DRAMATIC HOURS IN COLONIAL HISTORY

The Tree
That Saved Connecticut

BY

HENRY FISK CARLTON

Edited by CLAIRE T. ZYVE, Ph.D.
Fox Meadow School, Scarsdale, New York

BUREAU OF PUBLICATIONS
TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
NEW YORK CITY

HOW TO BE A GOOD RADIO ACTOR

The play in this book has actually been produced on the radio. Possiblyyou have listened to this one when you tuned in at home. Thepersons whose voices you heard as you listened, looked just as they didwhen they left their homes to go to the studio, although they weretaking the parts of men and women who lived long ago and who worecostumes very different from the ones we wear today.

The persons whose voices you heard stood close together around themicrophone, each one reading from a copy of the play in his hand.Since they could not be seen, they did not act parts as in other plays,but tried to make their voices show how they felt.

When you give these plays you will not need costumes and you willnot need scenery, although you can easily arrange a broadcasting studioif you wish. You will not need to memorize your parts; in fact, itwill not be like a real radio broadcast if you do so, and, furthermore,you will not want to, since you will each have a copy of the book inyour hands. All you will need to do is to remember that you are takingthe part of a radio actor, that you are to read your speeches very distinctly,and that by your voice, you will make your audience understandhow you feel. In this way, you will have the fun of livingthrough some of the great moments of history.

HOW TO FOLLOW DIRECTIONS IN THE PLAY

There are some directions in this play which may be new to you, butthese are necessary, for you are now in a radio broadcasting studio,talking in front of a microphone. The word [in] means that thecharacter is standing close to the microphone, while [off] indicates thathe is farther away, so that his voice sounds faint. When the directions[off, coming in] are given, the person speaking is away from the microphoneat first but gradually comes closer. The words [mob] or [crowdnoise] you will understand mean the sound of many people talking inthe distance.

Both the English and the dialect used help make the characters live,so the speeches have been written in the way in which these men andwomen would talk. This means that sometimes the character may usewhat seems to you unusual English. The punctuation helps, too, tomake the speeches sound like real conversation; for example, you willfind that a dash is often used to show that a character is talking veryexcitedly.

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