THE GAZETTE
Wednesday, October 9, 2013 r
Page B-9
A Martian invasion at the Arts Barn Sandy Spring Theatre gets supernatural BY
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THE WAR OF THE WORLDS
CARA HEDGEPETH
n Following the hour-long program will be a 15-minute segment, “When Welles Collide,” a humorous take on the “War of the Worlds” broadcast.
STAFF WRITER
n When: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, Oct. 11-27, no performance Oct. 13 n Where: Gaithersburg Arts Barn, 311 Kent Square Road, Gaithersburg n Tickets: $16 general admission, $14 for city of Gaithersburg residents, $9 for students n For information: 301-2586394, gaithersburgmd.gov/ theater
when people were describing what they saw after the plane
Philip Stamper and Yvonne Paretzky rehearse for “The War of the Worlds,” opening Friday.
chedgepeth@gazette.net
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The night before Halloween 1938, a widespread panic set in across the nation as reports of a Martian invasion came in over the airwaves. Despite the fear and chaos, it turns out the broadcast was actually an adaptation of the science fiction classic “The War of the Worlds.” Written by H.G. Wells, “The War of the Worlds” was published right before the turn of the 20th century. It’s a firsthand account of a fictional protagonist and his brother living in London when Earth is suddenly invaded by Martians. The novel sparked several adaptations including comic books, TV shows, radio dramas, video games and most recently, a 2005 Steven Spielberg film starring Tom Cruise. The majority of the 1938 radio program, which was narrated by writer and director Orson Welles, resembled news bulletins and included no commercial breaks. As many listeners tuned in after the introduction, fear quickly set in. “My grandmother told me about [this broadcast],” said David Dossey of Olney. “A lot of people missed the intro that clearly stated this is based on a book. People in her small town in Texas were running outside with wet towels wrapped around them to prevent heat-rays.” Starting Friday, Dossey will direct a recreation of the infamous radio broadcast in partnership with Sandy Spring Theatre Group and the Gaithersburg Arts Barn. “We’re sticking to the 1938 script but we’re not sticking to the 1938 way of doing it,” Dossey said. “It’s not a museum piece. We’re not doing it with the stuff they had.” Dossey, along with assistant director Stan Rosen and their cast, will not depend on 1930s technology for their adaptation of the broadcast. “They had, at that time, rudimentary sound effects ...” Dossey said. “A lot of the stuff they had to make sound effects, like a hand-crank siren for example, doesn’t exist anymore.” Instead, Dossey said his actors will depend on their voices to create a realistic interpretation of the original broadcast. “We’ve spent a lot of time working on voice and speech,” Dossey said. “I was telling [the cast], these guys that did these radio programs, they were trained actors and they would rehearse how their voices sounded on the radio. It’s a whole different way of performing.” An actor and former speech coach, Dossey is a firm believer in the power of the spoken word. “One of the things that I believe that we’ve lost in this day and age is the ability to use words to communicate,” Dossey said. “I used to tell my students: those who control language control their destiny and the destiny of others. People that are strong speakers have that ability to reach out and grab you and change minds.” In an effort to instill the same sense of panic and impending doom in his audience as the original 1938 broadcast did, Dossey asked his actors to think about an infamous day in modern American history when it felt plausible that the world might be coming to an end. “I said, flashback to 9/11
hit the first tower,” Dossey said. “We all have a memory of what it was like; the panic. This is the same thing ... they have to believe that Martians have landed.” Though the original “War of the Worlds” is more than 100 years old and the broadcast 75, Dossey said the core of the story still resonates with people. “Once you get past the Victorian era version of science, the story is about a group of people dealing with extraordinary circumstances,” Dossey said. “This guy was just a guy. He wasn’t a scientist ... trying to solve the problem. [He] was involved with the people whose lives were affected. When you think about movies about 9/11, they’re about ordinary people dealing with extraordinary circumstances. I think that’s the one thing about the book that’s made it timeless.”
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MARA BAYEWITZ