The Evolution of Radio Drama: Characteristics and Examples

Until about a century ago, there were no moving pictures to entertain the masses—so the entertainment industry used sounds instead.

Radios were the supreme form of media back then, and some of their most popular programs were radio dramas. These were purely acoustic performances that conveyed dramatic stories and were broadcast on-air or distributed through audio media, such as CDs and tape.

With no visual elements, radio dramas relied exclusively on dialogue, music, and sound effects to deliver their stories. While most of these stories were plays specifically written for radio, radio stations also utilized docudramas and adapted theatre into their radio dramas.

Characteristics of Radio Drama

Radio drama has the same building blocks as a stage play. The difference is that since these elements are executed as radio dramas, they can’t convey visual information, so listeners need audio cues to help them imagine an accurate picture.

1. Characters

Radio drama often has fewer characters than stage productions because it’s difficult for listeners to keep track of characters when they cannot see them. It’s also harder to distinguish characters by voice alone.

This requires characters to have distinctive voices. Their age, emotions, social background, personal history, and ethnicity must be clearly communicated to you. For example, a British aristocrat must not only have a British accent, but also use and enunciate words the way the upper class would.

2. Action

Since you cannot see what is happening in the story, actions must then be communicated through dialogue and sound effects. Characters in radio dramas frequently describe what they’re doing or what they’re seeing.

For example, in a stage play, a fight scene is acted out through movement and doesn’t need many sound effects to emphasize the scene. In a radio drama, fight scenes are often accompanied by grunts, smacks, and any other sound effect that conveys a sense of the fight. Sometimes an inner monologue from one of the characters is used for a play-by-play commentary about the fight.

An advantage radio dramas have over stage plays is the limit of how an action is conveyed in the story. Radio dramas can easily portray characters swimming under the ocean, leaping over buildings, or any other actions that stage productions would normally consider impractical due to budget or equipment constraints.

3. Dialogue

Dialogue is perhaps the most important element in a radio drama. It conveys the setting, the character’s thoughts and emotions, their actions, and how they react to what’s happening around them.

In a stage play, when a character pulls out a weapon, it’s not necessary to say “Look out! He’s got a knife!” as the audience can see what is happening. A radio play cannot skip this line, as it conveys to the listener a character’s action and another character’s reaction. It also implies impending violence that is necessary to the story’s context.

Dialogue is also essential in identifying audio effects. Without visual context, the sound of an engine can easily be that of a car, a truck, or any type of vehicle. When a character, through dialogue, identifies the sound as that of a car, it helps you form a better picture of the scenario.

Dialogue can also convey the proximity of a character. Voice actors often stand near the mic or away from it to differentiate being near or far from another character. A character’s voice can also be made to sound hollow and mechanical, to sound as if it’s coming through a phone. This signals you that the dialogue is happening through a phone call.

4. Time and Place

Time and place are told through a combination of sound effects, music, and dialogue since there are no stage settings to do so. It’s similar to how Shakesperean plays were acted out. The use of scenery was minimal and actors often told the audience where they were and what time it was.

When establishing an urban scenario, radio dramas often use traffic, construction, and human chatter to create the feeling of being in a city. In contrast, nature sounds are often used to create a rural feel.

Radio dramas can evoke these scenarios better than stage plays as they only need audio elements and your imagination. It is possible to create multiple sets and quickly switch between them by utilizing certain sounds and music elements.

What Is the Most Famous Radio Drama?

Perhaps the most famous (or infamous) radio drama is Orson Welles’s War of the Worlds, a radio adaptation of his popular novel. In 1938, the radio drama aired as part of Welles’s The Mercury Theatre on the Air series. It was made to closely resemble a news broadcast in order to sound realistic.

The opening announcement was the only part that contained a warning that the broadcast was a work of fiction. Many people who missed this part believed that what was being narrated was real, leading to widespread panic.

The broadcast was met with much outrage. Broadcasters as a whole were demonized and calls for regulation were strongly supported. This event cemented Welles’s reputation as a dramatist.

You can listen to the original broadcast below:

The Current State of Radio Drama

Radio drama started to become popular in the 1920s and reached its peak popularity during the 1940s. However, the advent of television in the 1950s effectively stopped its growth, although it still remained a popular form of entertainment.

It stayed in that frozen status until the internet brought us new ways to listen to old media. Old and new radio programs are now available through internet downloads, providing radio drama with a new platform to prosper in. Internet radio reduced the need to tune in at a certain time to listen to your favorite radio dramas.

With the internet being a popular and fairly affordable platform, it became easier to acquire the necessary materials to create a radio drama. People could now afford to take chances with unknown writers, actors, and producers. Even those with extremely limited budgets could do one with just a computer, a mic, and a quiet place for recording.

Podcasts can be made with minimal equipment

This led to the creation of the podcast: an episodic digital audio series that centers on a specific theme or subject. Listeners can simply download the episodes or subscribe to an app to listen to the podcast.

This new format, much like blogs and vlogs, has become an extremely successful avenue for creativity. Though many of these podcasts are commentaries, a lot of them are fictional stories much like radio dramas.

Podcasts embody radio dramas through the use of audio elements to create a concrete and entertaining story within your mind. The advantage they have over radio dramas is their use of storytelling methods that intentionally blur reality from fiction, making you feel as if you’re part of the story itself.

A great example of a successful podcast is Welcome to Night Vale, an independently created radio drama featuring the many strange occurrences within the fictional town. It’s one of the most successful podcasts ever, with more than 200 million downloads, many accolades, and has since expanded into books and television. You can find more great story podcasts here.

What Makes a Good Radio Drama?

The best radio dramas always deliver strong narratives to make up for the lack of visual elements. The story must engage the listener’s imagination with just a few lines, enticing them to finish the drama in full. These quality plots must then be emphasized with a mixture of good acting, sound effects, and music.

However, great radio dramas also rely on the simplicity of their stories. Too many themes, subplots, and characters can muddle the story. Without visual context to base on, your listeners will easily get confused.

Whether tragic or comic, great storylines will always keep the audience from leaving. The key is in making these stories shine without adding too many elements that could disrupt their meaning.

What’s your favorite radio drama? Share it in the comments below!

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