A New Theater of Sound

In the mid and late 1930’s WNYC began to benefit from the various work relief projects in the field of dramatic arts. The Federal Theatre Project made possible the first continuous series of radio dramas, and this is an excerpt from an adaptation of Theodore Pratt’s stage play "The Big Blow: A Drama of the Hurricane Country."

The recording is unfortunately incomplete.

On December 11th 2010, Eugene Lang College, in collaboration with The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space at WNYC and WQXR, presented a symposium on the future of audio drama in our transformative times.

The Greene Space and Yorinks Theater Group presented a two-day festival celebrating the life and work of a master American storyteller: Garson Kanin.

The festival featured the world premiere of the audio theater adaptation of Garson Kanin's classic Broadway play, The Rat Race.  The Yorinks Theater Group has taken this timeless New York City landscape and - for the first time ever - adapted it into a work not only for radio, but for radio's live audience in our multi-platform venue in the heart of Manhattan.

In addition, a lively discussion took place at The Greene Space diving into the work of Kanin as seen through the theater and film of the 20th century – participants were Charlotte Booker, John Rubinstein, Jay Binder, Philip Morgaman, and Howard Kissel.

The Radio Stage was created by Marjorie Van Halteren in 1986, with the aim of attracting contemporary playwrights to the medium.  Sarah Montague took over as producer in 1992. The series was distributed by National Public Radio, and showcased some thirty new works through 1996. WNYC partnered with a number of local companies, including David Mamet's Atlantic Theatre, The Public Theatre, Playwright’s Theater of New Jersey, and the McCarter, and works were commissioned from such distinguished dramatists as Nilo Cruz, Wendy Wasserstein, Eric Overmeyer, Adrienne Kennedy, and Jessica Hagedorn. 

A weekly series of “historical dramas recreating stirring periods and moments in the commercial and economic growth of New York City,” these somewhat polemical plays highlighted the city as a burgeoning cultural and historical capital by bringing to life key moments in its commercial history. The plays were sponsored by a variety of civic and industry groups. Hear some examples below.

An imaginative series produced in cooperation with the New York Public Library, Life and Works offered an intriguing double bill: the adaptation of a significant work of American literature, coupled with a short bio-play dramatizing the life of the author.  Each of these is introduced by a guest commentator. We offer here examples of four in the series, all directed by Mitchell Grayson.

The distinguished American radio dramatist Norman Corwin began his radio career in the 1930s with a poetry series on WQXR, then a commercial station. This segment features a rare example of the show in which Corwin finds dynamic ways of introducing and discussing poetry, on women poets.

With a rather large nod to Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, this WNYC “public service” drama on water conservation follows the story of a Jeremiah P. Driftwood and his leaky faucet.

A series created under the auspices of the Office of War Information (OWI), and produced by Golden Age radio great Norman Corwin, it included contributions from distinguished American writers, and narration by Hollywood actors involved with the armed forces involved with the armed forces combined with montages that include sound effects, brief vignettes, readings, and songs. Listen to our examples below.

Listen to some monologues by Cornelia Otis Skinner.

Echoes was a series of Tuesday-night broadcasts written by Municipal Broadcasting System staff.  It was billed as an “attempt to portray some of the background history and interesting sidelights of America’s great current struggle in the cause of freedom.” The first play in the series, "Come Josephine," by Mitchell Jablons, takes a whimsical approach to its serious subject: it is narrated by an army Jeep (Josephine) and describes her relationship with "her" soldier, Joe.

Utilizing the talents of seasoned theater teaching artists, this residency focused on the history of radio drama, and how it informed the culture of the 20th century. Using examples of previous audio pieces (including the work of Tom Stoppard) students were encouraged to collaborate and produce their own examples of audio theater, taking into account their experiences in this new century.

The Greene Space and Yorinks Theater Group presented a two-day festival celebrating the life and work of a master American storyteller: Garson Kanin.

Affinity Collaborative Theater launched a partnership with The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space with their moving and popular production. Written in 1942 when the world was at war, Auden’s Oratorio is a parable that merges the Biblical and the contemporary with a result that is simultaneously audacious and poetic.