Before podcasts took the world by storm, radio plays were the go-to medium for audio storytelling. Many renowned playwrights, including Tom Stoppard and Arthur Miller, began their careers crafting radio plays. These early works were often a means to earn an income and hone their skills in plotting and dialogue. Among these talented playwrights was Tennessee Williams, who, during his time as a student at the University of Iowa in the late 1930s, created a gothic sketch titled "The Strangers." This play, which rarely gets heard today, is set to be featured in The Strand Magazine, alongside other lesser-known works by literary giants like Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, and John Steinbeck.
"The Strangers" is a chilling tale that embodies the theatrical elements of early radio horror. It depicts a storm, howling winds, shadowy figures, a house perched precariously over the sea, flickering candles, and mysterious footsteps. It also hints at themes and devices that Williams would later explore in his most celebrated works: isolation, fear, the blurred lines between imagination and reality, and the haunting memories and private terrors of those who dwell within the walls of a house.
The play's title, "The Horror of Strangers," is fitting, as it reflects the invisible demons that haunt the Brighton family, Mr. and Mrs. Brighton. Williams' character, Mr. Brighton, declares early on, "We members of the human species are equipped with only five senses. Or six at the very most. The Strangers are creatures that might be perceptible to us if we had seven or eight or maybe nine senses. But as it is, they exist just outside our little sphere of contact with reality and so ... what we know of them is very, very slight."
According to Williams scholar John Bak, "The Strangers" was one of several radio dramas the young playwright worked on while at Iowa. These plays were part of a required curriculum where students wrote and produced their own plays. Bak suggests that Williams was influenced by both commercial considerations and personal factors. Horror stories were a popular choice for radio in the late 1930s, and Williams initially viewed radio plays as a mere "exercise." However, he eventually took them more seriously, and the mental health struggles of his sister, Rose, began to influence his work. Rose's experiences would later inspire the character of Laura Wingfield in "The Glass Menagerie," where Williams delved into the complexities of madness and our reactions to those who perceive things differently from the rest of us.
