Our radio production of HG Wells’ The War of The Worlds is going online on November 30th for anyone who was so freaked out and so disturbed by the October 30th broadcast on KCLR96FM that they just couldn’t bear to listen. Or, eh, if people just missed it.
It goes online on November 30th at 8pm and can be downloaded as a podcast straight from the website, www.devioustheatre.com
The launch of Devious Theatre’s production of The War Of The Worlds is tonight!
The show has been finished, polished and covered in red weed in anticipation of it’s airing at 9pm on KCLR96FM and KCLR96FM.com.
It’s been a fantastic couple of months working on this project and for us, it’s opened up a whole new world of theatre. Radio theatre is a whole different discipline as I wrote earlier and it’s something I want to indulge in more. It takes it right back to the spoken word and solely the spoken word. Exactly where all our great stories came from, aptly enough.
I hope that the production will go someway towards creating the sense of excitement and imagination that people had years ago as they huddled by their radiosets for all their entertainment. So if we can attract families, couples, the elderley, adults and kids alike and get them sitting in on a cold wintery night listening to the ol’ wireless, then we’ll be satisfied we’ve done our job. It’ll be even better if they descend into crazed hysteria and run out into the elements screaming of Martians. Orson Welles would be proud.
For my part, the writing process was a joy, the recording process was a true pleasure and I giddily look forward to sitting down tomorrow night to see the fine storytelling unfold, aided by a fine cast and a damn talented producer in Alan Dawson.
The last of the publicity material has gone out, Ross and Ken hit our hosts at KCLR96FM today for an interview and yes, the skies are definitely our enemy at the moment. So it must be said: the citizens of Carlow and Kilkenny have been given due warning.
We hope you’ll tune in tonight for our debut radio broadcast on KCLR96FM and of course, KCLR96FM.com. And remember, it’s only entertainment… just keep watching the skies. Happy Halloween.
Photos by oss237.com
We’ve been hard at the recording of our 70th anniversary version of The War Of The Worlds the past week or so and we’re just about complete. Our trips into the studio have already started to pay dividends though and the first of 6 specially produced radio and web adverts for the production has just went online at our website www.devioustheatre.com and they’re also going to be airing on KCLR 96FM from this week too.
They’ve certainly succeeded in capturing that ‘epic’ feel that we’re looking for in the battle scenes. Our sound designer and producer Alan Dawson likes to go into his lab and tinker away for hours and Christ, the results are really something. We’ve been laying down vocals all week and we’re kind of going ‘Ah yeah, that seemed okay. Was that alright?’ and everyone else is like ‘Ah yeah.’ but you know, just know, that it’s going to go through the magic Daw sound filter machine and it’s gonna come out on the other end sounding, well, epic. Wellesian even.
The recording process so far has seen Kev, Ross, Ken, Daw and myself spending long, long hours in the studio, drinking ridiculous amounts of tea, copious amounts of biscuits and chain smoking stupid amount of fags. It’s been really intensive and a good working experience for us. From the get go, we approached this project as a group… there’s no Welles in our midst y’know? And we’ve tackled it as a group. Everyone is concise with direction and we’ve all been on the same page. As I mentioned in an earlier post, like excited kids getting to play in the classic sci-fi section of toy store. The sense of glee when we go through ideas for what the sound of a clanking tripod leg might sound like is just comical. Big kids for sure.
It’s been a real eye opener for me in terms of radio production. Just being in the booth for a couple of hours and acting to myself, using nothing but vocals and imagination has really blown the dust off me. And to be honest, I was nowhere near prepared well enough vocally for this. I came out of the booth just kicking myself yesterday. The demands of vocal performance are completely different from the physical side, you have to get across so much vocally. Everything. Not just the story itself but the colour, the emotion, the effect of the words, the nuance of it all. It’s a hugely demanding process and I have nothing but respect for the performers that can do it daily. I did a radio production of The Tain a couple of years back and I remember really preparing the shit out of it and working very hard on the craft of vocal work. Suffice to say, it’s something I really want to revisit. I haven’t focused on vocal performance in a while now and well, as recording The War Of The Worlds has proved, without your voice you’re fucked as a performer. Unless…
Alternately, don’t be surprised to see Devious Theatre doing Commedia Dell’Arte on the streets of Kilkenny next year. At which point, I’ll take off my mask and my tights, turn to everyone else covered in sweat and go ‘Jesus lads, I am fucking knackered. Fuck this physical theatre shit.’ Time to start brushing up all round methinks.
Watch The Skies. 30.10.08. It’s gonna be explosive.
