The art of auditory presentation is a throwback to the bygone days, and it is too sad that such a subtle and tasteful and provocative manner of entertainment is fast on the track of extinction in this generation who milks technology for all it's worth. How to write a radio play is never easy, for example; since it lacks the shock and awe factor (and all the visual brouhaha television shows and internet videos have) it has always needed that extra panache for it to bring in the appreciative audience.

Of course that panache creeps into the least expected, but most susceptible receptacle: the human imagination. Since it could actually afford the subtle air of mystery and the irresistible balance between spooky and delicious, the one ace that a radio play could actually bank on would be on how powerful it could wield the human psyche. Quite appropriately so, it would be, since most of the themes of radio plays dwell on enigma, detective "whodunit" stories, mystery theaters, and others of such genre.

For those among you who would like to revisit, rekindle, and resurrect the art of Radio Theater, it may do well to remember the following:

1. Utilizing auditory cues such as sound effects (rustling of fabrics, whisper of wind, tap-tapping of steps on a wooden floor), and moody, haunting strains of music (harmonious or discordant, whatever is required by the moment) can have a huge bearing on the affectivity of the play. And since this is perhaps one of the only few whose sensory receptacle cannot be stopped (it is proven that auditory stimuli cannot be blocked), this proves to be mighty impressive as well.
2. Inasmuch as auditory effects move and drive Radio Theater, imagination is a key element as well. Word associations play and tickle not just the most visceral of an audience's psychological elements, they unconsciously put people before their worst-encountered nightmares. If the radio theater mentions "monster" there is no actual description of how the monster looks like, it leaves to the audience's thoughts - and therefore, fears - how it would look like.

Hence, it must be remembered that Radio Theater is a theater of the mind's eye. To make things as subtle without making it seem haphazard is actually a difficult job (how about the setting, the characterization?), but it could be done, provided that there is great consideration about the balance, the play of both sound and mind, to wreak that bygone, wonderful havoc of art.