells, the renown filmmaker, started his career with radio programs, broadcasting one of the most famous or as some would say, infamous radio theaters of all time: “War of the Worlds”, which later appeared in theaters with actor Tom Cruise. In order to write a successful radio play such as “War of the Worlds”, one must organize the plot and deliver the story in an interesting manner. The plot should grab the attention of the reader and maintain it throughout the whole play by using a great attention grabber for the opening, an obvious conflict, and a long, exciting climatic ending. In the program by Orson Wells, the story begins dramatically with a spaceship landing in New Jersey. Also, Radio Theater writers often use multiple plots that intertwine and come together at the end of the story. When someone writes a play based on literature, the writer should stick to the original when it comes to details about the plot, but he or she does not have to copy the text word for word. In the same way, in order to captivate the listening audience, the writer should utilize sound effects, music, and vivid words. The writer should use a moderate amount of sound effects to enhance and help dramatize the play, rather than to distract the audience from the story. Every word in the script should have a purpose in the play for character development, plot development, humor, or drama. The writer should limit the number of characters in any given scene to about four, in order to help keep the audience engaged and tracking. Also, it helps if characters have distinguishing features in their voices such as accents, lisps, or stutters, speaking as dramatically as they possibly can. A narrator can only be used at the beginning of each scene, so that he or she does not interrupt the flow of the drama. If the play portrays the emotions of the characters effectively, the listener should feel those same emotions as well. The characters and sound affects in “War of the Worlds” captivated and convinced the radio listening audience so effectively that some people actually believed that aliens were invading and attacking earth. This play demonstrates the power of good radio theater to not only entertain the audience, but to get them involved emotionally.

//Welcome to the land of Radio Theater, a vibrant alliance of four nations that produce stories fit for any media. However, they specialize in turning out many high quality pieces for Radio Theater, such as War of the Worlds. The nations that inhabit this land, Origin, Plot, Characterization, and Publication, all contribute to this extraordinary process.//
 * The Composition of the Story**

Radio Theater broadcasts and plots consist of several major parts that all contribute to making a good story. All of these parts rely on each other to work, so each and every piece becomes vital to the whole.

1. **Beginning** //Everything related to a story begins in the province of Origin. Origin contains all of the factories and workshops that spawn conflicts, beginnings, and characters that have yet to embark on great journeys. Wizards, spies, great ships and their crews, robots, women dressed as men, men dressed as women, dead parrots, and everything in between all roll out of the workshops toward the commonwealths of Plot and Characterization.//

Every story has to start somewhere, so why not at the beginning? All sarcasm aside, the start of any piece of literature or theater can make or break it. This portion introduces the audience to the main characters, the setting, and the conflict in its infancy, as well as the mood of the story. If the beginning of any given story stinks, then the audience will lose interest and not listen to the rest of it, which makes every other element completely pointless. In order to craft a good beginning, two prerequisites need to appear:

1. A good entry point into the story that enthralls and hooks the audience into the piece.

2. Enough background information to give the audience a basic understanding of the setting, main characters, and initial mood, //but not too much!//

__Never__ confuse the //actual beginning// of a story and the //entry point// where the story introduces itself to the audience. The entry point should immediately immerse the audience in the story, engaging their hearts and minds, while not adding so much action that it becomes the climax. If the entry point does not hook the audience's attention, then the whole purpose of the story has gone down the toilet. However, the actual beginning of the story can happen anywhere and in any manner the writer chooses, as long as the audience eventually knows what occured to start this whole journey off. In the television show __Battlestar Galactica,__ the Twelve Colonies, a distant branch of humanity, creates artificially intelligent robots to serve them. These robots, called Cylons, eventually learn enough to rebel, embroiling the Twelve Colonies in a war that ends when the Cylons leave for a new homeworld as a result of an armistice. Forty years later, the Cylons come back and wipe out the Twelve Colonies, leaving only one battlestar, the //Galactica//, and 50,000 survivors in search of a new home called Earth. The audience enters the story at the beginning of the destruction of the Twelve Colonies, throwing us straight into the desperate struggle for survival that the remnants of humanity face. However, the complete story //actually// begins when humanity creates the Cylons, setting the whole conflict in motion. The entry point can also encompass the actual beginning, and vice versa, but the writers should make sure that they know the difference.

2. **Plot** //Welcome to the commonwealth of Plot, a land boasting many roads, paths, and adventures. All of the characters from Origin begin, and end, their struggles here, fighting through all manner of conflicts, ranging from the classic good vs. evil, to the apocalyptic reality of the the human race teetering on the edge of extinction. All of these separate story lines resovle themselves here on the flat plains known as the Fields of Resolution, where evil dies, heroes and heroines triumph, and parrots squak their last. Then, as the heroes and heroines make their way to the land of Publication, they recieve various ultimate boones at the border checkpoints. Plot and the neighboring commonwealth of Characterization share a very strong alliance, and rely on each other for everything from plot elements to humorous traits.//

Any high quality piece of literature, whether a book, a television show, or a radio theater play, //**has to have a good, compelling plot**//. Generally, an //introduction// precedes the story itself, laying out the main characters, their backgrounds, and basically it lays the groundwork for the audience to understand the story. After the introduction, the journey of the main character begins with an //initial action//, which in most cases aids the following conflict between the hero and the villain. However, other causes of conflict happen quite often, such as internal struggles between the character's different emotions. This conflict drives the plot line forward while also developing the characters through their reactions to different situations. As the plot line progresses, the action begins to increase, in a section known as //rising action//. During the rising action phase, the conflict heats up, while the action becomes more intense and exciting. Eventually, all of this rising action and suspense culminates in the //climax//, the top of the conflict in a story. The climax generally comes in the final challenge between the hero and the villain, which generally ends or nearly ends the main conflict, while finally revealing the true natures of the characters. After the climax comes the //receding action// phase, where most of the loose ends in a story unfold and explain themselves to the listeners. The conflict resolves itself somehow, and the hero finally achieves happiness, at least in most stories.

This structure described above shows how the //heroic cycle// works. Pioneered by Joseph Campbell, this cycle illustrates the general pattern of heroic stories and myths. One of the oldest heroic myths, __Gilgamesh__, shows how a demigod tries to find immortality but ends up gaining knowledge. He performs heroic tasks with the help of his best friend Enkidu. One of the greatest battles fought in the story, Gilgamesh and Enkidu slay Humbaba the giant and ruler of Cedar Forest forming the climax of the first heroic journey that the reader experiences. Everything before this battle leads up to the climax for dramatic effect. For this part of the story, the //receding action// takes place after Gilgamesh and Enkidu slay the Giant and return home. Unfortunately, Gilgamesh does not return home to a relaxing setting, but instead he returns to the goddess Ishtar who wants to marry him. Ishtar is a //temptress,// usually a woman who blocks the path to a character's moral duties. Ishtar's character represents a conflict in the story, as most temptresses do. Gilgamesh does not marry Ishtar because she hurts or kills every man she falls in love with. Gilgamesh passes the test and continues on with his moral responsibilities as ruler of the strong walked city of Uruk.

A great radio show keeps the audience engaged and interested in the subject, plot, and characters of the story. To garner the audience's attention, and, more importantly, to keep it, requires plot and character development, tension, humor, and action. Ideally, a mixture of those things keeps an audience entertained. A common mixture like tension and humor makes for an interesting and funny storyline, but other combinations of literary elements can achieve the same effect. Experiment with different things that would make the plot more interesting. Fear and suspense go hand and hand unlike tension and humor, which are opposites. Picture of an old radio, which transmitted stories from Radio Theater to its listeners.

3. **Characterization** //The commonwealth of Characterization prides itself on its libraries, field operatives, and influence on characters produced in Origin. Along with Plot, they take these new, untested, nevous characters and, through gentle pushes and prods in the right direction by the field operatives known as Influencers, turn them into heroes and heroines worthy of any story. While this happens, scholars in the Libraries of Traits record how these characters develop, and preserve it for posterity and eventual export to the land of Publication.//

Radio shows are the polar opposite of silent movies. Both of them lack what the other has. Silent movies need exaggerated movements and facial expressions to convey what the character is feeling whether it be joy or chagrin. Radio shows, however, only have sound, meaning that when a character talks he or she must convey the emotion the character feels, what setting that character finds his or herself in, and what he or she thinks of any given event in the past, present, or future. Without movement or facial expressions conveying these important plot and characterization clues, this becomes difficult to accomplish. However, if the speaker enunciates, speaks clearly, and emotes, it will personify the character they play. Speaking as if the character was real creates a realistic visual of the character. For example, if the character should sound like an angry nobleman, the speaker must speak clearly enunciated, but angry, grammatically correct sentences. If the character should sound like a sad peasant, the speaker becomes free to use fragmented sentences and slang. However the character does not really come to life until the speaker adopts a poor or rural accent while at the same time sounding sorrowful and pitiful. With the freedom to create images in their mind, each member of the audience can have a different idea of how things like setting, characters, other things, might look.

4. **Publication** //Finally the heroes and heroines reach the land of publication, home to huge printing houses, radio and TV towers, and a huge old age communtiy. Everything that has transpired from the province of Origin to the final border of Plot becomes published for mass entertainment all around the world. In the mean time, all of the weary heroes and heroines settle down in quiet retirement homes overlooking the ocean. Some stay for the rest of their lives, while others hear the call of adventure and glory once again.//



The traditional theater masks, showing off tragedy and comedy, alongside a man tuning a radio set, the mass media of the early 20th century.

Now showing: //The Complete Idiot's Guide to Using Tension and Humor in Radio Theater// media type="custom" key="504449" __**A quick reference and tip guide:**__ **II. Delivering the Story:** How to help the listener imagine the world of your character through sound effects, music, and vivid words
 * I. Plot Organization: ** How to make sure the plot grabs the attention of the listener.
 * Multiple plots that intertwine and come together at the end of the story accomplish this goal well.
 * Think of the main plot like this: set up, followed by struggle, and ending with a resolution.
 *  Make the beginning an attention grabber. The audience will turn off the radio if the beginning does not interest them.
 * Do not cover the historical background in the beginning. Instead, let the audience discover it throughout the story, and use the beginning as an attention grabber.
 *  Make the conflict, whether it deals with an emotional, financial, human, moral, or physical struggle, obvious to the audience.
 *  Have a long, exciting climax.
 * Come up with an outline for the story. This gives the writers an opportunity to put ideas down on paper, mull over them, and change them. It also serves as a reference when writing the story, and the piece sounds more organized and professional.
 * Use the element of surprise to excite and scare the audience.
 *  Have dialogue that balances emotion and conciseness.
 * If any word does not have a discernable purpose in developing the plot, developing the characters, creating drama, or in creating humor, cut it out.
 * Limit the number of characters in any given scene to four, otherwise telling everyone apart becomes difficult. Also, use recognizable voices and take advantage of distinguishing vocal features for the characters, such as lisps, stutters, or accents.
 *  Make the audience feel and understand the emotions that the characters experience. If the characters convey their emotions and opinions well, the audience will feel those exact thoughts.
 * Only use a narrator at the beginning of a scene, otherwise it will disrupt the flow of the drama.
 *  Try to find the perfect amount of sound effects to evoke more interest in the radio drama than in other foms of audio media, such as books-on-tape. Radio writers say that the play should contain sound effects about every half-page.
 * III. Characterization tips:**
 * Use emotions to express a character's feelings to the audience. When the narrator speaks, use powerful and descriptive words to develop characters and their feelings. For example, describing the character's appearance, clothing, and possesions helps the audience to picture the person in their minds.
 * Unlike television, the audience can not look at a screen and see some of a character's obvious traits, such as appearance, clothing, or facial expressions. Over exaggeration of a character's traits helps the audience to picture him/her without a visual aid. For example, if the writers wanted a character to appear stupid, they would insert various words, such as "like", add some contractions, and slur his/her dialogue to emphasize his stupidity to the audience.
 * To successfully characterize and develop people through dialogue, employ different kinds of tones and pitches unique to each character. For example, a deep voice gives the impression of an older man or woman, wheras a higher-pitched, optimistic sounding voice sounds like a young child to the audience. Also, use realistic dialogue and expressions appropriate to the characters. For example, if a member of the nobility speaks in a scene, he/she would use complex, intelligent words in a slightly arrogant tone, and he/she would aviod using slang words and speaking in a casual accent.
 * Throughout the story try to keep the number of characters to a minimum, ideally around four to five people. This should prevent confusion as to who does what in the plot. When coming up with a list of characters, try to pick out the primary four or five people, and only make passing references to others if necessary.
 * When designing a character, make sure that the audience can picture him/her in their minds. Realistic characters make this easier, but it can be done with monsters and other non-human characters //as long as the audience can relate to and picture it//.
 * Make sure that characters that crack jokes and inject the story with humor do this by nature. If a normally dour and serious character randomly injects a joke to relieve tension or to get a good laugh, then the audience's image of that character becomes confused, since he/she just did something contrary to his nature. Try to have one or two naturally humorous characters do all of the wisecracks and jokes.
 * During the brainstorming phase, come up with a list of characters going from the main protagonists and antagonists to minor people who only appear in one scene. Then, list adjectives next to each character in order to get a better sense of his/her traits and eventual development.

Here's an example of a script of a radio play:

(page 8 from an adaptation of //Macbeth: Act 4, Scene 1)// Yet my heart throbs to know one** **thing. Tell me, if your art can tell so much, - shall Banquo’s issue ever reign in this** **kingdom?** curse fall on you! Let me know!**
 * Shakespeare On The Air “Macbeth” 8.**
 * 1. MACBETH: That will never be. Who can impress the forest?
 * __2. SOUND: THUNDER (2X).__**
 * __3. MUSIC: WEIRD MUSIC-UP. DUCK FOR VOICES.__**
 * 4. ALL WITCHES: Seek to know no more.**
 * 5. MACBETH: I will be satisfied. Deny me this, and an eternal
 * __6. SOUND: INTENSE BUBBLING-SLOWS-STOPS. THUNDER (1X).__**
 * 7. MACBETH: Why sinks that cauldron? And what noise is this?**
 * 8. FIRST WITCH: Show!**
 * 9. SECOND WITCH: Show!**
 * 10. THIRD WITCH: Show!**
 * __11. SOUND: THUNDER (3X).__**

Bibliography

Crook, Tom. __Principles of Writing Radio Drama.__ IRDP. 13 Feb. 2008. 

Kisner, Don. __Radio’s Golden Age__. 1998. Balance Publishing Company. 11 Feb. 2008. < http://www.balancepublishing.com/golden.htm>

__Legendary Joan Crawford__. 28 Dec. 2004. 13 Feb. 2008. < [|http://joancrawfordma.tripod.com/radiodays.html>

Matzat, Cynthia. __Radio Days: A WebQuest__. 22 Jan. 2007. 11 Feb. 2008. 

Palermo, Tony. __A Method for Writing Audio Theatre__. 15 Jan. 2008. Encyclo- Media. 12 Feb. 2008 < http://ruyasonic.com/wrt_method.htm>

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal*

West, Keith. Classic Radio Theatre in Contemporary Education. 1997. ERIC. 12 Feb. 2008. < [|http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/]>*

Younis, __Stevin. Superman on Radio.__ 2001. Superman Webring. 12 Feb. 2008. 


 * We shortened the actual URL because it messed up the spacing on our wikipage, but we made it a link so if you click on it you can go to the page.