Galaxy Friday Matinee: Orson Welles' Mercury Theater Broadcast of H.G. Well's "War of the Worlds"

Don't miss this re-enactment of the presentation and public reactions to the original Mercury Theater on the Air broadcast of H.G. Well's War of the Worlds, performed as a Halloween special on October 30, 1938. The live broadcast was set in Grover's Mill, an unincorporated village in West Windsor Township, New Jersey frightening many listeners into believing that an actual Martian invasion was in progress.

The first two thirds of the radio program H. G. Well's novel is about an alien invasion of Earth was broadcast as a series of simulated news bulletins, led millions of  listeners to believe that an actual alien invasion was in progress. The fact that the program was commercial free added to the dramatic effect. In the days following the adaptation, there was widespread outrage in the press and public forums. The episode launched Orson Welles to fame. Welles used recordings of Herbert Morrison's radio reports of the Hindenburg disaster to coach actor Frank Readick and the rest of the cast, to create the mood he wanted.

Roughly two thirds of the 55 1/2 minute play was a contemporary retelling of events of H.G. Well's novel presented as news bulletins in documentary style. This approach was originally used by Fr. Ronald Knox for his satirical "newscast" of a riot overtaking London over the British Broadcasting Company in 1926

Posted by Casey Kazan.

Comments

[Salvatore]

Two typing errors in the title:
Orson Well[e]s
H.G.Well[s]'War of the Worlds

[sunnyjay]

Dear Casey, I cannot find where and when the "reenactment" is to occur!?! Did you post it in this article, or is it hidden in the illegible font of the 'poster'?