There was a time when radio was more than music, more than early-morning DJs, more than background noise during work.

“The Voice of the Prairie,” ISU Theatre’s second production this season, takes the audience back to the early 1900s — an era when radio was new and on-air storytellers had families listening together in living rooms across the plains.

“[David Quinn] conquers the Midwest with radio. When radio hit the Midwest, it was the biggest thing around,” said Adam Simmons, a senior in performing arts who plays all six villains.

Leon Schwab, an enterprising entrepreneur, buys a bunch of radio equipment in 1923, when radio is a technological breakthrough. Schwab hears a local storyteller, David Quinn, telling a story in a bar.

He offers David the job of telling stories on radio to entertain families around the Midwest.

“The play is a love story — the love of money, the love of each other, the love of self,” Simmons said. “The play is also about storytelling.”

David becomes known as “The Voice of the Prairie” and tells stories from 1895, when he and Frankie, a blind girl with whom he fell in love, travelled around the Midwest on trains when they were 12.

David’s biggest fear is that Frankie will hear his stories, because the two end up losing each other during their travels. He hasn’t heard from Frankie since.

The scenes in the play switch back and forth between the two time periods, giving the play the feel of a memory play.

“It starts off in 1895, and it jumps back and forth between 1895 and 1923. I like the variation of the different dates and jumping from the present to the past in different memories which David is having,” said Michael Vogt, a junior in performing arts who plays the 12-year-old Davey.

He said “The Voice of the Prairie” also works as another kind of memory play.

“It will cause people to remember their childhood, different friends they had when they were younger and the good or bad times which they had,” Vogt said.

Additionally, the play is “very intimate,” and the set is close to the audience, putting the actors and the audience face-to-face.

“It’s a very intimate play,” Simmons said. “[The set] is what’s called a forced perspective — you look into the set and all you see is prairie.”

In addition, Simmons said seeing “The Voice of the Prairie” is similar to seeing a movie.

“It’s a very cinematic play. It’s almost like you’re watching a movie because there’s music underscoring nearly the whole play.”

Jim Trenberth, an associate professor of theatre, directed the play. As a teacher of lighting and design, he doesn’t often have a chance to direct. In fact, “The Voice of the Prairie” is Trenberth’s directing debut.

“I don’t want to say its been easy, but it has been more fun than I’ve expected it to [be]. I don’t usually get a chance to work over a long period of time with the students like you do when you’re directing. I’ve enjoyed that very much.”

Trenberth wanted to direct the play because of the relationship between a storyteller and his audience — a relationship he said has changed very little over time.

“Storytelling is becoming, if you will, a lost art in this world of the Internet and MTV, and [it’s rare] that a single human voice can captivate an audience,” he said. “The tradition is out of radio, but the human connection between storyteller and audience has not changed — now that we just have a computer screen between us, I suspect we’ve lost something.

“There’s a line in the show talking about the radio, but it’s true of storytelling as well — ‘It’s magic’ — that experience between the storyteller and the audience is magic,” Trenberth added.

Simmons said there are many reasons for ISU students to see the play.

“It’s a very profound play. There’s a lot of one-liners about life and love that really speak to the audience. It’s a whole love story — it really speaks to ISU students. If they bring their significant other, they’ll fall in love,” Simmons said.

“It makes you step back and say ‘There are a lot of people in this world who are worse off than I am.’ You step back and are really grateful for what you have, just really thankful.”

This is the only weekend to catch “The Voice of the Prairie.” Performances are tonight and Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $4 for students and children, $7.50 for adults and $6.50 for senior citizens.

Tickets are available through TicketMaster, the Iowa State Center Ticket Office or by calling 294-7611 for more information.