Professor Kerric Harvey directs her production.

By  Anthony Marenna
PCM '12

“Democracy_PLS RT” is a live radio drama produced by SMPA students and written by Professor Kerric Harvey to examine people’s feelings and observations about the political experience around Election Night 2010 – but there is a twist.

In the play, the Tweets are received by Santa’s elves as a bag full of wishes at the North Pole, setting the stage for a quirky, laugh-out-loud examination of human behaviors by the elves whose job it has always been to make Christmas wishes come true.

Professor Harvey decided to write the play to join the “oldest form” of drama with the newest form of personal expression. She set out to explore the broader and more long-term effects of Twitter by soliciting 140-character poems that were collected and integrated into the script.

The cast records "DemocracyPLS_RT"

The cast and crew of SMPA students joined Dr. Harvey in SMPA’s flash studio on Friday, April 8th, where the play was recorded by Technical Director Dick Golden (a 40-year CBS Radio Veteran) and is in post-production. The radio drama will be featured on SiriusXM Satellite Radio show “This Just In,” a production of GW’s Global Media Institute hosted by CBS news anchor Sam Litzinger. Dr. Harvey and the student cast and crew will sit down for an interview with Sam Litzinger on April 18th to reflect on live radio, the grueling nature of a month and a half production schedule, and hilarious moments from rehearsals and recordings.

Professor Harvey consults with her actors.

The lead cast includes Colby Anderson (PCM ’11), Carly Lagrotteria (PCM ’11), Patrick Hanley (MA ’10), and Dan Reed (Executive Assistant to SMPA Director Frank Sesno). Associate Producers were Anthony Marenna (PCM ’12) and Lagrotteria. Director of Tweet Production was Lyndsey Wajert (JMC ’11), and her supporting cast included several members of the SMPA program. Directors of Sound were Scott Backer (’12) and John Goben (’12). Special thanks go to SMPA Director Frank Sesno and Professor Michael Freedman, director of the Global Media Institute, for their support.