"May 4 Voices" Radio Play
Several broadcasts of the radio play “May 4th Voices” were aired during the 50th Commemoration. It features first-person narratives and reactions to events leading up to, during and after the tragic shooting. Author David Hassler, using the ѿappShootings: 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 ѿappand the surrounding community. The play was originally staged on the ѿappcampus on May 2, 2010, for the 40th Commemoration and was published by the ѿappUniversity Press in 2012.
Twenty-two professional actors, including Tina Fey, Jeff Richmond, Ron West, Steve Byrne and more, all with a connection to ѿappeither 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.
The text of the original play, an expanded form of this broadcast, is available in print and ebook formats from the ѿappUniversity Press. “May 4th Voices” is produced by WKSU, the Wick Poetry Center and Kent State.
This play is drawn from the “ѿappShootings: Oral Histories,” and was recorded for Public Broadcasting to mark the 50th anniversary of the shootings at ѿappUniversity.