We already identified The Three Ages of Modern Audio Drama and now it would be best to identify a fourth. The third age roughly started in 2012 and can be definitively seen as ending in 2019. In 2020, as COVID-19 reintroduced the world to the term- pandemic, a number of professional actors, writers, and producers found themselves with a lot of time on their hands and a lot of creative thoughts bulging in their brains.
The Faustian Nonsense Network soon found creative outlets in A Midsummer’s Quarantine and producer, writer, and actor extraordinaire, Tom Konkle from Mindstream Players found new life in reworking Old Time Radio scripts and new originals on YouTube. And they are not alone, many groups around the world unable to launch stage productions have worked together to create online audio drama shows. Quarantine Radio Theater out of St. Louis even considered that a part of their name. Here in Halifax, Keith Morrison from Lion’s Den Theatre has also reworked popular theatre productions into online audio theatre equivalents.
With an influx of so many professionals from both Little Theatre and Hollywood engaging in the world of audio drama. How will this change the landscape of stories that are produced? Will we see more classics launched? Or will there be a number of new original plays taking flight on RSS feeds and video channels near you?
Playing after the intermission for the second Act, No Soap Radio takes the stage and presents another Jack Benny Recreation, this time tackling the May 5th, 1940 episode where the gang returns to Hollywood by way of a TWA flight.
“Miracle on 34th Street,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and several versions of “A Christmas Carol” are some of the most popular Christmas films. For its Christmas audio offering based on a classic film, Sole Twin Audios chooses to take a different track (trains are important here) by adapting a less familiar film, “Holiday Affair” (1949). This choice (based on a 1950 audio performance for radio) renders this Christmas-themed production both familiar yet also fresh. There are the traditional Christmas themes of second chances, but presented in a new way, and the show is as relevant to our own time as it was when the movie was released in 1949…
There have been three waves of Radio Drama and now three waves of Audio Drama as well.
As technology and time advance new ideas and audio stories have taken the forefront.
What are the Ages of Radio Drama?
Golden Age of Radio
The Golden Age of Radio lasted from the 1920’s to the 1950’s:
Was the first mass-market entertainment as people listened on their radios at their homes
Had no real competition until television arose in the 50’s
Began with many Hollywood stars, actors, producers, writers, who moved through movies, radio and sometimes into television
Identified that audio drama could be adapted from stage plays, movies, literary fiction, or original story concepts
Was the first time many comedians made their way into the homes of the nation
Created new opportunities for story and formats including sponsorships, and commercial breaks
Silver Age of Radio
Often thought as roughly running between as early as the 1960’s to the mid-90’s but most examples are in the seventies and eighties:
Mostly broadcast through public radio.
The most popular were The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (BBC) and The Star Wars Radio Drama Saga (NPR)
Other examples were CBS Mystery Theatre (CBS), Nightfall and Vanishing Point (CBC), The Zero Hour (Rod Serling, Mutual Broadcasting System)
Full-Range sound effects, music, and “movie-like” quality
Modern Age of Audio Drama
The Modern Age of Audio Drama arrived as early as the Internet but was slow in taking shape from late 1990’s to the present day.
Beginning with the ability to download from a website, user groups, or stream from an online radio, to Youtube, and most popular podcast streams as the main means of distribution
Shows are edited digitally as opposed to previous with reel-to-reel tape which makes for faster production times
Groups of fans of old time radio and who grew up inspired by the best of the Silver Age began producing mostly fan audio fiction (Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who etc…) and then created original audio drama and their own fan base
Remote or Satellite actors would send in lines and an audio drama could be truly a global enterprise between like-minded writers, actors, and producers (Audio Drama Talk, Audio Drama/Radio Drama Lovers groups)
Websites began creating sharing original music and sound effects to aid in production (The Free Sound Project)
The Three Ages of Modern Audio Drama
As radio drama has had three ages, the rapid pace of change in technology has seen three very distinct ages of the modern audio drama movement:
The Golden Age of Audio Drama-Beginning in the early 2000’s. A small group of fans dedicated to the audio drama medium produced and shared from a variety of user groups and websites. Word of mouth provided the most distribution and groups blossomed and grew creating fan-fiction audio and some original works with sound quality of voices varying as digital editing technology was in its infancy
The Silver Age of Audio Drama-Began around 2008 and continued to around 2013. This era represented a group of fans who also appreciated old time radio but were mostly inspired by the Golden Age of Modern Audio Dramatists and created works that reflected extensions to the kind of shows that they had experienced.
The Bronze (Current) Age of Audio Drama- Beginning in 2011-2012 with shows like The No Sleep Podcast, Welcome to Night Vale, or 2014’s Serial, the creators of these audio dramas by and large are unaware of the old time radio of the past or even the Gold and Silver audio dramas of the Modern Age. Instead they gain their inspiration from three different sources including Youtube confessionals, NPR style radio shows, and the rapid popularity of podcasts. Bronze Age audio dramas have also been given the misnomer “audio fiction” by some creators. Due to the most popular format that includes a “host” who talks through a story of some sort and engages “guests” either in studio or at some location. The host acts as a central narrator in these Bronze Age features. The Bronze Age does not usually draw inspiration from theatrical framing such as movies, television, radio drama, or the stage.
Larry Groebe and Project Audion returns with The Whistler. The Whistler is one of those great shows like “Suspense” with murderous intent in the hearts of men and women.
We return to Mutual Presents! This week we’re back with Wednesday Wonder’s “Exploring Tomorrow” and more classic old time radio from the Mutual Broadcasting System with another trilogy of grand sci-fi tales- “The Happiness Effect”, “The Doctor” and “The Liar”!
And we’re back with Mutual Presents, sneak peaks at our daily releases on the Mutual Audio Network Youtube Channel. This week we’re back roaming the high seas with The Voyage of the Scarlet Queen and a feature-length double-feature: “The Spaniard and the Lascar Pirates” and “The Boston Geisha and Chesapeake Bay”. All aboard!
Welcome to Mutual Presents! This week Jack presents another sneak peek at the Mutual Audio Network’s Youtube channel. Every day there is released classic Mutual Broadcasting Network’s amazing shows and this week in honour of this week we praise summer and all things kids stuff with Saturday Story Circle’s Jack Armstrong~ All American Boy, available EVERY Saturday!
