Old-time radio drama comes to Dunwoody

DeKalb Neighbor Staff Writer

The crash of the sea, the cry of the gulls-sounds of an idyllic beach holiday. The only thing marring this peaceful soundscape is a persistent chant-a whisper at first.

"What is the law? What is the law?"

Slowly, steadily, it grows in volume and intensity until suddenly, a blood-curlding scream rings out, ending the mantra at its peak.

And then, silence.

So begins the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company's award-winning audio theater presentation of H.G. Wells' "The Island of Dr. Moreau," adapted for audio by Thomas E. Fuller.

Performing, recording and broadcasting in the tradition of old-time radio dramas for over 20 years in DeKalb County, the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company is bringing its own brand of sci-fi terror to the Stage Door Players in Dunwoody Oct. 28 and 29-just in time for Halloween.

"We normally have a main stage performance running through October but nothing was ever themed for the holiday," said Stage Door Players Artistic Director Robert Egizio, who recently cemented a partnership with the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company.

Egizio's theater is now the permanent home for the Atlanta Radio Theater Company, performing several live shows during a season.

Specializing in what it terms "theater of the mind," the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company will perform a series of eerie tales in honor of Halloween, where sound has a starring role.

The featured presentation of its upcoming "Into the Labyrinth" show is "Throne of Shadows" written by Thomas E. Fuller. Set in 1920s Mexico, it tells the tale of a deposed empress whose fanatical delusions are so vivid they conquer reality and drag others into her insanity.

The Atlanta Radio Theatre Company's performance of "Into the Labyrinth," will be at the Stage Door Players Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. and Oct. 29 at 2:30 p.m.

Tickets will be $10.

Information: www.artc.org.

The lack of costumes and set forces the audience to bend their imaginations.

"The words set up the sound effects but then, it is all in [the audience's] mind," said Bill Ritch, sound engineer, writer and director for the company, whose production of Robert Heinlein's "The Menace from Earth" won the prestigious 2004 Mark Time Award for best adaptation.

Slowly broken celery simulates cracking bones; watermelons stand in for humans and vampires being stabbed or staked; and a bag of grapefruits dropped on the hood of car sounds surprisingly like a body falling to a spaceship floor. These are all tricks and treats of the sound effects trade.

"I get to try and figure out what makes the sound without actually using the real thing," said Chamblee Tucker resident Sonya Arundar, a one-time sound board operator for the company who now acts as a Foley, or sound effects, artist.

"We try for a little more realistic sounds than movies, but we still have to give the customers what they expect," said Ritch who has donated his Stone Mountain basement as a rehearsal area for the past 15 years.

The Atlanta Radio Theatre Company's performance of "Into the Labyrinth," will be at the Stage Door Players, 5339 Chamblee Dunwoody Road, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. and Oct. 29 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets will be $10.

Information: www.artc.org.