{{Short description, American media company The National Audio Theatre Festivals, Inc. (NATF) is a US-based organization sponsoring a yearly, five-day workshop on

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non- diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentation ...

and the audio arts, as well as other special training. Participants take classes on subjects such as voiceover and

voice acting Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

, audio engineering, Foley and special effects, audio playwriting and

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

ing, and more. The workshop is helmed by professionals in the field and is frequently held in the small city of

West Plains, Missouri West Plains is a city in, and the county seat of Howell County, Missouri, United States. The population was 12,184 at the 2020 census. History The history of West Plains can be traced back to 1832, when settler Josiah Howell (after whom Howell ...

. The last day of the festival is a live performance of audio drama, carried over local radio, as well as streamed live over the internet. The night's entertainment includes original radio plays performed by attendees, and a short workshop play written and produced by first-time conference participants. Many participants of the National Audio Theatre Festivals' Audio Theatre Workshop have notable careers in the audio arts, such as

Yuri Rasovsky Yuri Rasovsky (July 29, 1944 – January 18, 2012) was an American writer and producer working in radio drama in the United States. He founded and operated The National Radio Theater of Chicago from 1973 to 1986 and later formed the Hollywood ...

, the members of the

Firesign Theatre The Firesign Theatre (also known as the Firesigns) was an American surreal comedy troupe who first appeared on November 17, 1966, in a live performance on the Los Angeles radio program ''Radio Free Oz'' on station KPFK FM. They continued ap ...

, and Tom Lopez (producer and founder of

ZBS Foundation ZBS Foundation, a small non-profit audio production company, was founded by Thomas Lopez (aka "Meatball Fulton") in 1970 with a grant from Robert E. Durand as a working commune, located on a donated farm in Upstate New York. ZBS stands for "Zero Bu ...

). Groups which frequently participate or support the NATF mission include the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company, Firesign Theatre, ZBS Foundation, the Willamette Radio Theatre, and many more.

History

The National Audio Theatre Festivals, Inc. (NATF) evolved from its predecessor, the Midwest Radio Theatre Workshop. In 1979, a number of radio theater enthusiasts, based around community radio station KOPN, decided to stage a teaching workshop on the radio arts.Richard Fish
"Genesis and Renaissance: A Brief History of Radio Theater"
/ref> The host was

Jim Jordan James Daniel Jordan (born February 17, 1964) is an American politician currently serving in his ninth term in the U.S. House of Representatives as the representative for since 2007. A member of the Republican Party, he is a two-ti ...

, of

Fibber McGee and Molly ''Fibber McGee and Molly'' (1935–1959) was a longtime highly popular husband-and-wife team radio comedy program. The situation comedy was a staple of the NBC Red Network from 1936 on, after originating on NBC Blue in 1935. One of the most p ...

fame, and also included

regulars

David Ossman David Ossman (born December 6, 1936 in Santa Monica) is an American writer and comedian, best known as a member of the Firesign Theatre and screenwriter of such films as '' Zachariah''. Early life Ossman attended Pomona College, where he starr ...

and

Peter Bergman Peter Michael Bergman (born June 11, 1953) is an American actor best known for his portrayals on soap operas, such as Cliff Warner on ''All My Children'' (1979–89) on ABC as well as Jack Abbott on ''The Young and the Restless'' (1989–prese ...

. For twenty years, this five-day workshop continued under the MRTW name. In 2001, the National Audio Theatre Festivals became the new sponsor of this weeklong event and workshop. The NATF also sponsors the

Norman Corwin Norman Lewis Corwin (May 3, 1910 – October 18, 2011) was an American writer, screenwriter, producer, essayist and teacher of journalism and writing. His earliest and biggest successes were in the writing and directing of radio drama during the ...

Award for Excellence in Audio Theatre, the only award of its kind in America given to American audio dramatists with a significant body of work, or who have made significant contributions to the art form. The first award was presented to Corwin on the occasion of his 100th birthday, with Awards handed to Tom Lopez and Yuri Rasovsky in 2011. Another aspect of the festival confers prizes for writing scripts which are submitted to win that year's awards and published in an anthology of the winning scripts. New and established writers compete and the top winning scripts are read to an audience. The organisation's mentoring casts a wide net to gather a wide range of cultures, styles, and genres. The 2000 ''NATF Scriptbook'' included a 30-minute comedy-drama by poet

Hedwig Gorski Hedwig Irene Gorski (born July 18, 1949) is an American performance poet and an avant-garde artist who labels her aesthetic as "American futurism." The term "performance poetry," a precursor to slam poetry, is attributed to her. It originate ...

about Polish American immigrants living in New Orleans during 1981 when

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

was declared in Poland. The main character uses voodoo against the oppressors of

Solidarność Solidarity ( pl, „Solidarność”, ), full name Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity" (, abbreviated ''NSZZ „Solidarność”'' ), is a Polish trade union founded in August 1980 at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland. Subseq ...

.Introduction.
13 Donuts: An Original Radio Drama with a Multi-Cultural Twist
'. Jadzia Books, 2015. This festival went virtual in 2020.

References

External links

The National Audio Theatre Festivals website

Twitter feed for NATF
Theatre festivals in the United States American radio dramas American artist groups and collectives Audiobook companies and organizations ZBS Foundation Festivals in Missouri Podcasting companies