Boots on the Ground Pays Tribute to Veterans With a 'World War II Radio Christmas'

Before televisions became commonplace in the 1950s, radio reigned supreme in American households. Families would gather around their radio sets nightly to listen to news, entertainment and music, often within the same sitting.

This old tradition will be on full display in a holiday production of “World War II Radio Christmas” by Boots on the Ground Theater, a Southampton-based theater company.

Written by Pat Kruis Tellingusen, the show runs from December 5 to 14 at the Southampton Cultural Center and recreates a radio broadcast that takes place on Christmas Eve 1944. The production features stories from the war, music of the era, crowd singalongs and a series of sound effects and radio jingles designed to create an authentic depiction of a radio show from the 1940s.

Bonnie Grice, the theater’s founder, wanted to produce a show to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and recalled being moved to tears when she first discovered the script for this show.

“Sometimes when you read a script and it’s just on paper, it’s not as effective as when it comes to life with actors on the stage, the actual lines being read and being done live,” she said. “But this was so moving.”

With radio plays, emphasis is placed on the actors voices to tell the story, leaving it up to the actors and the microphones that are placed at the front of the stage to convey their message to the audience instead of typical acted-out scenes in plays.

James Pritchard, the show’s director, said that one of the biggest challenges of directing radio plays are “the actors’ desire to interact with each other physically” by gesturing and looking at each other. When directing shows like this, he encourages his cast to put their energy into delivering into the microphone instead of each other, emphasizing that it’s important for them to project their personality into it to keep audiences engaged.

Though the four microphones at the front of the stage are the center of the action, the cast will be dressed in 1940s-style outfits, including some wearing military uniforms, as they take turns at the microphones telling stories inspired by real tales from the war. Grice said that as rehearsals have gone on, she has seen the cast connect with the show more.

“As we get to know the script better and better, people are really starting to love it, love their characters and try to understand their characters,” she said. “And I think all of us have been touched in some way by war, by veterans, by folks who have fought in and, in some cases, died for their country.”

In conjunction with the play, an exhibit by the Southampton History Museum, “Homefront to Battlefront: Southampton during WWII,” will be on display in the gallery of the Southampton Cultural Center. The exhibition includes over 50 panels featuring the stories and photos of Southampton residents who served in World War II.

Stephen Gould, a curator at the Southampton History Museum and Grice’s husband, assembled the exhibit after previously curating an exhibit that ran alongside the theater’s 2018 production of the Civil War play “The Red Badge of Courage.” While researching, Gould was struck by “how you could tell the whole story of World War II by just the experience of the people in Southampton,” including those who served in the European and Pacific theaters of the war and those who contributed at home.

In his research, Gould found multiple instances of families with multiple members who served in the war, including one family with four members that served — a father, two sons and a daughter — and all survived.

“It shows me the dedication and level of service that the community had at a time of crisis and the wide variety of ways that people served during the war, both at home and overseas,” he said.

Grice echoed Gould’s thoughts, as for her, the show serves as a reminder of how Americans came together to persevere during the war. And as a further thank you to those who served, veterans and their families can attend the show for free.

“There is no better way to feel good about the holidays, to feel blessed about where we are and who we are and to celebrate America alongside our veterans,” said Grice. “And I hope our veterans and their families come and fill the house.”

“World War II Radio Christmas” runs from Friday, December 5, to Sunday, December 14, at the Southampton Cultural Center, 25 Pond Lane in Southampton Village. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. General admission tickets are $25. Veterans and children under 12 are admitted free. Tickets are available at scc-arts.org or at the door.