Pupils at Darrick Wood School in Orpington have recorded an audio drama using techniques first pioneered nearly one hundred years ago. In a nod to classic radio plays like Orson Welles’s 'War of the Worlds' (broadcast live in 1938) pupils at the school recorded a new drama under the direction of former pupil Thomas Cridland.

Cridland, winner of the 2022 BBC Sounds Rising Star Young Audio Award, is currently a student at the London Screen Academy but has maintained a strong link with his former school - and suggested the idea of recording an audio drama ‘as live’ using the school’s Blackbox Theatre Company.

Explaining his reasons for wanting to make the play he said, “I’ve wanted to record something like this ever since I heard about the famous War of The Worlds radio broadcast’” where it had been said that “people tuning in really believed that aliens were invading the planet.” For Tom it was a brilliant example of how audio can be a powerful tool for storytellers.  

The audio was recorded over the course of one hour and made using of a number of student actors recreating a French lesson and then preparing to depart on a school trip to the continent. Other members of the group were tasked with deploying various sound effects on cue. 

Tom explains that the experience was fun for everyone involved, and “surprisingly all went to plan – it sounds really great and quite real,” stating this was because the actors were able to bounce off of each other and hear the sound effects in the story. However, there was some difficulty in trying to direct everyone involved in the production as everything was recorded in one take. Tom describes how the timing between actors and those making the sound effects, combined with the complexity of multiple microphones and a limited time, “meant that everything had to be choreographed like a dance.”

Later this year Tom will graduate from the London Screen Academy to start a career in filmmaking, but he is keen to continue working in the audio medium. He says “DWS Audio will always be a great way of experimenting with new ways to tell stories through sound, for the next generation of creatives in film, TV and radio.”

The play, called ‘Procrastination’, follows the story of a lazy pupil – Jerry – who will be barred from going on a school trip if he does not complete his homework. If you want to find out what happens to Jerry then you can listen to the play on Darrick Wood School’s audio blog (www.dwsaudio.drarrickwood.co.uk).