PNW’s Theatre performed a recreation of two 1940s style radio shows: “The War of the Worlds” and “The 39 Steps.”

The show opened on Sept. 30 at the Canterbury Theatre in Michigan City and played through the weekend. The last performance was held at PNW in the LSF building, Room 002 on Oct. 6.

Bethany Lee, assistant professor of English, and Donna Rowland, limited term lecturer of communication, directed the theatre performance this fall. Lee said that she wanted to do something different than previous performances and was inspired by the 1930s to 1940s period pieces.

Lee said “The War of the Worlds” was based on a book about Martians invading Earth. When it was first broadcasted on the radio, many people during that time believed that Martians were actually invading Earth and panic arose.

Niel Jacoby, cast member and senior, said “The War of the Worlds” was the first radio show of its style.

“It uses the form of news radio to deliver an apocalyptic horror tale about Martians invading the New York/New Jersey area. ‘The 39 Steps’ is a conspiracy thriller, but in a more broad comedic style than you usually see nowadays,” Jacoby said.

According to Lee, “The 39 Steps” is a book about a guy who meets a beautiful freelance spy named Annabella while staying in London. Annabella informs Hannay, a civilian, about a secret plot to smuggle information out of the country and she is looking for shelter to hide. Annabella gives him clues about the plot just before she is shot and killed. Hannay flees when Annabella’s body is found, and the police assume he was the murderer. Hannay continues his search for answers on the run, and his name is cleared with help from a woman named Pamela.

Each cast member played a variety of roles during the performances. They collaborated together to bring this 1940s style radio show to life by demonstrating real life sound effects and improvising while on stage.

Caitlyn Heim, cast member and junior, said, “The biggest challenge so far is getting all the props, because we make all of the noises ourselves.”

Heim’s favorite show is “The 39 Steps.” She said that it is very fun and light-hearted whereas “The War of the Worlds” was more scary and spooky.

Cody Hendershott, cast member and senior, said his favorite part of the performance was Jacoby’s improvising. Jacoby’s John Wayne impression almost made Hendershott break character during the performance.

“I have done a few plays in the past, nothing recently, but since we have our scripts with us on stage, it’s kind of like you don’t really need to get yourself fully into character. It is mostly just like a voice role as opposed to full body acting,” Hendershott said.

The double feature made the audience laugh, but also gave a realistic view of what an actual radio performance was like back in the 1930s to 1940s.