Norm Smith and Brian Lianglais of the Pend Oreille Players Association entered the KPBX studio to talk with E.J. Iannelli about their upcoming live radio play of War of the Worlds.
Although H.G. Wells' seminal work of sci-fi has been popular enough to remain in print ever since it was published in 1897, the 1938 radio adaptation by Orson Welles has also achieved a certain level of notoriety. Famously, listeners mistook Welles' fictional Halloween broadcast to be an actual live news report of an alien invasion.
The Pend Oreille Players will be staging a live recreation of the Welles radio play on October 14 and 15, 2022. Lianglais is directing. Tickets are available for both in-house seats as well as streaming.
The Newport-based radio station KUBS will be recording their performance of War of the Worlds and rebroadcasting it on Halloween night. Lianglais and Smith said they also plan to relocate the New Jersey setting of Welles' adaptation to the Inland Northwest for one elementary school performance.
Both members also briefly outlined the Pend Oreille Players Association's many other activities, including their One-Act Play Festival, their New Play Workshop and their Raise the Roof campaign. T-Mobile has already donated $48,000 to their ongoing facility improvements.
