'War of the Worlds' tops Halloween double bill of Pitt-Greensburg science fiction plays

An attack by Martian invaders, dramatized for anxious listeners 85 years ago, will be staged beginning Tuesday as part of a Halloween double bill of science fiction radio plays at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg.

The Pitt-Greensburg Theatre Company will perform Orson Welles’ “The War of the Worlds” and “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” by Edmund H. North, at Ferguson Theater in Smith Hall on the university’s Hempfield campus.

Performances will continue through Friday, beginning at 7:30 p.m. each day. Each play will run about 50 minutes, separated by a 15-minute intermission.

Those attending Tuesday’s performance are invited to wear a Halloween costume.

Originally broadcast on Oct. 30, 1938 by Welles’ troupe of radio actors on CBS radio stations, “The War of the Worlds” play was based on H.G. Wells’ 1898 novel and was written by “Casablanca” screenwriter Howard Koch, according to an article by Christopher Klein on history.com.

An example of “fake news” that was presented as such, for entertainment purposes, the play fooled many who tuned in while the broadcast was in progress and missed a disclaimer at the beginning.

“I want people to put themselves in the shoes of the original listeners of the program and think about how they would have felt if they switched on the radio and heard a news report that aliens were invading,” said Christina Allaback, Pitt-Greensburg’s theater director. “Halloween is about being spooked, and that is what ‘War of the Worlds’ is all about.”

“The Day the Earth Stood Still,” also about an alien invasion, has additional political significance, Allaback indicated. “These are old plays, yet they still have significance to our world today,” she said.

Tickets cost $5 and are available at the door or in advance, at bit.ly/PITT-GBG-THEATER-TICKETS.

Admission is free for high school students with their school ID and for children under age 14 accompanied by an adult with a ticket.