The Bay Area Radio Drama production of The Hairy Ape was part of a project to record for radio broadcast and tape distribution the text of O'Neill's plays.  Funding for the recordings was provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the British Broadcasting Corporation.  The plays were directed in Los Angeles by José Quintero and produced by Erik Bauersfeld.  Sound was designed, recorded, and produced by Randy Thom at Lucasfilms in Marin County, California.  Travis Bogard was the literary consultant.

The process of recording was somewhat different from the usual techniques for recording radio drama.  The play was rehearsed for two weeks.  Lines were learned and the action blocked.  During the recording sessions, auxiliary microphones were placed at strategic points, and Thom moved through the action with the principal microphone.  The result was a great presence and an unusual depth in the stereophonic configurations.  Other O'Neill works recorded in the series include the S.S. Glencairn plays (The Moon of the Caribbees, Bound East for Cardiff, In the Zone, and The Long Voyage Home), The Emperor Jones, Hughie, and Lazarus Laughed.