Charles Lebanon Fairbanks Junior (Andrew Bibby) feels compelled to tell us, in lieu of his girlfriend, where he came from.

Radio is essentially a story telling exercise which spans two decades of American history. British playwright Al Smith takes us back to an era when people listened. They listened to stories on the radio. Smith’s play cleverly entwines historically significant facts with a personal history of Fairbanks, who was born in 1950, ‘slap dash’ in the middle of the twentieth century in Lebanon, Kansas, which coincidentally became the absolute centre of the USA for a short period of time.

For just under an hour Bibby as Fairbanks, alone on stage, talks us through the space race, the cold war, Kennedy’s assassination, race uprisings and the advent of the Vietnam conflict, all told within the confines of one short life. It’s also the story of a generation who grew up with hope, increasing prosperity and above all, dreams.

Bibby holds the audience spellbound with a single chair, a piece of chalk and his voice; much as the early radio shows must have mesmerised listeners. He describes programs like ‘Fireball XC5’ which allowed the youthful Fairbanks to become ‘Steve Zodiac’ and orbit the earth; all within the confines of his own backyard. The sky and stars figure large in Fairbanks’s personal journey and the events of the nation as he suggests ‘history is simply a property of light’.

At first annoying, Toby Knyvett’s design using shadow and fifty naked light bulbs dangling from the ceiling slowly proves effective in symbolising stars, the states of the union and the Russian space satellite, Sputnik.

Deftly directed by Travis Green, who wisely allows the words centre stage, Bibby skilfully characterises a wealth of characters as he recounts with fondness and truth his parents journey in the emerging new America. Fairbanks senior is clever and opportunistic. No longer content to stay on the farm he begins a profitable tourism industry all wrapped up in the American flag. This allows for some poignant comedy as the family up sticks, leave their roots and move to North Dakota- destined to become the new centre of America. The family becomes rich, but like America itself, the innocence seeps away and there is a sense of loss and longing. At one point in the play when Kennedy is assassinated Fairbanks suggests ‘We should have stopped there’. One wonders how the world’s history might have changed if America had.

Why does Fairbanks feel compelled to tell his story? Because he’s in Vietnam and he’s not coming back. Precise sound design from Amy Wilson evokes the theatre of war and the loss of dreams of a generation.

This is a sharp play, realised with precision by all concerned. Go and be prepared to listen.