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Blurring Sounds Waves

mira-burt-wintonick-blogMira Burt-Wintonick who was a producer for ten years on the popular CBC Radio show Wiretap has some incredible things to say about making fiction on the air. While I think her thoughts are especially valuable for those making podficts (fictionalized podcasts), her clear thoughts can be found in detail in the article Storytelling through Sound but here are a few of her notes:

  • Performance- less is more, go off script, imperfections are your friend, take charge
  • Writing- keep it tight, read aloud before, ladle out unbelievable elements, base your writing in truth
  • Sound- leave in mic noise, paint a picture
  • Develop emotional truth
  • Break the rules

Happy Birthday Bill!

point-of-departureWhether its taking a flight in the Twilight Zone, radio drama’s The Zero Hour, through the acrobatic fight scenes of TJ Hooker, up the elevator to the roof in Boston Legal, or through the skies as the Big Giant Head, or in the many incredible roles, not least of which as Captain James Tiberius Kirk of Star Trek, William Shatner continues to live a life of the artist.

He’s been a radio, stage, screen (silver and big screen), performer, Director, author of science fiction and biographical books, comics, and of course with a hit album and a successful businessman. Curiosity and a passion has driven the life of this iconic Canadian superstar to this point.

On the fiftieth anniversary of Star Trek we get to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY today to Mr. Shatner, and wish him many many more successful and creative projects ahead. Check out CBC Radio’s Rewind tribute to William Shatner’s birthday as MIchael Enright shares for all of us the incredible body of work and wit of our captain.

Warp speed.

From Radio Play to Stage Play

oculuscropped2-20160314123936109More 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.

Was War of the Worlds Broadcast the First VR Experience?

oculuscropped2-20160314123936109This 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!

 

Many a True Word Hath Been Spoken in Radio

Ian McDiarmid

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.

Best Foote Forward

ken-foote (1)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!

Living Nostalgia

psCarlene 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 Pictures are Better

The Kiggins Theatre has become a regular destination for Willamette Radio Workshop. The Love Street Playhouse production of "It's a Wonderful Life" stars Kevin Taylor as George Bailey and Bethany Pithan as Mary. Both actors are from Longview.  (Darcie Elliott Photography) The Love Street Playhouse production of "It's a Wonderful Life" features (from left) Kevin Taylor of Longview, Kim Dewey of Vancouver, Lou Pallotta of Ridgefield, Bethany Pithan of Longview and Steve Taylor of Battle Ground. (Darcie Elliott Photography) The North End Players Theater Company. The Kiggins Theatre has become a regular destination for Willamette Radio Workshop.  Sam Mowry is director of the Willamette Radio Workshop.  The Kiggins was packed on Halloween for the Willamette Radio Workshop's run of scary sci-fi plays.

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 in the Dark

beaconBeacon 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!

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