Old-time radio performance: Nero Wolfe and Fibber McGee & Molly

Directed by Karine Brager

Radio Active is a community theater group dedicated to the performance of radio comedies and dramas from the 30s, 40s, and 50s. Our performances are done in a style reminiscent of an old-time radio studio, and feature live music and sound effects.

We'll be performing an episode of THE ADVENTURES OF NERO WOLFE titled "The Shakespeare Case" and a FIBBER MCGEE & MOLLY episode titled "Overdue Library Book".

THE ADVENTURES OF NERO WOLFE, on the air from 1943 to 1951, was based on the novels of Rex Stout. Overweight, a cranky agoraphobic and sedentary gourmet who virtually never leaves his Manhattan brownstone, Nero Wolfe is, in nearly every sense, an armchair detective. And yet, the fat genius and his sharp-eyed assistant (Archie Goodwin) bring down murderers, blackmailers, and wartime traitors. These are men who make a good living at a difficult and dangerous business, not minor lords or churchmen who happened to be at the garden party when the butler was stabbed. Wolfe is an intellectual mercenary. He will always serve the cause of right, but nine times out of ten it will be strictly for money and the tenth case will be a matter of pride or (more rarely) a matter of justice...or perhaps of outright revenge.

From April 16, 1935 to September 6, 1959 one of the best-known addresses in the USA was the home of FIBBER MCGEE AND MOLLY. Fibber's wild ideas and schemes were the basis for the show which usually took place in the living-room at their home. They didn't enjoy quiet evenings alone because there was always a steady stream of visitors, each a character in their own way, who added to the confusion and hilarity of the situation at hand.

Produced by Radio Active at Alicia Ashman Branch, Madison Public Library, 733 N. High Point

Performances: September 22, 2007

Performance Times: Saturday, 2 p.m.

Free admission