Ekleticgoodies

Mercury Theater on the Air’s

Bram Stoker's

Dracula

Produced, directed, scripted by Orson Welles

Starring Orson Welles, Elizabeth Farrell

Written by Bram Stoker

There have been many adaptations of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but one of the closest to the original novel is Dracula directed by Orson Welles the little-known radio drama, which aired on July 11, 1938.

This was first of these radio dramas from the Mercury Theater on the Air's productions founded by Orson Welles and John Houseman.

The audio drama is presented in the form of diary readings and newspaper clippings, much as in the book. The radio drama is only an hour long, with much of that dialogue is straight from the book, Dracula's in particular, Orson Welles manages to bring a desperate intensity to his portrayal of Dr. Seward, wanting desperately to convince his audience of events even he can scarcely believe, despite his having witnessed and participated in them. Welles's performance as Dracula is even more powerful; the deep, accented voice he assumes for the character fully conveying Dracula's dark majesty and malevolence.

Terrific performances by Orson Welles and his supporting cast  makes this an all time classic!

The Mercury Theatre on the Air, a show featuring the acclaimed New York drama company founded by Orson Welles and John Houseman. In its brief run, it featured an impressive array of talents, including Agnes Moorehead, Bernard Herrmann, and George Coulouris. The show is famous for its notorious War of the Worlds broadcast, but the other shows in the series are relatively unknown.

The show first broadcast on CBS and CBC in July 1938. It ran without a sponsor until December of that year, when it was picked up by Campbell’s Soup and renamed The Campbell Playhouse.

Approximate play time of 1 hour.