IT'S hard to imagine, but in 1938 a radio play broadcast of a fictitious Martian invasion of earth panicked millions of people across America who mistook the play for a live broadcast of an alien attack.
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The play was, of course, War Of The Worlds, and the man behind the broadcast was Orson Welles became an instant legend as a result.
On Thursday, the Albury-Wodonga Theatre Company brings War Of The Worlds to life In a one night only live performance on stage at the Albury Entertainment Centre.
Adding to the nostalgia, Border AM radio station 2AY, will simulcast the play live.
Radio drama was popular entertainment before the days of television.
Dad and Dave from Snake Gully, which first broadcast in 1937, and Blue Hills, which ran from 1949 to 1976, were among the best known Australian shows.
Director Joseph Thomsen says it's a unique opportunity to experience a performance art form that once entertained millions.
"This is a great adventure and a wonderful history lesson to take the whole family on," Thomsen said.
"Radio plays were mainstream entertainment once, but now you can't download them, and you can't choose to go and see one whenever you want, so this really is a unique opportunity to experience a story the way that we used to 80 years ago.”
In October 1938 the Mercury Theatre On the Air turned the famous novel by H.G. Wells into a radio play, presenting the story as a news broadcast.
Most radio listeners were tuned into a rival station when the play started, missing Welles’ introduction and the key fact that the broadcast was fiction.
"It's a chance to go on this journey first hand and try to imagine what it must have been like listening to War Of The Worlds in the 1930s and really believing that aliens were invading the earth and perhaps about to invade your home at any moment,” Thomsen said.
"There will also be some great audience for dissipation moments with audience members asked to applaud and "ooh" and "aah" at appropriate moments."
War of the Worlds Will be performed live this Thursday evening at the Albury Entertainment Centre, with live music from the era performed by the Murray Conservatorium Big Band from 730pm, followed by the live radio play at 8pm.
Book at the box office on (02) 6043 5610 or online.
