The longest-running American soap opera on television is set in a hospital. General Hospital has been on the air for over half a century. The first soap opera to be set in a hospital goes further back than that, though. The radio drama The Woman in White by writer/actress and possible hypochondriac Irna Phillips first aired in the ’30s. In the spirit of hospital-based soap opera drama, retro live radio theater group Wisconsin Hybrid Theater presents Dangerous Liaisons as Lonely Hearts of Sacred Heart Hospital. The classy, old hospital radio format plays host to an adaptation of the late 18th century epistolary novel Les Liaisons dangereuses. The story of two rival ex-lovers seducing humiliating and degrading others should be fun in a hospital setting. (Usually degradation and humiliation at hospitals are left to pharmaceutical corporations and health insurance companies. It should be refreshing to see a couple of comic anti-heroes playing with light dehumanization in a breezy comedy.)
Wisconsin Hybrid Theater, which has done a lot of work over the airwaves with WMSE of late, will be staging this particular show live at the Alchemist Theatre this coming Valentine’s Day. As the show is being stage 1:30 p.m. Tickets are cheap. This could be a fun, little comic prelude to something romantic later on in the evening. For more information, visit the Alchemist Theatre online.
