The Play’s the Thing

In 2009, the members of the legacy AFTRA's Seniors Caucus put their heads together to honor the union's oldest jurisdiction: The radio play. It didn't take long before the Radio Players Committee — today known as the SAG-AFTRA Radio Players Committee — was born, with 16 dedicated members and one musician manning the helm and putting on two-day performances in the Frank Maxwell Room.

The rest, as they say, is history. Since that time, SARP’s work has moved from 5757 Wilshire to the Wells Fargo Theater at the Autry Museum of the American West, located in Griffith Park, and has piqued the interest of 100–150 actors who come ready to volunteer their time toward putting together amazing shows. 
And then came the novel coronavirus.

When the pandemic seized the world, the SARP waited only six weeks before they met virtually to create their next show, How We Spent Our Pandemic (not to be confused with the traditional school-themed assignment, “How I Spent My Summer Vacation”). With a rush to set up Zoom meetings for all 17 committee members, and a lot of the usual coordination — auditions, notes, run-throughs, dinner and a commemorative group photo — it was time to P-L-A-Y.

The first project, Slowdown, was based on an episode from the Twelve Chimes It’s Midnight podcast. A horror story in the vein of old-time radio shows, it was written and directed by committee member Josh Horowitz and turned out quite nicely. With its success, the decision was then made for the committee to keep doing what they’ve done for the past 10 years, and with some slight adjustments, they’ve made things work on Zoom since then. 

In addition to their ongoing, self-motivated work, they recently entered into an agreement to offer their work to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation. Members will be able to view all radio episodes for free and at their leisure and can also make a contribution to the Foundation. SARP expects to have a dozen radio plays by the end of March, marking the end of the first year of the pandemic. 

So, the play goes on with committee members Michael Carnegie, Kris Frost, Josh Horowitz, Amalisha HuEck, Gai Jones, Andrew Keller, Dana Kelly Jr., Dea McAllister, Jake O’Flaherty, Lee Purcell, Rick Scarry, Susie Tanner, Edwin Telford, James Tripp, David Westberg, Ed Williams and Nancy Wilson at the helm. Click here to learn more about the SAG-AFTRA Radio Play Committee.

By SAG-AFTRA Radio Players Committee members David Westberg and Nancy Wilson for the Los Angeles Local newsletter.

Photo: Cast and crew of the SAG-AFTRA Radio Players’ 2019 holiday performance outside of the Wells Fargo Theater at the Autry Museum of the American West.