Mass Media and Strategic Communication radio production class will present Inner Sanctum’s The Undead on Tuesday, Oct. 31, at 3 p.m.
Mass Media and Strategic Communication offers a radio production class each fall. A live radio drama at UT Martin has happened annually since the fall of 2001. When Dr. Richard Robinson, a UT Martin radio professor, decides on the live drama for the class production, he considers the class size and the gender of the students, which will usually dictate what play the class will perform. The selected radio production is based on what is available in the public domain so the school does not have to pay royalties.
Past dramas performed by Robison’s class have been: Sorry, Wrong Number; War of Worlds; Dial M for Murder; Dracula; Batman; Superman; and Gunsmoke, to name a few. Most of the plays are from the Inner Sanctum radio show that aired on radio from January 1941 to October 1952. Most plays that UT Martin radio students perform are horror or thriller-themed since the radio show production will be around Halloween.
When Robinson was asked why his class performed a live play, he said there were three reasons he had the class perform a live drama. Television was not the primary source of entertainment; radio and phonograph was. Students learn how to paint a picture with the words they spoke so that the audience will feel like they are at that place and time in their minds. The second reason is that students must work together for a successful production. If there is no teamwork, then the production will suffer, and the audience will notice it. The third reason is that students need to learn to work under pressure. Radio announcing is usually live. Radio announcers announce football games live and at remote locations, if they are disc jockeys at a radio station.
