The Mercury Theater was a theatrical company formed by Orson Welles and John Houseman in August 1937 following the two men's successful production of The Cradle Will Rock for the Federal Theatre Project earlier that summer.

Beginning with assets of only $100, the company's first production was a modern dress version of Julius Caeser set in contemporary fascist Italy.

The company is best remembered for its Mercury Theatre on the Air radio program which ran from June to December 1938 on CBS and became a nationwide sensation due to its adaptation of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds which many listeners mistook for actual live radio coverage of a Martian invasion of Earth. The success of the series led to it being sponsored by Campbell's soups and renamed The Campbell Playhouse on December 9, 1938 with the same cast as the pervious Mercury series.

In addition to Welles and Housement, The Mercury Theatre troupe included Joseph Cotten, Martin Gabel , Alice Frost , Ray Collins , Virginia Welles , Agnes Moorehead, and Everett Sloane . Much of the troupe would later appear in Welles' films at RKO, particularly Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons.

External links

• The Mercury Theatre on the Air includes MP3s of all surviving broadcasts