"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