Radio Plays: The History + Evolution of Audio Entertainment

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When you hear the term “radio play,” you may think of an old-timey medium that peaked around the time of the antenna TV. But radio plays are as dominant as ever, primarily in the form of podcasts, from Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor’s “Welcome to Night Vale” to Jonathan Sims’ “The Magnus Archives.” This type of voiceover work is also great for growing basic performance skills like enunciation, character creation, pacing, and projection.  

Interested in expanding your voiceover career? Understanding the history and conventions of this niche will allow you to create a gripping audio drama.

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What is a radio play?

A radio play is a fictional story told purely through audio. The performance typically combines dialogue, sound effects, and music to create an immersive world that listeners can follow as they would a TV show or movie. Clarity is paramount in radio theater, so it also often includes narration to situate the audience.

Radio plays came to prominence with, you guessed it, the rise of the first publicly available radios in the early 1920s. Audiences tuned into series like the detective drama “Dick Tracy” and the children’s story “Little Orphan Annie” in droves up until the advent of television in the 1950s. As TVs got cheaper and cheaper, the demand for auditory entertainment waned; by the beginning of the 1960s, the golden age was over. 

How has radio theater changed over time?

When MP3 players and smartphones started putting large audio libraries into peoples’ pockets, radio plays roared back to life with the rise of fiction podcasts. However, there are a few key differences between the medium in its first golden age and what it sounds like today. 

Popular radio plays in the 1940s were broadcast on major networks like NBC and BBC. As such, there was a higher barrier to entry and the subject matter needed to fall within the parameters of the networks.

Podcasting has democratized the medium. Anyone with a home setup can record a radio play and upload it onto the internet. And because you aren’t accountable to a larger broadcasting entity, podcasters can push narrative boundaries and touch on subjects suitable to much more niche audiences.

Tips for creating an audio play

Radio play host writing script

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All of this possibility can be very exciting for a creative who wants to tell big stories. Radio dramas can contain huge, outlandish ideas without the need for a huge budget to bring them to life. 

1. Write the script.

Like any other kind of play, your story starts with a script. The format is similar to standard stage plays, but don’t get too into the weeds with visuals (the audience can’t see them!). Instead, emphasize critical sound effects, dialogue, and music. 

Many legendary playwrights, screenwriters, and filmmakers, such as Orson Welles and Rod Serling, got their start in radio. More recently, Micah Bloomberg and Eli Horowitz’s psychological thriller “Homecoming” and Zack Akers, Skip Bronkie, and Dave Yim’s sci-fi mystery “Limetown” were adapted into live-action TV series.

2. Cast and rehearse.

Again, this process is similar to how you might cast and rehearse any other play. But be sure to focus on what’s important—the voice. It can be helpful to have actors send just voiceover samples or conduct your auditions virtually. 

3. Perform and record the piece.

The one area you won’t want to skimp is the quality of your microphones and soundproofing. Nothing kills a piece of radio entertainment faster than bad audio! Research mics within your budget and carefully plan out your performance space. Does it sound better to have all your actors in one room or should you have them record separately? Give yourself plenty of time to find out; the cleaner the audio, the easier the postproduction. 

4. Edit.

Now it’s time to put it all together. You’ll edit your radio play like a film, splicing together your favorite performances. Once everything’s in order, you can add sound effects from sound effect libraries or folly you’ve recorded yourself. And finally, add music.

Examples of radio plays

“War of the Worlds” (1938)

Created by: Orson Welles 

Starring: Welles, Frank Readick, Kenny Delmar, and Ray Collins

Welles’ “War of the Worlds” is probably the most famous—or, more accurately, infamous—American radio drama of all time. The adaptation of H.G. Wells’ 1898 novel premiered the night before Halloween on the CBS series “The Mercury Theatre on the Air” in the form of a news bulletin. This led to a number of listeners believing an alien invasion was actually taking place (although not as many as rumors suggested). Now that’s the power of radio.

“Johnny Got His Gun” (1940)

Created by: Arch Oboler

Starring: James Cagney

Oboler adapted this brutal play from Dalton Trumbo’s 1938 book of the same name, which follows a soldier who was severely injured in World War I. The play is essentially one long monologue by the inimitable Cagney; it’s a tour de force of writing and performance.

“Sorry, Wrong Number” (1943)

Created by: Lucille Fletcher 

Starring: Agnes Moorehead

“Sorry, Wrong Number” debuted on CBS’ “Suspense” radio program, and it certainly delivers on the program’s name. Fletcher’s story follows a nerve-wracking tale following a bedridden woman who overhears the plot of a murder on the telephone. Welles called it “the greatest single radio script ever written.”

“Welcome to Night Vale” (2012)

Created by: Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

Starring: Cecil Baldwin

First premiering in 2012 and running for 12 seasons and 250 episodes, “Welcome to Night Vale” is the weirder (way weirder) spiritual successor to Welles’ original “War of the Worlds” broadcast. The show presents itself as a radio show reporting on the happenings in the fictional town of Night Vale, where literally anything can happen. “Welcome to Night Vale” is a testament to how effectively radio plays can create an enthralling world through audio; as the series progresses, the lore of the town only deepens. 

Limetown” (2015)

Created by: Zack Akers, Skip Bronkie, and Dave Yim

Starring: Annie-Sage Whitehurst

“Limetown” feels like “The Twilight Zone” in the style of a nonfiction reporting podcast such as Sarah Koenig’s “Serial.” The story follows journalist Lia Haddock (voiced by Whitehurst) as she investigates the disappearance of a group of people at a mysterious research facility. In 2019, Akers and Bronkie adapted the series into a TV series for Facebook Watch starring Jessica Biel and Stanley Tucci.