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Download the podcast of THE PLOT TO OVERTHROW CHRISTMAS
Norman Corwin (1910-2011), was one of the pioneers of American radio
drama during the 1930s and 1940s. A peer of Orson Welles, and an inspiration to such legendary figures as Rod Serling (The
Twilight Zone) and Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek), Corwin spent most of his career with CBS, producing series
such as Columbia Presents Corwin (1944), and On a Note of Triumph (1945), a celebration of the Allied victory
in Europe.
His fantasy The Plot to Overthrow Christmas premiered on Christmas Day 1938,
and was revived here in a sixtieth anniversary production by the public radio station WFBH of Bloomington, Indiana. Written
entirely in verse, it begins in Hell, where several legendary villains, including Ivan the Terrible (Will Murphy), Circe,
Salome, Atilla the Hun, Lucretia Borgia (Dana Dyer Pearson) and Nero (Joel Pearson) offer various ways to
cancel Christmas. They include providing high cholesterol food, cigarettes, poisoned sweets, transforming classical music
into jazz, and producing punk versions of Christmas carols. Eventually the assembled company votes to accept Lucretia
Borgia's suggestion to shoot Santa Claus, and Nero is deputed to undertake the deed. He makes an upward journey to Earth,
and finds Santa Claus (Richard Fish) after a bit of trouble.
Despite his evil intentions, Nero finds that he cannot do the deed. Santa offers
him a vision of good cheer and festivity, and even obtains a present for him - a new Stradivarius fiddle. Nero renounces his
loyalty to Satan and vows to turn over a new leaf. The play ends with him leading the assembled company in a rendition of
"The First Noel."
The Plot to Overthrow Christmas is a heart-warming fantasy, with strong
echoes of Frank Capra's film It's a Wonderful Life, released six years after Corwin's drama. The narrative is
told by Sotto Voce (Mike Kelsey), a reassuring presence who persuades listeners to believe that everything will turn out fine,
despite Nero's evil intentions. The script contains several witty rhymes - for example "Bosphorus"/ "loss for us"; "Terrible"/
"Unbearable"; "Nero" and "Miro" (one of Earth's residents mistakes the ancient Roman emperor for the modern painter Joan Miro);
and "stripling"/ "Kipling." I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it; although a period piece, it reveals Corwin's talent
as someone able to exploit the potentialities of the English language.
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