Live radio drama revived in Australia

Many of you will fondly remember the glory days of live radio drama when the wireless ruled the airwaves.

In Australia the voices of legendary performers such as Leonard Teale, Queenie Ashton, Thelma Scott, Gwen Plumb and Michael Pate came through those magical valves as they warmed up and allowed the listener to escape in to another world. The advent of television brought the days of the Lux Radio Theatre and serials such as Blue Hills to an abrupt end, but for the past four years the residents of Castle Hill in New South Wales, Australia have been able to experience the thrill of this unique art form thanks to the efforts of Radio Active Live.

Radio Active Live recreate those magical days by presenting plays written specifically for radio before a live audience, remember before television people would travel from far and wide to watch specially staged Sunday readings of radio plays. So for the lucky residents of Castle Hill those pioneering days are back once more, and as every performance to date has been a sell-out it’s clear that the efforts of this enterprising radio theatre are greatly appreciated.

Amongst the core cast of performers is Stephen Comey, best known to television viewers as Kevin Palmer from the drama serial Sons & Daughters, a role which secured him the 1982 Logie Award for Most Popular New Talent. Stephen has also appeared in other hit television programmes including Cop Shop, the children’s series Come Midnight Monday, Home & Away, and The Flying Doctors which is now available on DVD from Crawford DVD in Australia and Eaton Films in the UK.

Radio Active Live have just announced their next season which will feature three short and hilariously funny plays. The first two are Bing Bong! which involves two lovers at an airport who have something vitally important to say to each other but are constantly being interrupted, and The Offence which is about a group of actors who get together to rehearse a play. The third piece being presented, It’s All About Orson, has been specifically written for the company by Greg Bepper.

Greg will be best remembered by British audiences for playing Owen Brooke in Sons & Daughters, but his other credits include starring as Dean Howard in Australia’s first teen soap Class of 74 and the follow on series Class of 75. He played Hoffman in Glenview High, and Joey Fellows in Arcade which was a soap opera about the customers and staff of a modern indoor shopping centre. More recently he has appeared in A Country Practice, GP and All Saints. As well as continuing to act he has worked as a drama teacher, has had plenty of success as a playwright and runs Thunderbolt Theatre & Film Productions which produces new, Australian orientated work.

Greg says, “It’s All About Orson came about more as a challenge than divine inspiration when Steve Comey contacted me after reading one of my comedy stage plays Right as Rainbows. He asked if I had ever written a radio play, and as it had been over thirty years since I penned my last one, I took up the challenge.

“After viewing the videos of Radio Active Live, and loving the whole concept of a live audience watching a radio play just as it was back in the day, my path was clear. I decided this play would be about the heyday of Australian radio broadcasting and the darlings of the airwaves that were household names.”

It’s All About Orson is set in 1947. We meet Clifford Windsor, a second rate actor, and the self-absorbed actress, Mildred Pearson, who was once his unhappy wife. Now divorced, they continue their estranged, love-hate relationship, in the studio on a popular ABC Radio programme called Wombat Willie. Every recording session becomes a battleground of quick quips, putdowns and one-liners, which add to the growing stress of the shows. Meanwhile Samuel, the producer of Wombat Willie, is embroiled in an ongoing battle with the censorship board. However it’s not all fire and brimstone, as Clifford and Mildred share a common admiration for the American radio trailblazer Orson Welles, an admiration which has become an obsession for Mildred and which has guided her waning career for a decade.

Radio Active Live will be presenting It’s All About Orson, Bing Bong! and The Offence at the elegant Hills Lodge Hotel in Castle Hill, NSW, Australia on Sunday 19th June (3-5pm), and on Sunday 26th June (11am-1pm, then again from 3-5pm). Tickets cost just A$27.50 and include light refreshments, as well as the potential chance to meet Greg Bepper who will be in attendance for one of the performances. I would urge you to book early to avoid disappointment by emailing radioactivelive@outlook.com or by calling 0402 003355 (a local Australian number). In the meantime you can check out some of the radio theatres previous work on their YouTube Channel.

Photographs: Top: Radio Active Live Logo. Copyright Radio Active Live.
Second Top: Stephen Comey as Kevin Palmer in Sons & Daughters. Copyright Grundy Organization/FremantleMedia.

Middle: Stephen Comey and Anette Dix performing a live radio play. Copyright Radio Active Live.
Bottom: Main Photo: The actor and playwright Greg Bepper, photo by Kate Hall. Inset: Greg Bepper as Dean Howard in Class of 74/Class of 75. Copyright Grundy Organization/FremantleMedia.