Off the Square Players open radio play, library fundraiser tonight
By Tracy Ouellette
SLN Staff
The Off the Square Players kick off their fall season with a presentation of the H.G. Wells thriller, “War of the Worlds, the Radio Broadcast,” tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Ivan’s Backstage on the East Troy Village Square, 2093 Division St.
“To bring back a real classic like this, something so many people have heard about, the panic of hearing it on the radio, the news stories, it’s really a lot of fun,” Director Mary Hubbard Nugent said. “You can kind of see how, if you didn’t hear the whole broadcast you could have been pulled in.
“It’s kind of an analogy for our time,” she continued. “You see something on Facebook and Twitter and social media and you share it because you think it’s true but then you go back and think, “What was I thinking?’ this doesn’t make sense at all. We’re still doing it. Every generation needs to work on its critical-thinking skills.”
Nugent said the Players decided to put this production on because their sound-effects man, Greg Klas, is so passionate about what he does and he asked if they could do this play.
“He loves what he does with the sound effects and sound on the stage and was so excited for the opportunity,” Nugent said.
This production is the Players annual fundraiser with the Friends of the East Troy Lions Public Library.
“This collaboration with the Friends is how this theater group came to be,” Nugent said. “We wanted to put on a play to support them because they do so much for the library and the community. We’re committed to this partnership. We’re so fortunate that the community supports this as well and that Dave and Reenie (Allen, owners of Ivan’s Backstage) are once again letting us use the space. It really is a community project.”
Performances will be 7:30 p.m. Oct. 4, 5, 11 and 12 at 7:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday Oct. 13. The production will be at Backstage Ivan’s, 2093 Division St., East Troy.
Additional performances will be at the Sprague Theater, 15 W. Walworth St., Elkhorn, at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 27. Tickets are $15.
Tickets available at East Troy House and www.brownpapertickets.com For more information, call 262-441-0280.
Nugent encouraged everyone to give something different a try and take a step back in time.
“It was the Golden Age of Radio and people used to sit around radio and listen to stories as a family. I’ve heard it called the ‘theater of the mind’ because people had to visualize the story in their head. Stretch you imagination,” she said.
