Comedy on The Air
Directed by: Steve Brigden
Visiting the Golden Age of radio comedy, etc theatre presents the best of the gags and giggles from shows such as The Goons, ITMA, Round the Horne and Band Wagon. All the atmosphere of a live studio recording from Alexandra Palace complete with sound effects, silly voices and running jokes. Two hours of nostalgic mirth and complete buffoonery.
"Are you going to come quietly, or do I have to use earplugs?" - Spike Milligan
Register Interest
Auditions will be held Saturday 20th April 2-4:30pm at the Hub at the Open University.
etc's production at the Arches in 2024 is Comedy on the Air. A sample of Radio Comedy sketches from the annuls of Round the Horne, The Goons, ITMA, and many more will be delivered over microphones to a seated audience. To be directed by Stephen Brigden this production is looking for four or five talented actors, type non-specific, gender non-specific, who can sing a song, who delight in creating absurd and comic characters or who have an ability to impersonate stars of yester-year. In addition we will also need a prop man/woman to provide sound effects.
Rehearsals will feature workshops in vocal development, comic delivery, improvisation and microphone technique. There will be focussed work on scripts to master an impactful delivery but actors will be asked not to learn their lines by rote. Scripts will be read during performance and may change each night.
Radio shows from the 1930s to the present day have been a fountain of laughter which has yielded a vast catalogue of entertaining material. Comedy on the Air focusses on the 1960’s radio shows so an awareness of popular personalities of the period will inform much of the comedy. We aim to preserve the tradition of these shows and have as much fun creating the performances as the audience eventually enjoy.
Rehearsals will begin in May. Production week will be from August 4th to 10th. If the production is successful we may well select a few more locations to perform the production again.