YOUNGSTOWN — After watching Youngstown State University Theatre’s production of “Episode 26,” it’s hard to picture it being staged any other way.

Howard Korder’s play is a spoof of the serialized sci-fi tales that used to run with the Saturday matinees in movie theaters in the 1940s and ’50s, and it’s usually staged by actors in costume on a set designed to reflect the style of those low-budget productions.

Director Todd Dicken decided to reimagine it as a radio play. His actors are dressed like folks from the 1950s showing up for a day of work at the studio. They might wear a helmet or carry a prop to help distinguish the different characters they play, but they’re still wearing street clothes and hanging out in the corners of the radio studio whenever they’re not in front of the microphone.

This concept was responsible for most of the laughter on opening night. A stage manager (Samantha Cox) wearing an “I Like Ike” button greeted some of the audience members as she walked on stage, coached them on how to behave for a live broadcast, prompted them to provide some sound effects at dramatic moments and complained about the tardiness of the actors after intermission.

Actors who clearly don’t care for one another play love interests. Bored actors rolled their eyes at their fellow performers and tried to pass the time off microphone by balancing props on their fingertips and engaging in other antics. I questioned whether the actors would have behaved that way in front of the live audience, but I also know that comedy seldom lets logic get in the way of a good bit.

The show looked great, from the radio studio set designed by Dicken to the period costumes by Katherine Garlick. The running time is a brisk 90-95 minutes (including a 15-minute intermission), and it was frequently entertaining.

But I left the play wondering, “Is the source material really this lackluster, or did the presentation distract from the plot of the script too much and keep the jokes from landing?”

I think the answer is maybe a little of both. I found the interactions around the foley table more interesting than the machinations of the story, which involve space hero Buzz Gatecrasher (Nick Figiel) trying to rescue his true love, aqua ballerina Hillen Dale (Natalie Ciccone), from the clutches of Vaknor (Sam Nabring), the ruler of planet Darvon.

All of the actors play multiple characters (especially since they’re playing actors in addition to the characters in the script).

Anthony Mudryk creates two distinctive, memorable characters as Arno, the Arnold Schwarzenegger-esque king of the hawk people, and Gatecrasher’s very Noo Yawk father. Owen Mills is hilarious as Zugdish, a very dim monster with a very big crush on Hillen Dale, who he calls “Yellow Hair.” Nabring is never funnier than he is in his interactions with Anna Airhart, who shows great comedic timing as an etherscope operator having a hard time communicating with the ruler over static-y equipment.

YSU’s “Episode 26” is a clever staging of a largely silly show. It might not get every laugh out of the original script, but Dicken’s staging adds plenty more.

If you go …

WHAT: “Episode 26”

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Spotlight Theater, Bliss Hall, Youngstown State University

HOW MUCH: Tickets are $18.50 for adults, $14.50 for senior citizens and non-YSU students, $10.50 for YSU faculty and staff, $6.50 for children ages 18 and younger and free for YSU students. Tickets are available online at www.ysu.tix.com and by calling 330-941-3105.