Heritage Foundation to retell iconic radio tale

The War of the Worlds movie poster

“For a time I believed that mankind had been swept out of existence, and that I stood there alone, the last man left alive.”

The Rhea Heritage Preservation Foundation and Tennessee Valley Theatre will present one of the most gripping radio dramas ever, “The War of the Worlds,” Oct. 26 at 2 p.m., in the Rhea County Courthouse as part of MainStreet Dayton’s PumpkinFest. Dan Franks will direct the all local cast.

The play was a Halloween episode of the radio series The Mercury Theatre on the Air directed and narrated by Orson Welles as an adaptation of H. G. Wells’s novel The War of the Worlds (1898) that was performed and broadcast live at 8 p.m. ET on Oct. 30, 1938, over the CBS Radio Network.

Radio reports frighten East Coast of Martian invasion

Welles’s War of the Worlds broadcast became famous for convincing some of its listeners that a Martian invasion was actually taking place due to the “breaking news” style of storytelling employed in the first half of the show. The illusion of realism was supported by the Mercury Theatre on the Air’s lack of commercial interruptions, which meant that the first break in the drama came after all of the alarming “news” reports had taken place.

Tickets are on sale for $5 each, general admission, at rheaheritage.com and at the door.

Radio Theater Dramas

"The War of the Worlds" is the first of two radio dramas this holiday season presented by Rhea Heritage Preservation Foundation. "It's a Wonderful Life" will be presented at 2 p.m. on Dec. 7.