Imaginations ran wild when the family gathered around the radio and listened with rapt attention to tales of adventure, romance, mystery and comedy. Stories told in a sound studio with live musicians and even-livelier sound effects roused vivid impressions in the minds of listeners, many of whom dreamed of sitting in the studio audience to witness this modern fascination themselves. Now you can be there – back in the 1940s! – watching a live radio show, replete with authentic swing music and a real Theremin.

What’s a Theremin, you wonder? Find out when the Rosendale Theatre presents “Rosendale Radio” this Saturday, July 9 for a recreation of that golden era in music, dance and theatre. Not one but two radio plays written by Norman Corwin (considered the poet laureate of radio) will be performed, evoking the decade when the country’s war-weariness was revitalized with comedy and a bit of radio magic. The Undecided Molecule, done in light verse, and You Can Dream, Inc. are just two of Corwin’s selections, many of which were written around World War II with antiwar themes. Director Ann Citron says that Corwin, by the way, is still living and is now enjoying the ripeness of his 101st year! His more-serious work seems rather prophetic with its questions about entering the Nuclear Age.

These two more lighthearted pieces will provide an hour’s worth of cleverness and mirth, presented onstage in a cultural time machine. Let Carrie Wykoff, Jane Brown, Doug Motel, Steve Jones, Mourka and Brian Matthews, along with musical accompaniment by Fre Atlast and Judith Muldoon, take you back to the 1940s for an evening of audio entertainment. After the radio plays, the figurative rug will be rolled up from the Rosendale’s new dancefloor so that everyone can swing to the sounds of the septet Soul Purpose. And just so you know: A Theremin is an electronic instrument played by moving the hands near its two antennae, producing a high tremolo effect or that swooping sound indicating mystery and danger. Spooky!

If you were born too late to savor radio drama the first time around, plan to revisit the era this Saturday night and help the Rosendale Theatre Collective meet its imminent financial obligations while having a fun time. The show begins at 8 p.m., and the music will carry on until 11ish. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/180576. For more information about the work of the Rosendale Theatre Collective and its wide variety of films and upcoming cultural events for the community, visit www.rosendaletheatre.org.