"May 4 Voices" Radio Play
This play is drawn from the “Kent State Shootings: Oral Histories,” and has been newly recorded for Public Broadcasting to mark the 50th anniversary of the shootings at Kent State University.
The radio play “May 4th Voices” features first-person narratives and reactions to events leading up to, during and after the tragic shooting. Author David Hassler, using the Kent State Shootings: Oral Histories project's over 1,200 pages of transcripts, assembled accounts from townspeople, students, protesters, faculty, National Guardsmen and others to provide diverse viewpoints from those most intimately affected at Kent State and the surrounding community. The play was originally staged on the Kent State campus on May 2, 2010, for the 40th Commemoration and was published by the Kent State University Press in 2012.
Twenty-two professional actors, including Tina Fey, Jeff Richmond, Ron West, Steve Byrne and more, all with a connection to Kent State either through their degrees, as faculty or other association, have come together under the direction of Joe Gunderman, national voice artist and WKSU’s senior producer, to bring these eyewitness accounts to life.
> Listen to “May 4th Voices” Online
The text of the original play, an expanded form of this broadcast, is available in print and ebook formats from the Kent State University Press. “May 4th Voices” is produced by WKSU, the Wick Poetry Center and Kent State.
> For more information, visit the “May 4 Voices” website
BROADCAST SCHEDULE
April 27
WVPE Elkhart, IN—Mon, April 27 at 9pm
May 1
IPR News Interlochen, MI—Fri, May 1 at 1pm
KNPR Las Vegas, NV—Fri, May 1 at 9pm
May 2
KTSW San Marcos TX,—Sat, May 2 at 7am
KSFC Spokane, WA—Sat, May 2 at 6pm
KFCF Fresno, CA—Sat, May 2 at 7pm
May 3
WESA Pittsburgh, PA—Sun, May 3 at 3pm
KTEP El Paso, TX—Sun, May 3 at 6pm
VPM (formerly WCVE) Richmond, VA—Sun, May 3 at 6pm
WYSO Dayton/Yellow Springs, OH—Sun, May 3 at 6 pm
KUHF Houston, TX—Sun, May 3 at 7pm
WRVO Oswego, NY—Sun, May 3 at 7pm
WGBH Boston MA—Sun, May 3 at 8pm
WHYY Philadelphia, PA—Sun, May 3 at 8pm
WGCU Fort Myers, FL—Sun, May 3 at 8pm
WXXI Rochester, NY—Sun, May 3 at 9 pm
WMRA Harrisburg, VA—Sun, May 3 at 10pm
May 4
WKSU Kent, OH—Mon, May 4 at 10am and 7pm
WGCU Fort Meyers, FL—Mon, May 4 at 1pm
WABE Atlanta, GA—Mon, May 4 at 2PM and 11PM
KFSK Petersburg, AK—Mon, May 4 at 3pm
KTOO Juneau, AK—Mon, May 4 at 7 pm
WDDE (WMPH, WMHS) Wilmington/Dover, DE—Mon, May 4 at 8pm
WVXU Cincinnati, OH—Mon, May 4 at 8pm
WCPN Cleveland, OH—Mon, May 4 at 10pm
KUOW Seattle, WA—Mon, May 4 at 11pm
May 6
KQED San Francisco, CA—Wed, May 6 at 8pm
May 11
KUT Austin, TX—Mon, May 11 at 9pm