Entertainment :: Theatre
Peter Paige :: Wilde on the radio by Jim Halterman
EDGE ContributorFriday Nov 6, 2009
There are some actors who just float from role to role playing what audiences are used to seeing and never stretching their wings in the slightest. Then there are actors like Peter Paige who not only continue to take on new acting challenges but also stretch their creative muscles to include directing and writing as well as being an effective activist.
This month, the always compelling Paige is appearing in the L.A. Theatre Works’ production of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde as Wilde’s lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The twist in this production? The Moises Kaufman play is unfolding in front of microphones and recorded for radio but, as Paige told EDGE’s Jim Halterman, performing for radio is no walk in the park for any actor.
Radio plays?
EDGE: First, what can you tell me about L.A. Theatre Works?
Peter Paige: L.A. Theatre Works does something very specific - they do radio plays, which is a great, great things for actors living in LA who have theater experience and who miss performing on stage and love the great plays but can’t commit to being out of town for three to six months doing a regional or going to New York for a year. It’s great when you’re trying to work in the camera world to get back to your roots. You’re in for a very intense week, rehearse for three days, you put it up for five nights and then you walk away. It works really, really well and they choose beautiful material and it’s recorded so it’s there for posterity.
EDGE: How did you first get involved with them?
PP: They approached me a few years ago to do a play called Bunbury so I did that and loved it and this will be my fourth one with them. It’s a great week-long diversion.
EDGE: Are they done in front of an audience or recorded in a studio with only the actors?
PP: They mostly do them in front of an audience, but every once in awhile they’ll do one just in a recording studio. We did Arcadia recently that way, which was an amazing experience, but as a rule they’re done in front of an audience, which is really fun. It’s a little bit terrifying in that you only have three days to work; it’s kind of like working on a reality show.
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