Performance Network premieres Joseph Zettelmaier's new comedy, "It Came from Mars"

One of the most famous stories ever told on the radio, of course, was H. G. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds,” as narrated by actor/director Orson Welles in 1938. Because the adaptation employed news bulletin-style bits, many listeners mistook fiction for fact and believed that Martians were, in fact, invading Earth.

Zettelmaier’s play — starring Wayne David Parker, Sandra Birch, Joseph Albright, Jacob Hodgson, Alysia Kolascz and Morgan Chard — focuses on a band of radio actors who hear the broadcast and panic.

“They’re a struggling troupe at a struggling radio station, and things are going downhill for them fast, so they’re rehearsing on the sly to try and get ready for their next performance, which is only a couple days away,” said actor Wayne David Parker, who plays the group’s leader, Quentin.

Among the group are a young couple in the bloom of early love, and 2 longtime partners who say things they might not otherwise, because Welles’ broadcast has terrified them.

“That clarity that you get, when you think it’s the end of the world, to say what’s on your mind, and what you really feel, and really connect with someone — that is a pretty intense thing,” said director Tony Caselli.

It’s also the dramatic core of a play that balances farce with moments of seriousness.

“Even with all the humor, ('Mars') still has something else that I think it’s tapping into, which is part of our psyche for this past 10 years, since 9/11,” said Network artistic director David Wolber. “That is, what do you do when things feel out of control, and you don’t feel like you have a grip on what’s going on in the world?”

Zettelmaier explains that the historical remove of the story makes it easier to laugh at a situation that has profound contemporary resonance.

“The safety net is, we as modern audience can look back, and we know it was a fraud, but these characters don’t,” said Zettelmaier.

The local playwright has been getting attention for “Mars” long before opening night was in sight. According to Wolber, “Mars” was a well-received hit at the Network’s Fireside Festival, which showcases staged readings of new plays in development; it won an Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award, which funded an additional 2 weeks of rehearsal for “Mars”; and the newest issue of American Theatre magazine has a story about the show, written by Ann Arbor’s Davi Napoleon.

“Mars” is a co-production of the Network and The Williamston Theatre, and because of the latter’s configuration, the Network will use a thrust stage configuration (as it just did for “K2”) for Zettelmaier’s play. This means things can often get a bit tight.

“We’ve hit on a couple of times where I’ve got all 6 actors out there, plus all of the crap — the chairs, the music stands, sound effects carts and sittables — and with everybody out there, I’ll go, ‘Everybody just lay down. I don’t know how to make everybody see anyone now,’” joked Caselli.

Parker, though, thinks the claustrophobic atmosphere underscores key elements of the story.

“When you’re that close with that many people in a panicked situation," he said, "then it lends to the frenetic mood of what’s going on.”

Jenn McKee is the entertainment digital journalist for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.