From
Issue #7, Winter 2005
RADIO
THEATRE AS READERS THEATRE
An Interview with Sam A. Mowry and Mary
McDonald-Lewis
Mary McDonald-Lewis and Sam A. Mowry are co-directors
of Ensemble of the Airwave¹s production of Sunday Night by the
Philco, a series they stage every year for Mt. Hood Repertory Theatre
in Gresham, Oregon.
Recently, McDonald-Lewis and Mowry spoke about the project
with Readers Theatre Digest.
1) Why did you choose the radio pieces you did for
Mt. Hood Rep's Sundays by the Philco?
All of the plays we chose this year are classics
that most folks who grew up with radio drama know and love: Lum &
Abner, My Friend Irma, The Bickersons, and The Shadow. But we think
the play that really stands out this year is The Shadow: Silent Avenger.
It¹s a wonderful example of a classic series, The Shadow, and it
is also a very contemporary, and compelling, story about a shell-shocked
veteran who is used by his brother to extract vengeance on the legal
system that sentenced him to death. The Willamette Radio Workshop transcribed
this episode. The Workshop thought it was an important story, and then
before the Workshop finished with the transcription, the DC sniper was
apprehended. The story then took on a relevance that was almost frightening
in its immediate parallels.
Our other shows embody many other aspects of what makes
radio drama so entertaining: gentle comedy, romance, and the foibles
of relationships all enter into their plots. But for us, the single
biggest issue in choosing any play is always "Is it a good story?"
The Silent Avenger is that and more. This shows why The Shadow lasted
as a series for as long as it did. Action, mystery, suspense and characters
that, while archetypes, never lose their humanity. And certainly, when
it comes to all the radio plays we chose this year, timeless tales.
2) Mt. Hood Repertory Theatre stages "American
Classics." How does Ensemble of the Airwave¹s work meet this
standard?
The Golden Age of Radio, which is the heart
of Sundays by the
Philco, was a uniquely American experience. Radio changed everything.
Everything got faster, the world got smaller and the news traveled with
the speed of thought. The types of shows that we produce show how radio
shaped the comic sensibilities and fed our ever-growing quest for action
and adventure. The Shadow was a man of mystery that dealt vengeance
and justice to those who would harvest the "Bitter fruit of crime."
The Bickersons showed how, no matter how much you fought, deep down,
you still loved your spouse. Lum and Abner show the simple honesty and
good-natured humor of our American backwaters, and Irma shows us why
friends are still the most popular entertainment around. The values,
stories and people of the Golden Age are what makes Ensemble of the
Airwave¹s Philco an American Classic.
3) Can you describe what you were looking for when you auditioned
your actors?
Acting for radio requires great imagination and vocal dexterity on the
part of its actors. The same is true of Readers Theatre, which is what
this essentially is, and what radio drama essentially was. We looked
for people with distinctive voices, not always beautiful, but each with
its own timber and pitch that makes it unique. Actors who can create
accents and impressions are very valuable to the radio and RT world,
because even though each actor is bringing fresh interpretation to their
parts, they must, on some level, remind folks of the show¹s original
characters. If they sound too different, the audience will spend the
whole time comparing our actors to their radio memories, not concentrating
on our show!
A story about vocal skills: Orson Welles got his first
job in radio doing the crying sounds of the Dionne Quintuplets, when
the usual baby sound actor was out sick. This is an object lesson in
the sense that what you are looking for may not be what you end up with
in radio, or on stage when it comes to RT. And, while it¹s fun
to watch the actors and Foley artists work, it¹s always a great
experience to take the time to close your eyes, and then just listen
to the voices of the actors. Each one will use all their skill to bring
to three-dimensional life the wide range of characters using only their
quick wits and vocal talents. An exercise sometimes better not "beheld",
but "be heard."
4) What do you expect the rehearsal process to be
like? What sort of things do you expect to happen?
We stage just three rehearsals for Sunday
Nights by the Philco. The first is a read-through; the second a staged
rehearsal with some of our Foley and other sound and light cues in place;
and the last is a complete technical rehearsal with all the bells and
whistles. Of course, our sound designer has also been working to create
the "show within the show" that is our Foley work at the same
time. Because this is live theatre, we expect the unexpected: actors
will grapple with the demands of quick character development, our sound
designer and Foley artists will be working triple time to satisfy the
demands of the shows; our able stage crew will be on the run sorting
out all the technical aspects of the production. But as voice actors
ourselves, we only hire and cast the best in the business, and that
means being able to work rapidly like this and still produce a dynamite
show.
5) Are there other, technical elements of this play
that excite you?
We would say the Foley is an exciting technical
aspect, but we feel it¹s an artistic performance as well, so we¹ll
just say this "additional" part of Sunday Nights by the Philco
is exciting!
6) Does staging old-time radio theatre differ from
staging traditional Readers Theatre?
Only stylistically. There are conventions
with OTR (Old Time Radio) having to do with acting approaches that,
if you do not follow, do a disservice to the discipline. The stories
were set in a particular time and in a culture specific to that time:
if you are playing Johnny Dollar, private eye, and you find yourself
in a dark alley with a bunch of thugs, you¹re not going to play
the scene in the naturalistic style we are more familiar with today.
But the same is true of any piece any of us stages: we have to listen
to the project itself, and let it tell us how it needs to be mounted,
not the other way around. It¹s about being loyal to the writing,
and to the author¹s intention, no matter if it¹s Old Time
Radio or contemporary drama.
7) How is your work received by the audience?
Wonderfully. What is truly gratifying to us is that
both people who grew up with radio drama love to see it staged, and
younger people who are just discovering it really "get it."
That keeps us inspired, and always excited about staging our fourth,
fifth and sixth seasons with Mt. Hood Rep!
SAM A. MOWRY¹S BIO
Sam A. Mowry
A professional actor and director for the last 24 years, Sam has produced
dozens of independent productions on stage. He is founder and director
of the Heart Theater and The Shakespeare Martyr Complex, and had appeared
in over 100 stage roles. He is also a much sought after voice over actor.
Sam¹s latest adventure is as founder and director
of the Willamette Radio Workshop, an award winning Audio Theater group
producing live and studio works of both original and Old Time Radio
productions.
To find out more about Sam¹s work in OTR and Readers
Theatre, visit www.radiowork.com.
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