Pitt-Greensburg Fall Theatre Production Review

On Nov. 2, I went to see Pitt-Greensburg’s Fall Theatre Production, “War of the Worlds” and “The Day the Earth Stood Still”. These two plays are Sci-Fi alien invasion plays that were performed in the style of radio plays, which are basically like live reads of a script, including costumes and sets.

 I had never seen a radio play before, and it was really cool to see something so different. The stage was set up like a broadcasting station of the early-mid 1900s, which is when the two stories were meant to take place. The actors all dressed in 1940s-1950s style clothing, and some even performed in a “Mid-Atlantic” accent. There was live piano music during the performance and the intermission. Live sound effects were used, such as doors opening or guns firing.

The first play was an adaptation of “War of the Worlds” by Orson Welles in 1938. It was originally a radio play set up to be like a live broadcast of the alien invasion, almost like found footage. 

When the original broadcast debuted, listeners actually believed it was happening, and after watching the show, it was easy to see why. The way that it was written and performed was really convincing. It seemed like it was a normal, everyday broadcast gone wrong. The play recounted the arrival of a strange outer space object in rural New Jersey. First thought to be a strange meteor, the object turns out to be a spaceship holding alien life. The aliens emerge and incinerate the observers with a heat ray. 

Soon dozens more ships fall from the sky and land all across America and the Martians’ giant war machines begin killing earthlings. Soon after that, a break from the “news reporting” takes place and is replaced with a narrative style segment, following a professor who survived the attack. After some travels, the professor comes across a swarm of crows around a cliff. Looking down, he finds the dead bodies of the Martians, killed by simple Earth bacteria that their systems weren’t accustomed to. 

“The Day the Earth Stood Still” was the second play of the double-feature. It began with the alien, Klaatu, arriving in Washington D.C. with the robot, Gort. Klaatu is shot upon leaving his spaceship, complete with a prop gun firing up at the ceiling, and is taken to a hospital. However, he quickly recovers and escapes his hospital room, causing unease and panic that there is now an alien with unknown motivations running around D.C. Klaatu adopts the name Mr. Carpenter and stays at a boarding house, meeting two of its inhabitants, Helen Benson, and her son Bobby.

Bobby takes Klaatu for a tour around D.C. and eventually ends up at scientist Professor Barnhardt’s home, who Klaatu wants to speak with regarding his mission, still hinting that the  Earth was in some kind of terrible danger. The vagueness of Klaatu’s stated purpose intrigued me and having never seen the original The Day the Earth Stood Still, I still had no idea what it really was. 

Anyways, The professor is out, so Bobby and Klaatu leave, but not before Klaatu solves one of the professor’s complex scientific equations left unfinished on his blackboard, which interests the professor after he gets home and discovers it and he calls Klaatu back to his home to discuss the alien’s motivations. 

Klaatu explains that other alien planets are concerned about their safety due to humanity’s hostility and newfound atomic power. Klaatu vaguely indicates that humanity’s continued hostility would cause its destruction and the professor agrees to gather a group of scientists to hear Klaatu’s message for the sake of the Earth. The professor requests that Klaatu displays this power that he holds in a non-destructive way so they know what they are working with and Klaatu agrees.

Klaatu then breaks back into the spaceship using Gort, the robot, unaware that Bobby has followed him. Bobby then tells Helen what he had seen, but she believed that he had dreamt it. However, Tom Stevens, Helen’s boyfriend, is more convinced and keeps what Bobby said in mind.

The next day, Klaatu meets up with Helen at her work, after learning that Bobby knows his true identity. After a brief conversation, Helen suggests that they leave, since she is on her lunch break now, and they enter the elevator together. 

Keeping his word to Professor Barnhardt, Klaatu uses the power that he talked about earlier, shutting down all electrical machines and equipment for half an hour, excluding essential equipment like airplanes or medical devices, giving the play its name. I like when things are called something and then that something happens. I know it’s going to happen, but it’s fun to point at the screen like a toddler and think “Yeah! Like the name of the show!”

While the Earth is standing still, Klaatu and Helen are stuck in the elevator. Klaatu explains to Helen his purpose of visiting Earth and asks that if anything happens to him, that Helen runs to Gort and says the phrase “Klaatu barada nikto.” She agrees and heads to her home, finding Tom and asking him not to reveal Klaatu’s secret. Tom does not listen, however, and calls the Pentagon to send troops to kill Klaatu. The troops eventually find Klaatu and kill him, which I really didn’t expect to happen. 

Remembering his words, Helen runs to Gort and says the alien phrase, triggering Gort to retrieve Klaatu’s body and return it to the spaceship. Gort is able to temporarily revive Klaatu and Klaatu delivers his final message to the world, revealing the true intentions that I had been wondering about since the two of them arrived. 

Klaatu explains that other alien planets have combined their forces to create unstoppable, destructive machines, Gort being one of them, to keep the peace on Earth. If any hostility or violence is detected, then the machines will start to eliminate all life on Earth. Klaatu leaves the people of Earth with this final message:

“Your choice is simple: join us and live in peace or pursue your present course and face obliteration. We shall be waiting for your answer.”

Then, Klaatu disappeared into the sky forever…

As he disappeared into the sky, this concluded the production that was out of this world, literally.

Cast:

Owen Seemann…..Orson Welles/Professor Pierson, etc.

Marris Sobatka…..Reporter Phillips/Narrator, etc.

Maxwell Moszkowicz…..Announcer Two/Tom Stevens, etc.

Constance Taesch…..Introduction Announcer/Mrs. Crocket, etc.

Cyrus Bartholomew…..Announcer Three/Klaatu, etc.

Liz Alacce…..General Smith/Helen Benson, etc.

Mark Lewis…..Mr. Wilmuth/Stranger, etc.

Sydney McLaughlin…..Foley artist/Bobby

Brianna Bicker…..Foley artist

Matthew Klumpp…..Pianist

Jordan Pastor…..Understudy