Arkansas Radio Theatre, a project of the Arkansas Tech University Department of Communication and Journalism, is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a new resource for those who wish to indulge in the theatre of the mind.
Archived broadcasts of the series “Concealed Carrie: Diamond State Crime Fighter” as well as performances of additional original material, classic literature and seasonal favorites are among the options available to visitors at blogs.atu.edu/radiotheatre.
“This increased internet presence of the Arkansas Radio Theatre is very important,” said Dr. David Eshelman, associate professor of communication, director of the ATU theatre program and founder of Arkansas Radio Theatre. “You can now go to this site and listen to our shows anywhere around the world. I think radio theatre has become cutting edge again. Each broadcast is an MP3 file. In this digital format, each show can take its place in the world of podcasting.”
Arkansas Radio Theatre has produced more than 60 shows providing over 400 opportunities for student actors, writers and directors to hone their craft since it was founded in 2007. The first broadcast in November of that year was a play based on an Arthur Conan Doyle story “Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb.”
Eshelman points to “Tomorrow’s a New Day,” a four-episode soap opera written by 2011 ATU graduate Aaron Wallis, and “Vim and Vigor” and “Trees Hate Us,” which were featured in Liminalities, the online journal of the Performance Studies Division of the National Communication Association, as among the highlights in Arkansas Radio Theatre history.
“As far as I know, the Arkansas Radio Theatre is unique in the state…if not the nation,” said Eshelman. “Students benefit from audio-only performance opportunities because memorization and stage movement are not required…and because mistakes can be edited out, the Arkansas Radio Theatre provides opportunities for individuals who might not have time for more traditional theatre. As for our theatre majors, it gives them a taste of something like film acting. Instead of ‘going on with the show,’ actors learn to respond to the interruptions of the director. They also learn to trust the director, who does a lot of work post-production, as in film and television.”
Fall 2017’s schedule of performances includes two new episodes of “Concealed Carrie: Diamond State Crime Fighter.”
“When a student is cast as a continuing role in ‘Concealed Carrie,’ he or she gets to work on that role over the course of several years,” said Eshelman. “Furthermore, the show gave students an opportunity to create episodes for a continuing series (episodes eight and nine were written by students)…an opportunity rare outside the world of television.”
Arkansas Radio Theatre doubles as a service project. Since 2010, the organization has had a partnership with the Arkansas Information Reading Service (AIRS). Through this arrangement, shows are made available to the visually impaired throughout the state.
Performances of Arkansas Radio Theatre are broadcast each Saturday at 7 p.m. on KXRJ 91.9 FM in Russellville.
Learn more about the ATU Department of Communication and Journalism.
