radio theater
- noun
- /ˈreɪdioʊ ˈθiːətər/
- US
:
teatro radiofónico
- I always look forward to listening to radio theater during my long commutes because the stories are so engaging.
Examples
-
The technique for preparing scripts that carry the action forward over a hundred or more viewing hours grew out of the earlier radio theater industry in Brazil.
Academic text (1990) -
Perhaps this sensation of control over the characters he brings to life in the radio theater convinces him that he can also sculpt Luciana according to his will.
Academic text (1997) -
The radio theater production featured talented actors delivering dramatic lines along with captivating sound effects.
-
Every Sunday night, we tune in to our favorite radio theater show, which transports us to different worlds through audio storytelling.
Synonyms
2
3.5
A play or story that actors perform for radio using only sound
1
4.2
A story acted using only sound, like a radio play or podcast
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a dramatized performance presented as audio on radio' is directly and transparently derivable from combining 'radio' (audio broadcast medium) with 'theater' (dramatic performance). This is a regular noun-noun composition where the first noun specifies the medium, a cross-linguistically common pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Radio theater comes from old shows that put theater on the radio. Actors used only voices, music and sound effects to make scenes you could hear, so the phrase means 'a dramatized performance for radio or audio'.