Born to Teachers and Amateur Audio Enthusiasts in the small rural community of Belwood, Jack's first love was stories- writing, reading, telling, and singing. He developed his acting skills through High School, University, and through film and community theatre.
Jack writes the lion's share of Sonic Cinema Production's (previously Electric Vicuna) Audio Drama scripts and has his own writing site at www.jackjward.com. Jack also is the middle of book writing, screenplay production, and is the CEO of the Mutual Audio Network- where he and the best people in the world Listen & Imagine, Together!.
He's thrilled to co-host the Sonic Society with his wonderful, talented, friend David Ault as they enter their second decade in the medium!
John Hurt‘s tour as the infamous War Doctor has passed on to the realm of the audio. Big Finish Doctor Who has kept everybody’s favourite Time Lord busy.
And as this Radio Times article says: “One thing’s for sure: never underestimate the Doctor. If any single thing could be considered Gallifrey’s deadliest weapon and greatest hope, it’s him.”
Check out the trailer below and watch for its release!
More great Radio Drama that was translated and adapted for the stage as The Edmonton Journal Reviews Under Milk Wood.
From the article:
Originally released in 1954 as a radio drama and later adapted for the stage, this “play for voices” was written in the aftermath of the Second World War to portray a sense of innocence and humanity driven by human goodness.
Under Milk Wood depicts the thoughts and desires of the inhabitants of Llareggub, a fictional fishing village in writer Dylan Thomas’s home country of Wales. The production opens on an invitation from the narrator to “hear the dreams” of the sleeping villagers. Llareggub’s townspeople are a diverse group of characters, including Captain Cat, the blind, retired sea captain haunted by visions of his past, and the lovesick Mog Edwards and Myfanwy Price, with dreams only of each other. The figurative language is captivating, littered with humour and imagery, depicting not only the simple provincial life of Llareggub’s inhabitants but also their deepest desires.
This UK Market Magazine Article suggests that while Oculus Rift may represent an entirely new world of virtual entertainment and immersion, maybe the original virtual reality or VR gold standard belongs to radio drama. Consider the authors, Gavin and Jason Fox’s suggestion that Orson Welles and War of the Worlds provided the greatest trick to the mind, and come back and comment your own thoughts on their theory!
Ian McDiarmid
A star-studded cast will be performing in BBC‘s latest release of Shakespeare‘s classic tragedy King Lear.
The play about the elderly King and his three daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia, is to be broadcast on Radio 3, May 8th and stars Ian McDiarmid famous for his role as Palpatine in Star Wars in the lead role.
No stranger to Lear, McDiarmid has played the King in 2005 from the Edward Bond’s 1971 rewrite of the original work.
An all Scottish casting will include Bill Paterson will play Gloucester and Paul Higgins the role of Edmund, while Brian Vernel will play The Fool and Michael Nardone the role of Kent. The daughters will include Frances Grey, from Edinburgh, as Regan, Joanna Vanderham, from Scone, Cordelia and Madeleine Worrall, from Edinburgh, will play Goneril.
Details of the upcoming performance can be found in this article of Herald Scotland.
Ken Foote muses over at CBS Local about the sunny days of radio drama after seeing an episode of The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson and the titanic voice actor Orson Welles. While talking about the difficulties of working as an actor and as part of the crew during live radio drama, Foote considers the powerful gateway show CBS Radio Mystery Theater starring the unforgettable E.G. Marshall as your host and narrator.
Go check out the article, but then consider mentioning to Mr. Foote how audio drama has come back in the modern age!
Carlene Philips from this Harvard Press article is feeling more than a little nostalgic for a time not experienced, and a medium Philips thought was dead:
I was filled with admiration—and a bit of envy—at the camaraderie, passion, spirit of collaboration, and mutual support among the cast members, to say nothing of their incredible talents. During the deliberately over-the-top production, I laughed with abandon and felt the sting of sarcasm, the pain of rejection, and the bliss of, ah, true love.
Philips is speaking of the classic audio drama The Philadelphia Story which is being performed live on stage for the upcoming Old Time Radio Theatre presentation Saturday, March 19, at 7:30 p.m. in Volunteers Hall, sponsored by the Harvard Friends of the Arts. This has become a bit of a tradition now, for eight years at Harvard. About time the old ivy leagues were lining ’em up again!
The Kiggins Theatre has become a regular destination for Willamette Radio Workshop.
“Radio is better because the pictures are better,” says Sam Mowry, Willamette Radio Workshop director and one of our all time favourite actors (catch his performance in EVP‘s Muse of Madness)
From the article: The Magic of Old Time Radio Rings Through Kiggins:
The Willamette Radio Workshop has carved itself a successful niche performing holiday and other themed shows — like “The War of the Worlds” at Halloween, “A Radio Christmas Carol” in December and “The Hobbit” for author J.R.R. Tolkien’s birthday every January — but director Mowry said he loves branching out farther. Last Halloween, instead of “The War of the Words,” Willamette Radio tried two early science fiction classics, “R.U.R.” and “The Fall of the City”; and earlier in the year it was an original Superman script, locally relevant and blatantly political, about oil trains and environmental danger.
“We’re always looking for new and different things and John Barber has helped us push that boundary,” Mowry said. “This year for Women’s History Month, isn’t it great that we can do two of the greatest shows ever written for radio — and they were written by a woman?”
You can believe in the magic of radio drama as well. Willamette Radio Workshop is a little bit of fairy-dust in Portland and beyond!
Beacon Arts Centre in Inverclyde, Scotland is celebrating new writers work by presenting a collection of four new radio plays staged for an audience and dubbed “The Podcast Sessions”.
For over a decade now, we at the Sonic Society have believed that audio stories are uniquely positioned to tell stories in the most imaginative and inexpensive way while captivating a wide audience from around the world.
A group called Toasted Fiction, founded by Christopher Patrick, who is a Greenock-based writer and director is committed to supporting the development of new writing and new writers.
The Podcast Sessions will be presented Thursday 31 March, 7:30 pm. For tickets (£5 or concessions £3.50) call 01475 723723 or book online. Details about all four shows can be found at this Inverclyde Now Article.
Support new writers. Support new Audio Drama!
Tonight we bring the world premier of Greater Bostonfrom Alexander Danner and part one of a supercut of the first decade of the humour of Cayenne Chris Conroy’sTeknikal Diffikulties! Joy!
Singer Pamela McNeill will be featured tomorrow night at Granite City Radio Theatre. The program is put together by the Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and includes comedy, trivia, music and Shade’s Brigade, a crime noir radio drama.
What: Granite City Radio Theatre.
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 16.
Where: Pioneer Place on Fifth, 22 Fifth Ave. S.
Tickets: $12. Buy by visiting www.ppfive.com or calling the box office at 203-0331.
Additional details on the show can be found in this SCTimes article.
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