Radio audiences should expect raised heart rates and neck hair when they tune in to a new production featuring Baldwin Wallace University students.
In
a
nod
to
"the
golden
age
of
radio
plays,"
BW
students
and
faculty
are
collaborating
with
Cleveland's
Radio
on
the
Lake
Theatre
to
produce
and
star
in
audio-only
dramas
for
the
professional
company's
"CreakerBox
Radio"
series.
"The House that Bleeds," penned by BW creative writing major Lindsay Alfonsi '23 as part of Dr. Les Hunter's playwriting class, is the first BW student-authored piece chosen to be produced by the professional company.
Hunter describes his student's work as a "psychological-horror genre play about amateur ghost hunters in a house that may - or may not - be haunted."
The play will air in two parts on WON: The Apple in Brooklyn, New York on Friday, April 29 and Friday, May 6 at 7 p.m. and in its entirety on Baldwin Wallace's own WBWC 88.3 FM: The Sting on Sunday, May 1 at 5 p.m.
Playwright
Alfonsi
wove
in
"pop
culture
references
and
created
a
modern
twist
on
the
classic
haunted
house
story"
for
"The
House
that
Bleeds."
"The most terrifying aspect of the play was a very vivid image in my head," Alfonsi recalls. "In the process of writing, I would lay in bed at night, and that creepy, compelling image would pop into my mind."
Alfonsi, a community college transfer, had never written a play before taking Hunter's class but was intrigued by the option to pitch her work to Radio on the Lake Theatre.
"Why would I not want my play produced?" they ask. "I came up with a good idea for the final class project, and after the semester ended, with pointers from Professor Hunter, I worked on several rounds of revisions and submitted it for consideration."
Now, the work is part of the "CreakerBox Radio" series, which pays homage to the great supernatural, horror and science fiction radio plays that held audiences spellbound in the '30s, '40s and '50s.
BW
theatre
professor
Heidi
Harris,
who
sits
on
the
board
of
Radio
on
the
Lake
Theatre,
sought
out
the
opportunity
for
her
BW
acting
students,
and
they've
been
recording
"CreakerBox
Radio"
scripts
since
fall
2020.
"At that time, the partnership provided safe performance and directing opportunities when the pandemic had shut down many theatres," Harris explains.
"But the radio plays also build confidence as students focus exclusively on the voice," she adds. "Audio-only work also adds a resume experience that can lead to voicing books on tape, as well as podcast and radio dramas."
Caroline
Breder-Watts,
executive
director
of
"Radio
on
the
Lake
Theatre,"
says,
"The
company
has
enjoyed
recreating
classic
plays,
but
the
'CreakerBox'
series
and
others
are
now
focused
on
featuring
new
plays
and
new
voices."
Hunter previously collaborated with the company to produce his original, choose-your-own-adventure audio story, "Under the Sycamores," about the fascinating lives of Clevelanders buried in the historic Erie Street Cemetery.
Breder-Watts co-founded the theatre company in Florida (under another name) with her husband, John Watts, who serves as the Theatre's artistic director.
The two have been in Northeast Ohio since 2017, delighted by the "rich, diverse and supportive arts community" they found here.
According to Breder-Watts, the theatre company is devoted to radio as a medium but plans to make this play and all plays written or directed by BW students available on their website to widen the exposure for the young artists.
