Radio That Cried War

Vena Cava's 2024 production of 'Radio That Cried War' Directed by Spooky and Bek Rasmussen.

For this production I was the Assistant Costume Designer.

Based on the 1938 ‘The War Of The Worlds’ broadcast, this piece tells the story of the people of New York who were later reported as victims of mass hysteria due to the time of the broadcast coinciding with their deaths. In reality, there was no hysteria, or any that did exist was very minimal.

Instead, it was the work of disgruntled journalists at The New York Times and other newspapers that manipulated the story to paint radio as inaccurate and inherently dangerous.

While Orson Welles, the actors of The Mercury Theatre and the executives at CBS were under the impression that it was the power of their own words that provoked the public, it was instead the power of punchy headlines and libel.