First Person Singular

Dramatized radio theater anthology

Orson Welles

CBS Radio

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Show synopsis

The first radio series for which Welles had full creative control. One-hour adaptions of literary works, including Dracula and The Thiry-Nine Steps.

Before Orson Welles created his own radio series, he frequently performed on the radio in series such as The March of Time and The Shadow. He used his income from radio to support the theater company he founded with John Houseman, the Mercury Theatre. The Mercury Theatre made a big impression in 1938, and Time magazine featured Welles on its cover on May 9, 1938. Taking advantage of Welles’s new celebrity, CBS offered Welles total creative control for a short radio series. First Person Singular ran for nine episodes, from July 11 to September 5, 1938. It continued under the title The Mercury Theatre on the Air.

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Included in these Collections

Radio plays and audio dramas done in the style of radio performances, often with a modern twist.

Plays from Shakespeare and other classics in audio fiction form.

Think magazines, other periodicals, or collections of short stories—but in audio.

Suggested next listens

In 1946, Welles produced a short-lived, thirty-minute series sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon. It aired on CBS and featured dramatic adaptations. The first episode was Around the World in 80 Days, which Welles also promoted in his introduction while working on the stage version.

The radio home of Welles's ground-breaking Mercury Theatre Company. Following the success of Welles's radio adaptation of Hugo's Les Miserables, CBS requested a 13-episode run with Welles starring and directing, transferring the already well-regarded Mercury Theatre to the radio.

The Mercury Theatre on the Air became the Campbell Playhouse after gaining sponsorship from Campbell Soup. The War of the Worlds broadcast impressed them, leading to a new episode adaptation of Rebecca. Welles was praised as a genius and shared his unique radio drama philosophy.