Hear Radio Plays of ‘1984’ and ‘The African Queen’  Live on Stage

The sounds of audio plays once captured the imagination of millions of Americans gathered around their living-room radios. A Shaker Heights-based theater company revives that lost art with monthly live performance and has announced its first two shows for 2026.

Radio on the Lake Theatre stages its shows at the historic Dunham Tavern Museum in Cleveland. George Orwell’s dystopian classic 1984 takes the stage Jan. 31, while C.S. Forester’s The African Queen (made famous in the 1951 film starring Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Boart) follows Feb. 28. Orwell’s classic shares the tale of a man fighting an oppressive and reality-bending government, while Forester’s World War I-era tale follows the story of a missionary and boat captain teaming up against German forces.

The shows are staged for one performance only and both begin at 3 p.m. with tickets available in advance at the Radio on the Lake Theatre website.

Relocating from Florida in 2017, Radio on the Lake Theatre is now based in the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights. The group uses audio plays to introduce locals to the art form by way of classes and voice-acting opportunities.

Those who can’t make Radio on the Lake Theatre’s shows in person can always listen to them the old-school ways. The theater company broadcasts its plays on WBWC 88.3 The Sting, the campus radio station of Baldwin Wallace University that can also be heard online. Check the website for air dates of Radio on the Lake Theatre productions.

For more information about Radio on the Lake Theatre performances, visit radioonthelaketheatre.org. 

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